Rachel Taylor

Singer/songwriter Rachel Taylor first made her name as one half of the Tacoma, Washington-based indie pop duo He Is We. While working at a local music store in 2008, she met fellow musician Trevor Kelly and the two began writing songs together. Building a large homegrown following through various social media outlets, their self-released demos soon attracted major-label attention and He Is We signed with Universal Motown to release their first album, My Forever, in 2010. With Taylor's sweet vocals and the band's hooky, charming indie pop melodies, the album hit number six on Billboard's Heatseekers chart upon its release. Following the release of their 2011 EP Skip to the Good Part, Taylor was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis and was forced to leave the band to undergo chemotherapy. When Kelly enlisted a different singer to replace Taylor on tour, she decided to press on as a solo artist in spite of her health issues and animosity toward her former bandmate. She wrote and recorded a set of demos in between her medical treatments and reached out to He Is We's second label Republic Records. With her compelling story and powerful new songs, the label agreed to take her on as a solo artist. She made her solo debut in July 2014 with the darkly empowering EP Come Alive. ~ Timothy Monger