Talking with Rachel Reinert, it’s clear Gloriana is on its way — and going there fast.
The singer speaks quickly. Her excitement is evident, her enthusiasm contagious.
Gloriana is Tom Gossin, left, Rachel Reinert and Mike Gossin.
Reinert is talking about the hit from the band’s second disc, A Thousand Miles Left Behind, which was released July 31 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Album Chart and No. 10 on Billboard’s Top 200. Those stats likely were from “(Kissed You) Good Night,” which shot up to No. 2 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart.
“It’s just been such a whirlwind for us. We’ve been a band now for five years, and we’ve been through a lot of ups and a lot of downs and just so many experiences, and to finally get to this point it feels really great,” she said. “We’re definitely firm believers that everything happens for a reason; we just feel like we’re in a really good place right now.”
Gloriana formed in 2008 when brothers Tom and Mike Gossin, both singers and guitarists, moved to Nashville and met Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball. The quartet’s 2009 debut single, “Wild at Heart,” hit No. 15 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart, and the band’s self-titled disc reached No. 2. In 2010, Gloriana won the Academy of Country Music Award for top new vocal group.
“We got asked to be a part of Taylor Swift’s first major world tour, and it was just such an incredible experience. But being that we were so green and we never had been through anything at that point and we were just so new, we didn’t know what to expect,” Reinert said. “I don’t think it was appreciated as much as we appreciate things now, being that we’ve been through some stuff.”
Last year, Kimball left the group.
“We’re still us, we’re still Gloriana. We still do all the harmonies; everyone takes turns singing and you can hear everybody’s individual voice,” Reinert said during a call from the tour bus, which was rolling from Los Angeles to Bakersfield, Calif.
“But we’ve really evolved and grown up a lot over the past few years. On [A Thousand Miles Left Behind], we all wrote or co-wrote every song off of it — all the songs are really very personal to us.”
Like “Where My Heart Belongs.”
“I wanted to capture the essence of an innocent childhood. And for the first five years of my life, I lived in a town called Marietta, Georgia, and those were just some of the best memories I’ve ever had as a child: Me and my brothers running around in the lawn, you know, with Ninja Turtle underwear, just being carefree and enjoying life and just being kids before you really know anything about anything,” she said. “It’s kind of my happy place.”
Gloriana’s next single will be “Can’t Shake You.”
“It’s a song Tom wrote with Stephanie Bentley and Jim Slater,” Reinert said. “It’s a song about being from a small town and breaking up with someone and there only being a handful of bars to go to, running into the person but not wanting to, but kind of wanting to at the same time. It’s just you can’t shake their memory or basically what they’ve left you with, that residual feeling.”
The trio hopes its music connects with fans.
“My favorite part about music is lyrics, and I just always love listening to the stories,” Reinert said. “That’s kind of a big thing for me is hoping that people listen to the songs and really relate to them and they hit home for them.”
Gloriana will bring its golden harmonies to UT’s Music Fest Friday, Sept. 14. The band will take the stage at 9 p.m. at the free, public event in the grassy area south of Memorial Field House, adjacent to Centennial Mall. Read more here.
The country stars are happy to shine alongside Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and The Band Perry.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that people are responding so amazingly to the guy-girl dynamic in bands. I think that there’s just something about it that makes it really special. You get to sing songs that have the two different perspectives, and I think people relate to that,” Reinert said.
And what’s it like to be the only woman in the group?
“It’s so easy. It’s me and 10 guys on our bus — our band and our crew, Tom and Mike,” she said. “It’s very drama-free, very easygoing. And the guys are all very protective of me. We have a good time; it’s always very fun.”
