Whether you’re a seasoned musician or a newbie establishing roots, a five-year gap between album releases is an eternity. Nobody knows that better than Rainy Eyes (she also happily answers to Rainy or Irena Eide). In Rainy’s perfect world her latest release Lonesome Highway would have seen the light of day in 2020. A year after her debut Moon in the Mirror. The plan made sense. The prolific Norway native had almost two album’s worth of material when she recorded her debut.
As Rainy found out, the world is not perfect and plans change. It would take her half a decade to release her sophomore album. She learned a valuable life lesson during the gap. The universe is in control and you are at its mercy and timing. The extra time allowed Rainy to bring in album producer Dirk Powell who would polish Rainy’s previous studio sessions and add several songs to the final cut of Lonesome Highway.
The growth between the two albums is immediate. Rainy’s country flavored vocals shine throughout. Musically, the addition of drums and more electric guitar allow her to explore her diverse musical background that ranges from R &B to Classic Rock with many stops between the two.
Slideandbanjo sat down with Rainy for a deep dive into her unique musical journey that’s seen stops in Demark, San Francisco, and now Louisiana. She begins by discussing the relief of finally releasing her second album.
“We started recording it summer of 2019. We finished it during the covid lockdown. I thought it would come out in 2020. I released the other in 2019. We started this one thinking I would put it out the next summer and keep them coming. That’s not what the universe had planned for me. I knew it was a great album. The timing wasn’t right for it to come out. I wanted it to get the attention it deserved. It’s one of those things where there’s a plan and you just don’t know it. It’s not up to me. That’s one thing I’ve learned the last few years. I’m not in control. We’re not in control of our destiny as much as we plan. It’s gonna go how the universe wants and when. There’s a bigger plan in motion you have to trust.”
Rainy’s newfound trust in the cosmos mixed with Powell’s musical vision for Lonesome Highway lets the album soar to greater heights it wouldn’t have reached had it been released in 2020. “Dirk came along and he wanted to add more tracks. He loved the record and wanted to take it to the next level. We added three tracks, Misty Mama, You Just Want What You Can’t Have, and Just a Little Rain. Originally, we hunkered down and recorded most of the album over a weekend at my cabin in Marin. It was an experimental session. The vibe was to create cool sounds. That created the backbone of the record. Dirk took it to the studio album quality.”
With a full band, expanded sound, top notch producer, and a polished sophomore album ready to go, all Rainy could do was wait for the world to catch up with her musical road map. “We continued to work on the album in 2021.It was pretty much done in 2022 and has been sitting there for the last two years. I had this great record and didn’t know what to do with it. In 2023, I got a new manager and he found a record label. Then it was game on. You can imagine those two years being excruciating. I had this album with a new sound and was trying to book gigs with my awesome full band.”
She continues, “I wanted to make the first album a roots album. More acoustic guitar. I grew up with a Martin guitar laying around the house. Our farm in Norway, always had a Martin. When I wrote the songs for this album, I knew they would be electric. I knew what it sounded like in my head. I started to play with an electric band before the first album came out. I was starting to perform these songs more. Some of the songs on the album are eight years old. I had been saving them because I knew they belonged in this album.”
Rainy’s inner confidence is instantly evident. She’s got generations of musicians in her blood. The universe set her fate as an entertainer early. “I started performing while I was in diapers. I loved music, theater and dance. Anything performing. My uncle is probably more of an influence on me musically. He played a Martin and Fender. There was a guitar amp in my bedroom when I was a baby. My uncle was staying with us and stored his gear in my bedroom. There are pictures of me as a kid with a fender amp and guitar case. It was my destiny.”
“My uncle was the 70’s rocker.” Rainy adds. “He’d wake up in the afternoon and sit me in front of the stereo. He played Creedence, The Rolling Stones. He introduced me to classic rock when I was little. Even Emmylou Harris and Dylan. I had access to his musical collection as a kid. He’d sit me down and teach me blues progressions on the Martin.”
At 18, with her future as a musician a reality, Rainy moved to Demark. From there the cosmic dominoes fell into place. She met and married an American saxophonist. They relocated to San Francisco where she’d have a child and inundate herself in the vast bay area music scene. “I was immersed in the San Fran jazz scene. Getting snuck into jazz clubs at 19. We also played acoustic music so I had the best of both worlds. From there we moved to West Marin which is way out in the country. After ten years, when covid hit, I was stuck in the bay area on the rat race treadmill. I was so over that. It was so expensive, and the wildfires.”
