Rachel Neves - a pitch perfect vocal stand out

Do you believe in fate or destiny? We do and want to share with you how our vision for the song and eBook came together. There are many occurrences that have happened on our journey to create the ABCandME’s song and illustrated book, When You And I Are Fast Asleep, to be just chance happenings. One link in our chain of events that’s occurred is the link to the beautiful female singing the song.

Early in the process of developing the book and recording the song, we made the decision to record both a male and a female version of the song so people could choose between two vocal options. In late 2017, we had already started the illustrations for the book, and had the male version of the song recorded, mixed and ready for release. Next, we needed to organize auditions for the female version of the song.

In December 2017 my sister-in-law Patty Duffey, who is co-owner of Artist on the Move, an artist development organization for young talent in New England, called me to chat and also inquired if we had located a female voice for the song. She told me about a young woman in a band, Coda Sky, she had managed who had an absolutely beautiful and pitch perfect voice, so she next arranged to have her sing the song live in Boston on December 21, 2017. Our family traveled across country from California for the live audition, and the instant we heard her singing the song, we knew she was our singer. We also knew her bandmate, Jesse Madison, accompanying her on keys, would be a great addition to the recording.

The singer, Rachel Neves, grew up and currently still lives in New Bedford, MA. As you will hear when you play the song, Rachel’s angelic, pitch perfect voice is the ideal match for the story and illustrations contained in the book. It was incredible how all parts come together seamlessly. Just as the great philosopher Aristotle stated over 2300 years ago, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, so too is the song and illustrations for the eBook/song. Individually, each part is very beautiful and stands on its own, however, when we combine the illustrations and song, the final product powerfully tells our story.

Rachel’s music journey and history is one of being in the right place at the right time. Rachel was born to her loving parents Kathy and Joe Neves in New Bedford, MA where she grew up for 21 years with her older sister Courtney. When asked when and how she discovered her true gift, she said “I always sang at family parties, but it wasn’t until I was about 8 years old and I entered a karaoke singing contest at Canobie Lake Park in NH and Won! That’s when I knew I could do more”. Once that happened, her parents immediately signed Rachel up for singing lessons. Fast forward to when she was 14 years old and a freshman in high school Rachel was singing again and was discovered by Patty Duffey when she entered a singing competition at the Boston Hard Rock Café. To apply for a spot she had to submit a live video performance, but her father called to say she wasn’t yet on YouTube. During the call he uploaded one video of her singing a Lady Gaga cover “Speechless”, and once Patty listened to it, she asked if what she was listening to was her real voice or her singing over someone else’s track. It was all her, so she was awarded a finalist spot in the competition.

Patty saw something very special in Rachel; a beautiful, pitch perfect voice that could cross many genres, combined with a formidable presence and quiet leadership on stage. She had a voice you could listen to and never get tired of. Patty asked Rachel to try out as the lead singer for the new band she was forming, Coda Sky. Rachel won the lead vocal position hands-down and now she was front and center stage as part of this larger group of excellent musicians who performed in close to 100 shows and at high visibility venues. To ensure the band was ready for prime time, they practiced with Patty one day a week after a full day of high school for over five years. This exceptional level of commitment was accentuated even more by the fact that Rachel and others had to have their parents drive them to practice 1 ½ hours each way to Boston, sometimes during rush hour, all while doing homework to and from practice and maintaining solid As.

Rachel and the band’s hard work finally paid off when they were asked to develop and record 11 songs for their Coda Sky debut Pop/Rock CD named One Day. The CD was produced in 2015 and is on iTunes. The band continued to travel and perform around New England, winning multiple awards and building their fan base, however, after a few years of performances some of the members began having conflicts between the time needed for practicing and performing due to college commitments. These conflicts eventually resulted in the band breaking up.

After listening to the song, “When You And I Are Fast Asleep”, please visit our website and let us know what you think of the Illustrations and songs and how they helped you and your family during deployments, separations and other life’s challenges. Also, you can listen to Coda Sky’s 11 song album on iTunes.

Christie, Alison and I want to thank you for participating and joining us on this important Journey!