Raechel Angela Whitchurch (born Raechel Angela Lee 26 April ) is an Australian country music singer and songwriter. She started as a singer-guitarist in her family's travelling band, the Lees, in 1999. As a solo artist Whitchurch issued her debut album, ''Finally Clear'', in April 2021.

Biography

Raechel Lee was born on 26 April , into a country music family, and was raised in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

. Note: birthday on 26 April, year not given. Her father Stephen explained that he and wife Tracey were inspired by seeing

Dead Ringer Band Dead Ringer Band were an Australian family country music band. They are best known for their ARIA Award-winning album '' Home Fires'' which won the Best Country Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996. Background and formation Dead Ringer B ...

, back in 1993. For the next six years, the parents bought instruments and taught their children to play and sing. Initially they performed at small New South Wales towns during school holidays. From 1999, the whole family toured Australia as the Lees, with Stephen on lead guitar, Tracey on bass guitar, Raechel on vocals and guitar, brother Jarod on drums, sisters Faith and Savannah on vocals. In June 2005 the Lees appeared on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's rural TV programme, ''

Landline A landline is a physical telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber from the subscriber's premises to the network, allowing multiple phones to operate simultaneously on the same phone number. It is also referred to as plain old ...

'', after six years of touring. The family relocated from Broken Hill to

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

in early 2006. Note: age is 19 in 2006. The Lees issued their third album of country, folk/roots music, ''Welcome Road'' in 2010 via Revolver Records. Previous albums are ''The Lees'' (2000) and ''Time to Kill'' (2006). Lee reached the audition semi-final of ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...

'' in August 2006. With fellow ''Idol'' contestant,

Lisa Mitchell Lisa Helen Mitchell (born 22 March 1990) is an Australian musician, singer and songwriter who grew up in Albury, New South Wales. Mitchell currently lives in Melbourne and is working on her fourth studio album. Mitchell finished sixth in the 20 ...

, she performed gigs in rural New South Wales in April 2007. Lee resumed performing with her family's band. By July 2010 the singer had married Ben Whitchurch, who is also a musician. The Whitchurches moved to Sydney in 2011. As from May 2021 the couple have two children. In April 2016 Raechel Whitchurch released a four-track extended play, ''Outlaw'', produced by Bill Chambers. Chambers issued his album, ''Cold Trail'', in 2017. Whitchurch and Chambers undertook a combined tour to promote their respective releases during that year. Her debut album, ''Finally Clear'' was released in April 2021 and was produced by Matt Fell. It received two nominations for CMAA Golden Guitar Awards for New Talent and Traditional Country Album

Discography

Studio albums

Awards and nominations

Country Music Awards of Australia

The

Country Music Awards of Australia The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wale ...

is an annual awards night held in January during the

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, New South Wales. The f ...

. Celebrating recording excellence in the

Australian country music Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodeling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, the Australian bush balla ...

industry. They commenced in 1973. ! , - , rowspan="2", 2022 , , ''Finally Clear'' , , Traditional Country Album , , , , rowspan="2", , - , Raechel Whitchurch , , Best New Talent , , , - , rowspan="2", 2025 , , rowspan="2", ''What a Time to Be Alive'' , , Album of the Year , , , , rowspan="2", , - , Contemporary Country Album of the Year , , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitchurch, Raechel Australian country singers Australian women country singers Australian country songwriters Australian guitarists Australian women guitarists Australian banjoists Mandolinists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people