Rachelle Coba
Rachelle has consistently brought the house down to cheering audiences around the world by bringing her own high-powered brand of Blues; from soul, to country, to uptown, onto the stage. Rachelle’s take on the blues is unexpectedly honest and mesmerizing. With her debut CD, critically acclaimed solo release now available, she has recently relocated back to South Florida from Wichita, Kansas. Rachelle has a burning new trio and she is playing to steadily growing audiences in the US and abroad.
Rachelle Coba was born in Fon du Lac, Wisconsin to an American mother from Kansas and a Cuban father born in Havana. Music was a constant presence in the house, loved and danced to by everyone, everyday. Rachelle carried that love of music into learning violin in school and eventually to studying the guitar. She got her first guitar on her 15th birthday and her mom took her to see Lonnie Mack and Stevie Ray Vaughan that same night. Rachelle went on to college to study violin. It was about this time she met Buddy Guy. They became friends, so Rachelle decided she better learn the blues.
While going to blues shows, jamming at Miami’s famous Tobacco Road on Monday nights, and sitting in with numerous blues legends (including Buddy), Rachelle switched instruments from violin to guitar in college and earned a bachelors degree in classical guitar performance from the University of Miami, Florida. With all of these influences, Rachelle developed her own unique finger-style approach to blues rhythm and lead guitar playing.
Her style eventually brought her to the attention of many blues artists. She has worked with and toured as a guitarist with artists like Super Chikan, Albert Castiglia, Grady Champion and Ray Drew. In this role, she played countless clubs and festivals, including: Buddy Guy’s Legends, B.B. Kings in NYC, and the Chicago Blues Festival. She was also a part of extended tours with artists Johnny Winter and Coco Montoya.
After years of this experience, Rachelle decided to play her own style and front her own band. Since then, she has represented the Wichita and Topeka, Kansas Blues Societies in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee both as a solo act and with a band becoming a semi-finalist in 2013.
More recently, she has toured extensively in Queensland Australia, the United States Midwest and the Mississippi Delta and she has been a surprise special guest on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise. Rachelle has played many festivals including Juke Joint, King Biscuit, Riverwalk, and Chautauqua Hills Blues Festivals. She was a featured performer in the Blessissippi Blues film in Clarksdale, Mississippi. She has opened for and jammed with notable blues artists including: Dr. John, A.C. Reed,The Cate Brothers, Karen Lovely, Candye Kane, Earl and Them, Hadden Sayers, Hamilton Loomis, Maria Muldaur, Marcia Ball, TUF, Bobby Keys, Eddie Turner, Iko-Iko, Joe Pitts, Albert Castiglia and Stacy Mitchheart.