Musicians

Rachel Clutterbuck is one of Worcestershire's most talented singer-songwriters. Known as Rachel By The Stream, she regularly performed around Worcester before heading out for a life in the Australian sunshine.

Musical beginnings

Born in Bromsgrove, Rachel's first musical forays were in a band called Bint which attracted some record company interest:

"Various suited men came to hear us play, ex-manager of Eric Clapton footed the bill for us to do some recording... but I went away to university in Norfolk and lost interest in the grunge music we were making - and Bint was no more."

During her time at university she spent a year studying abroad at a radical arts college in Portland, Oregon that had been a hotseat for political activism in the '60s:

"Very strange things went on there... live bug eating competitions, naked blue people, jazz classes, the college had its own nuclear reactor - no lie! Check out website for Reed College!"

Avoiding the nine to five

After spending some time travelling the Amercian west coast, Rachel returned to the UK to finish her studies and try and avoid the nine to five grind for as long as possible.

"I had number of weird part-time jobs, including ghost hunter, journalist, crystal polisher, dog sitter..."

Rachel performs on stage

Next she moved on to Cornwall where she lived in a caravan, learning to surf and selling homemade jewellery on the beach:

"After sunshine disappeared, Cornwall was not quite so appealing. The caravan got very cold and damp and I ran out of money - something which was not helped by the fact that the only place to get food from nearby was Britain's most expensive Spar shop... this is a true fact!"

Returning to Worcestershire she threw herself back into music, changing her style to reflect her new mood and experiences. Rachel lists her influences as John Martyn, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Chet Baker, Sandy Denny, Martha Tilston, Chris Rea, John Mayer and John Butler:

"My music has evolved from the grunge that I originally started playing guitar with, to the folk/blues/jazz that is my current style."

The scourge of sound engineers

She has played at many venues and events around Worcestershire, including at Skills On Show, the Paul Pry, The Marr's Bar, the Cellar Bar in Worcester and even in her English lessons (She is currently doing a PGCE at Worcester University) - and has a very unusual guitar playing style:

"Sound engineers generally hate me because of the way I play - alternately slapping the fret board and fingerpicking really lightly!"

And what about the name, Rachel By The Stream - where did that come from?

"It stems from when I was recording my demo. Someone asked me what my Clutterbuck meant - I said it means people that lived by a chattering brook - It's Dutch I think..."

Having lived in so many places and had such a wide range of jobs, Rachel isn't short of experiences on which to draw from and use as writing material. But what inspires her and what does she write songs about?

"My songs are both funny and poignant, about the living environment around us, the everyday stuff of life, socks, friends, consumerism and love - lost and found."

Scavenging for instruments

Not content with just playing the guitar, Rachel also plays piano, violin and viola, as well as more unusual instruments such as the djembe, melodica and thunder tube. In fact, she's a collector of weird instruments:

"I recently found a beautiful acoustic guitar in a skip at Worcester tip! Not a scratch on it and even in tune, apart from a missing E string. 

"I think this find makes up for the argument I had with one of the guys who works at the tip, over a mandolin that someone was throwing away. The tip man wouldn't let me have it as he said it was against policy to take things away from the tip and chucked it in the skip - criminal behaviour!!!"

In the future she intends to play more gigs, record another CD and keep making music:

"I've written poetry since teens, and played a number of instruments while growing up, so think music is just in my bones. My guitar is my best friend."

"Fire glows, firefly fly lightly,
Send a rainbow out into the sea,
Let the water fill up with colour,
And rain down a rainbow on me..."  (Fly Lightly, 2005)

You can listen to all the latest music from across the two counties on the Friday Session Introducing... every week from 7pm on BBC Hereford & Worcester.