Phoenix , Arizona raised artist Rachel Crocker aka R. Ariel is a woman of many disciplines.
She is a photographer, author and musician who returns to Lethbridge to play the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Nov. 15 with Birch Barks, hip hop collective ONTK and Calgary/ Lethbridge rapper Pierre Mvono.
Crocker is supporting her latest CD “Oh.”
“This one is more pop leaning,” said Crocker, en route to a tour date in Seattle, adding it has been approximately a year and a half since her last Lethbridge visit.
“Then Lethbridge audience was really chill. And it was real sweet,” she said.
she is pleased with the new CD, which she recorded in San Francisco over approximately eight months and released it on Nov. 1.
“I did a lot of experimenting with beats and MIDI sounds to create it,” she continued.
“It depended on what the song needed. Sometimes it was guitar,” she said, noting she was inspired by growing up.
“A lot of the album was inspired by more poetic, more self-reflective events, self love and heartbreak — life stuff,” she said.
She is also a photographer and author, which gives her the flexibility to explore other artistic mediums.
She is performing this tour solo.
“I do a lot of different projections. And it is just me playing guitar or keyboards with the projections in the background,” she said, adding she started as a photographer in her early 20s and added music relatively recently.
“I’ve only been playing music for six years or so,” she said.
She combined a book reading with music for a tour back in 2015, but won’t be doing that this time.
“I had just released my novel then,” she said.
“I like writing books too. It’s whatever I feel will work best. It’s a coping mechanism,” she said.
“This is just about music,” she said.
“I think most artists are capable of experimenting in different mediums.”
R Ariel, Birch Barks, ONTK and Pierre Mvono play the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Nov. 15. The music begins at 8:30 p.m. Admission is by donation , but there is a suggested donation of $10.