In Case You Missed It: Rachel Brooke’s “The Only One”

With so much happening in the Traditional Country Community this Spring, it’s been hard to keep up.

A few weeks back, Rachel Brooke released the music video for her new single “The Only One.” The video was produced by Shutter Studios and filmed at The Alley Bar and Grill in Saint Charles, Michigan.

Watch “The Only One” by Rachel Brooke

The song is the first single from a 7-inch vinyl now available. It’s Brooke's first new music since 2022. Another full-length studio record and a batch of digital singles are expected as well.

“I'm super excited to announce that The Only One 7" is now available for in my Bandcamp Store! These records will ship on or before May 10th, the same day “Let Me Lose Again” drops on all digital platforms,” she said. “They are limited to 300, hand numbered and signed, and will not be a part of a larger project or album. They are just available as this limited 45.”

Rachel Brooke is one of those “if you know, you know.” She has been a key member of the underground country movement over the last decade, with sounds rooted in traditional Americana rather than modern corporate country music.

She’s a self-produced, self-released independent artist who has been featured in major media outlets like CMT, Parade Magazine, The Boot, Music Row, Glide, and Cowboys and Indians, garnering the attention of Nashville big-wigs. 

Prior to her solo career, Brooke spent her teenage years playing in an all-girl punk band where she earned the nickname “The Rattlesnake.”

Since 2008 she has released four full-length records, two collaboration records with Lonesome Wyatt of Those Poor Bastards, several EPs, and other side projects.

Brooke grew up in Lovells, Michigan. She was largely influenced by her father, Barry Van Guilder, a banjo player and guitarist who introduced her to several genres and music and eventually brought her to perform with him at a country fair.

“I am a very nostalgic person," Brooke told Wide Open Country. "I always miss things and how they used to be. A lot of these places represent time gone by that will never be the same again, time that I will never have again, and that makes me feel very sad."

Brooke's first two records, A Killer's Dream (2008) and Down at the Barnyard (2010), had a sound rooted in country bluegrass and gothic blues. Her next two efforts, A Killer's Dream (2012) and The Loneliness In Me (2020), incorporated more elements of blues and jazz, while still retaining the classic sound from her earlier records.

Watch “The Loneliness in Me” by Rachel Brooke 

"Loneliness is something that I feel no matter where I am, whether it be with people who I love, alone in the woods, or even in a barroom full of people," Brooke said. "I know I'm not the only one who feels that way, and that's exactly what this song is about."