Festival of Faith & Music Review: Rachel Zylstra

Calvin College alum Rachel Zylstra returned to campus less than a year later for the Festival to lead a workshop about being a songwriter in New York City. As a teaser for the Festival, she played a few songs in the Fish House Café on campus at noon on Thursday (following two songs from Pierce Pettis).

Zylstra’s piano creates wonderful songs of longing in the style of Charlotte Martin (who gets compared to Tori Amos but even more so should be seen as the musical daughter of Carole King). Like singer/songwriter Rachel Sage, Zylstra can take pop ballads, infect them with jazz, swing, and cabaret. She can drop down for a more soulful depth in her voice—like what Joss Stone has found—adding bluesy embellishments on the keys.

Her third song, “We Are Living in Fantasy,” has a Vince Guaraldi piano line, the more serious side of the Peanuts music. These jazzy elements may put Zylstra in danger of being pigeon-holed in a jazz club corner, but her songs are broader than that, finding a home in any singer/songwriter environment.

For more information about Rachel Zylstra, please visit her Website.