Rachael Lampa

Rachael Lampa

SWEET 15
Young Rachael Lampa Combines A Powerful Voice with a Potent Message
While teen pop continues to dominate the mainstream charts, youthful powerhouse Rachael Lampa offers something different. Yes, she's just 15, but she's more than a mere pop confection. Lampa is a "singer's singer" whose vocal pyrotechnics recall the chops of some of pop's most talented divas. Lampa notched a summer hit with the title track of her debut album, Live for You, and can also be heard in a duet with Aaron Neville on the compilation One, the official recording of World Youth Day. The artist talked to B&N.com's Lisa Zhito about her album, her message, staying in school, and singing in football stadiums.

Barnes & Noble.com: Tell me how you found some of these songs.

Rachael Lampa: Finding the songs was really unique. When I decided to sign with Word, Brent Bourgeois, my A&R guy and co-producer of my album, decided to rent a house out in Franklin (Tennessee), a big mansion. He brought in Cindy Morgan, Ginny Owens, Chris Rodriguez, Chris Eaton, Michelle Tumes, and then he wrote as well. They all wrote the album there in five weeks. There were like six pianos set up all over the house. At the beginning I spent a week with all the writers and told them what I wanted to sing about and about my life and stuff like that. We kinda wanted to get the album out really soon, and I guess he didn't want to go about having to listen to tons of songs and stuff. He wanted them to write them just for me and my voice.

B&N.com: Do you have a favorite song on the album?

RL: "Blessed" has been a favorite song from the beginning but I love every single one of them because they're all so different.

B&N.com: There are a lot of different styles on the album. Do you have a particular sound you'd like to pursue in the future?

RL: Uh-uh; I like it like this. It makes it more fun for me. Like, when I go on tour, singing those songs night after night it will keep it interesting. It's cool to have different sounds.

B&N.com: Tell us about your musical background. You've been singing since you were a little kid?

RL: Since I was five, yeah.

B&N.com: And you've been singing for some big crowds at Colorado Rockies games, as well. How many people is that?

RL: 50,000. I like singing in front of bigger crowds, though, especially stadiums. Because they're so far away and I love that sound in there.

B&N.com: The echo?

RL: I love the echo! Everybody hates the echo but it makes me feel like I'm in a really big place. It's cool. Doing showcases and stuff, they're all right there.

B&N.com: What do you think of the whole teen pop thing?

RL: Umm...OK. I guess their images are creating a big huge stereotype for lots of people. But they do have talent, they can dance and most of 'em can sing. And I don't know, I guess in Christian music it's just starting to happen. There's a different impact that younger people make on Christian music.

B&N.com: What do you want your peers to know about you?

RL: I guess people come up to me and they're like, "You're so lucky, you're so talented." It's just because I found my gifts earlier in life. I guess they need to realize that everybody has gifts and their gifts are what they're good at. My gift is singing and it might be more public, but their gifts are just as powerful, they just need to realize that sometimes you don't find it as early on in life as I have.

B&N.com: You're choosing to stay in school rather then have a tutor. Why?

RL: When I was recording the album I was gone for four weeks and it took me like a week to a week and a half to make it back up. But next year I'm taking three online courses, so I'll be on the computer in the morning, and the last four classes in school I'll be in class. That just makes it easier to do work while I'm away, so I'll have less to make up when I get back. When I'm older I don't want to look back and say I missed out. Just doing as much as I can when I'm home and doing as much as I can when I'm [on the road] will even it out.

B&N.com: You're generating a lot of mainstream interest; is that something you want for your career?

RL: I definitely want to get my music out into the mainstream. I want Christians to hear it and love it and find joy in it, but I want to reach out to people that don't know God and don't know Christian music at all. 'Cause, like, if I gave the Plus One album to one of my friends, they wouldn't know it's Christian, but it's such a positive message. I hope that that's how they see it, and hopefully it will comfort somebody if they're sad or make somebody happy. I want people to hear it as a positive thing, not something that young people shouldn't be singing about.

B&N.com: Is it a goal to have an impact on kids your own age?

RL: My music is definitely for people of all ages, but I feel like I could definitely have more of an impact on kids than adults can because I know what they've been through. I've always wanted to, like, sit my high school down and be like, "OK guys, don't ruin your life!" This is probably the closest I can get to that.