With her marriage falling apart mixed with a desire to get out of the bay area, Rainy traded wildfires for hurricanes and made a fateful cross country move to Louisiana. She’d start working with musician/producer Powell. The change of scenery let Rainy catch her breath, reset and tap into the wide range of genres that influence her unique sound. “I have a diverse taste in music. On any given day I’ll listen to a huge variety of musical styles. I don’t plan on a certain style for a particular song. You’re just living and breathing it. It’s whatever comes out when I sit down and get the urge to write a song. I have different phases of music I’ll get in to. Bluegrass, country, folk, soul and R&B.” Rainy reflects, “When I was thirteen, I was lip synching to Beyonce. It’s a wide range of musical interests. I couldn’t stay within one style if you gave me a million dollars. Whatever is bubbling up wants to come out. I allow that creative process unfold. Again, it’s like letting the universe take care of it. I’m not intentionally trying to write a country song or whatever. There’s a lot of different influences in each one.”
With a lifetime of experience and the bumps and bruises to show for it, Rainy’s vision for her future is clear. She concludes. “I’ll start with recording the next album and putting that out. Keep touring and playing live shows. Hopefully with my full band. I’d love to go to Europe. I’ve got lots of family and friends there. I’ve never played there since I left. Only a couple of small gigs in Norway. I was waiting to put this album out before I started thinking about that.”
“The next record will probably be a similar blend of styles. Even a little bit more rock. More screechy guitars but an element of folk and acoustic. There will definitely be banjo and fiddle. I’m excited to keep experimenting with my musical blends and potions. It should be a fun, electric sounding, folky album with an extra hint of rock and roll.”
Bonus: Rainy Eyes Wide Open To Her Future
Rainy Eyes’s creativity extends far beyond the music and vocals on an album. She’s hands on with every aspect of her career. She’s released music videos for the album’s first two songs Misty Mama and Lonesome Highway.
As a bonus, Rainy gives the behind the scenes story on the making of the two videos. Plus, details on a third in the works. She also shares the back story of three standout songs on the album, Set Me Free, Faded Away, and Just a Little Rain.
“I’m always into creating. Making movies and stuff like that. I have a lot of fun, creative ideas and friends who are like, let’s do it. That’s how the videos came to be. The Lonesome Highway video was born out of a photo shoot where we brought along a camera. The whole shoot felt like we were playing out a story. I didn’t want to just sit there and smile feeling awkward. I brought props to the shoot and turned it into a fun adventure.”
“A good friend made Misty Mama with me. I wish we had a huge budget and lots of time. We got up at 4:30 one morning. I borrowed a car and our friends helped put everything together. It was perfect because of the mist which was perfect for Misty Mama. We are actually going to make another video with a different creative friend. The next one is You Just Want What You Can’t Have. I plan on making more videos and have several in the works.”
Set Me Free- It’s Bo Diddley. I had spent a lot of time in New Orleans around 2017 when I wrote that. I love old rock and roll. That funky R&B riff. That song is the only one where the original recording is what we used. From the California session. We recorded it again to try and get a cleaner sound. I have a whole new studio version. Right before we were going to master the album, I changed my mind. I loved the old take and we used that one. Sam Grisman has the slidy bass and I love how the original track came out. I’ve got several songs like this ready to go for future records.
Faded Away- That song is kind of like a play on Fade into You. When I was seventeen, I had a Mazzy Star phase for sure. Mazzy Star, Wilco, Billy Bragg. It’s not necessarily the music I listen to these days. That was the height of the Indy rock era. There’s definitely elements of that in the music for sure. Hopefully, it took it to another level from there.
Just A Little Rain- It’s the only one I hadn’t written before we made the record. I wrote it when we first got to Louisiana. Hurricane Laura hit right when we got to town. We didn’t have power for days. We’d sit there by candlelight playing music. That just came out. I kept telling myself it’s just a little rain. It will pass. It was crazy our whole street was lined with downed oak trees. There were multiple hurricanes that year. So, we included that and I’m happy it made it on the record.
Rainy Eyes Lonesome Highway 2024 Royal Potato Family
Photos – Olivia Perillo