Meet Raquel Aurilia | Singer/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Raquel Aurilia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Raquel, why did you pursue a creative career?
Music has always been my passion. I always knew I wanted to be a singer and perform but never knew how to get started. It is not a career that you just go and audition for and get the job. You have to work hard, create your own music or selct the right songs if you don’t write, promote it, record, and get the right muscians to work with to perform with. It’s definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a Singer and Songwriter. My music genre is mainly Adult Contemporary with a little bit of Country Crossover. I think what makes my music different than others is that I don’t really have a specific sound or style per say. When I write, I don’t really have a specific genre in mind, I tell the story with the melody and then decide what direction it will go as far as style from there.

The thing I am most proud of was my first big gig when I got to open for the legendary B.B. King here on Arizona. It was with a full band, and the show was sold out. B.B. King played for closse to 3 hours after my set and then we got to meet him on the tour bus after! Talk about a class act. He was so gracious to everyone and took the time to meet everyone and take pictures.

I have been working at my music for over 18 years now and it has definitelty been a lot of work . This industry is a tough one and is very competitive. I have met a lot of great people along my journey who have really helped me, and have also met some people who definitley didn’ t have my best interest, which I found out the hard way. It has taught me though to be very selective in who I work with and to do my research on anyone that presents new music opportunities to me.

I think I would like people to know that I have really worked hard at my music and will always continue to put my heart and soul into what I do. Writing and singing has been so therapeutic to me and I would love to be able to touch the lives of others with my songs and lyrics and share my music with the world. When someone says that one of my songs has touched them or that they could relate to my songs and lyrics, that is what makes it all worth while.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many amazing places to go while visiting Nashville! Way too many to name! But if my best friend was visitng Nashville for a week long trip, it would look something like this:

Day 1 -Day in The Gulch
Breakfast- Milk & Honey
Shopping in The Gulch at the cute little boutiques
Dinner at Virago
Drinks at the Thompson Roof Top Bar

Day 2 –
Breakfast- Bicuit Love (The Gulch)
Sight seeing around Music Row area etc
Dinner at The Palms downtown Nashville
Fun night after on Broadway at Tootsies!

Day 3-
Breakfast – Adele’s Nashville
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Dinner- Kayne”s Primehouse (The Gulch)
Music and Drinks back on Broadway – The Stage, Honly Tonk, Ole Red (too many to list)!

DAY 4 (Saturday)
Brunch and Music at The Listening Room
Rest/Shopping
Dinner at Skulls Rainbow Room in Printer’s Alley
Stay in Printer’s Alleyafter and listen to live music – Alley Taps, Bourbon Stree Blues Bar etc.

Day 5
Sleep in 🙂
Brunch/Lunch Jack’s Bar B-Que
More shopping!
Dinner- Sunda New Asian (The Gulch)
Listen to some live music/songwriter rounds at somewhere like 3rd & Lindsey, Belcourt Tap, Tin Roof etc

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I”d like to shotout a few people who have played a role in my music career. I would like to send a shoutout to my mom who got me interested in singing to begin with because growing up in a house full of music listening to all the cool albums we had, and with her playing the Piano all the time, signging along to all kinds of different songs. I would also like to shoutout the amazing producers that I have worked with along the way: Tony Papa, Gardner Cole, Billy Smiley and Michael Lattanzi.

Website: https://RaquelAurilia.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/raquelaurilia

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/raquelaurilia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/raquelaurilia

Facebook: https://facebook.com/raquelaurilia

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@raquelaurilia

Image Credits
Dire Image- Chelsea Thompson