Monday, December 15, 2014

Hitzone's Swing Thing hits the Hard Rock Casino Show Theatre


Last weekend the 5pc Hitzone core was joined by a horn section and the lovely Saffron Henderson for a Swing Revue that rocked the house. Alongside all of our current and favorite Hitz that keep guests dancing we sprinkled in some Roaring 20's Swing Tunes and got everyone doing the Charleston! What a night, we kept them dancing till the wee hours~! 


Hard Rock Casino Vancouver, Show Theatre! 




Hitzone is your one stop party stop, we make the music that makes your guests dance!  



Sunday, October 26, 2014

Saturday, October 25, 2014

killers don't come from good villages....

lots going on in this world
I sit with fingers poised over keyboards, daily
 ready to voice my thoughts
then I erase them
who am I?
what do I know?
nothing
someone is bound to challenge me
and then I will have to go deeper than I ever intended
in effort to find common ground and understanding
I don't always have the energy for that
since it has no use in the end anyhow...
besides blowing off steam

some people never find common ground in the first place
some people are broken
at home
or by us,
usually both
for instance the people who walk into schools and parliament buildings
and shoot to kill
something failed them
and we are a part of that,
like it or not
because killers
don't come from good villages

on the one hand the result of a rampage is more hatred
people are angry and they want heads
so they do and spew the very hatred
which pushed the lonely and misguided killer
down the darkest path they could find  in the first place

and so grows the divide
on every level

be careful
screams of injustice also give the lawmakers
plenty of freedom to put us all in chains
so that you can feel momentarily safe standing behind them
calling out your hatred
fueling their fire

unwitting accomplices....

because the problem we face on this continent
still is not inherent extremeism
the problem is with individuals
they are bullied
they feel isolated
they have metal issues
they fell through the net


see, I don't believe we have an extremeist problem in this country
most of us who live here are good people
most of us  hope the world is good
most of us don't care who's god you have faith in or if you don't
we know we all want the same basic things
for us, for our children
and no matter what or for whom
people who feel free to love others run towards a problem to eradicate it
and we all resonate more deeply when we see it
we call them heros
we feel the power of it because we do want the good
we want the peace
we want the freedom
we want to feel safe
but we will have no peace, freedom or safety anywhere
if people are hating others and someone is suffering somewhere

so fix your village
look around you
see what you can do
within
make sure no one is suffering
make sure you are not hating
others nor yourself
this is a wound that would fester and poison us all
if we let it
we don't want to let the government
chain us all up for our own safety
we must fix it within
and be the ones who run towards the problem
every single one of us
has the power
to not hate
and do something good
take your power and run with it

rachael  xo

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

three special songs

Last Sunday was an incredibly busy, well attended farmers market in Ladner Village. It was such a warm and appreciative crowd and I really enjoyed myself (and it was remarkably profitable to boot). As always there were many powerful and interesting interactions with the crowds of families but the most profound moment came while I was singing Fly at Night by Chilliwack. Suddenly out of nowhere appeared a man in a Canucks tshirt, he wasn't tall, was perhaps in his 20's and was seemingly  a person with Down Syndrome. He was standing right in front of me and I watched him for a while....his lip movements were a little compromised but for a second it looked like.....wait...yes......is he?........yes I think he is... he is singing along with the song. I smiled and turned my focus exclusively to him to confirm my observation and soon enough I became sure that he was mouthing the words along with me. At the end of the song I told him I was impressed with his singing and I asked if he was a Chilliwack fan? He said yes. So I told him I would sing another song for him and then I quickly explained to the crowd that I had recorded this song and used it to talk about bullying, then I began to play Baby Blue. Sure enough, every word I sang, he was singing along as well
, this time he was singing out loud. He stood right in front of me and I sang the entire song to him my eyes locked on his, his locked on mine (except to look back and beam once in a while towards his caregiver). I kept thinking how great it was that he had such great taste in music and I was vaguely aware that the crowd had started to notice this 'moment' too and were watching us. I was glad. I wanted them to see him, to see how beautiful he was, how freespirited, how powerfully he felt the music. I could see it, I wanted them to as well. After I finished the song we were beaming at each other and I told him I was impressed with his love of music. Then I dedicated "I Believe" to him and we sang that together too. My eyes never left him and again, word for word he matched my vocals. The crowd saw it and I could feel the love, it seemed as if we all recognized each others souls for a moment, human souls talking in a language that transcends everything. At the end of the song I put my hand out and high fived the young man. We smiled at each other, the smile on his face unmistakable, it was clear he is a music lover. He may very well forget me soon enough, I'm just a girl singing and strumming at the market but I myself am pretty sure I will never forget singing those three songs with him.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

solo acoustic, live music sample, Rachael Chatoor at the Vancouver WebFestival


Rachael Chatoor LIVE at the Vancouver Web Fest by VanWebFest Hello friends, here are some snippets from my solo show. I can be hired for any event large or small, I can also add musicians as needed. Rachael