Rachel Potter

Early life

Potter was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but was raised in Seminole, Florida.

Potter has lived in Orlando, Florida but currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. At the age of 12, Rachel began writing original songs to cope with her mother being diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. While working at Disney World, she also completed a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and Advertising from the University of Central Florida in 2008. After graduating from college she moved to New York where she got a job singing in a wedding band.

Broadway career

In 2003, Potter moved to Orlando, Florida.

Following a friend's suggestion, she auditioned for a singing job at Walt Disney World. Having never been to a theatrical audition before, Rachel came with a headshot (a picture of her singing into a microphone) and a resume with details of her tenure as an employee at the GAP.

Potter was cast as Ariel in the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. She subsequently went on to perform as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Nemo in Finding Nemo: The Musical, and a slew of other shows at Disney. In 2008, she made it in the Top 15 in the MTV reality show Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods.

Potter played Wednesday Addams in the musical version of The Addams Family. Later on, Potter was cast in the 2012 revival of Evita, in which she portrayed Peron's mistress, alongside Ricky Martin, Elena Roger, and Michael Cerveris.

Recording career

Potter began her career as a recording artist at age 16 when she was signed to contemporary Christian label Narrow Door Records. In 2002, she released “Come Back Home”, an album of 10 of her own songs.

She appeared in the second national tour of the stage musical Wicked. While on tour, she reconnected with Justin York, an old friend who had become a Nashville musician, producer and songwriter, known for his work with Nashville-bred rock band Paramore. Potter released her first EP, "Live the Dream".

She raised funds through an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign to record her dream country project. The “Help Me Live the Dream” concept resonated with people from near and far who helped Potter to exceed the original financial goal. The official music video for "Live the Dream" was released on October 17, 2012, on Potter's channel. Potter performed on CBS New York singing "Hold On To Me".

Potter began performing a series of concerts at Joe's Pub to promote "Live the Dream", she performed with Constantine Maroulis, Ricky Martin, Elena Roger, Michael Cerveris, The Vanity Belles, and The Country Band. Potter's unreleased single “The Verdict” was nominated for Best Country Song in the Independent Music Awards. Potter was featured in mashup of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” and Justin Bieber’s “As Long As You Love Me” by VoicePlay, an Orlando-based 5-member a cappella group as well as VoicePlay's cover of Chandelier (Sia song) and The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber song)

In 2014, Potter launched a crowdfunded campaign using Pledge Music to fund her most recent album, "Not So Black and White." She released the first single, "Boomerang," a duet with Anthem Lights member, Joey Stamper in October 2014. The full album was released on March 3, 2015. It was reviewed in Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, Billboard, Entertainment Tonight, Country Weekly, Taste of Country, and The Boot. CMT featured her music videos for "Boomerang" and "Tail Lights" on their CMT Pure Channel in the "New Artist Spotlight."

The X Factor

Potter auditioned for the third season of the The X Factor with "Somebody to Love". Potter was picked in the Final 40, one of ten acts in the "Over 25" category mentored by Kelly Rowland chosen to move on to the next stage of the competition. Potter sang "Irreplaceable" and was placed in chair 4. Since she was not switched out, she made the final four of "Over 25" category along with Lillie McCloud, Jeff Gutt and James Kenney.

During the first live results show on October 29, Potter sang "I Hope You Dance" receiving positive reviews; Kelly described Rachel as a "powerhouse and a delight", Paulina says Rachel has a "beautiful tone" and is original, describing the performance as brilliant from beginning to end and Simon said the song choice was perfect and she was even better than Lillie.

She was the first to be chosen to be in the final three along with Jeff Gutt and Lillie McCloud.

During week two, Potter sang "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)", gaining mixed reviews; Demi said "You're so energetic and you bring so much to the stage." but Simon Cowell disliked it.

Due to graphics errors in which incorrect voting numbers were displayed on screen during the performance recap, there was no elimination that week; instead all the acts performed their "Save Me" songs on Thursday night and a public re-vote was conducted after the show.

Potter sang "Anyway" by Martina McBride. During week 3, Potter sang "Alone" by Heart, gaining positive reviews. Potter fell to the bottom two alongside Khaya Cohen, where she was eliminated after Rubio, Lovato, and Cowell chose to send her home.

Performances on The X Factor

Rachel performed the following songs on The X Factor:

Artistry

Potter cites as her influences The Civil Wars, Carrie Underwood, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Rascal Flatts, Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Patsy Cline, Alison Krauss, Union Station, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Sara Bareilles and Sheryl Crow. Growing up, she listened primarily to rock 'n roll because her parents were in a rock band. Originally a CCM artist, Potter now considers herself a Country and country pop artist, but her music contains elements of CCM, Soul pop, Hard rock and pop rock. She describes her music as a fusion of "Country, pop rock, and pop country with a rock edge".

Personal life

Rachel Potter is currently living in Nashville, Tennessee.

Discography