A-Cross the styles: Takoma musician merges world, folk
by Ellyn Wexler
Staff Writer

Feb. 21, 2001
The world beat goes on for Takoma Park musician Rachel Cross.
With the release of a first solo CD and recognition from the Washington Area Music Association as the best female worldbeat vocalist in late January, both her year and her most recent incarnation are off to an excellent start.
It's not that any of this is new to Cross, who was lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the world beat band Big Village for 11 years. In fact, she won three WAMMIE awards in that same category during the late '90s.
The difference is that Cross is making it on her own. Although she performs regularly as part of a duo and an ensemble and enlists instrumental support from her former colleagues from time to time, Cross now focuses on writing, performing and recording her own music. And she has changed her style from worldbeat to what she calls "adventurous folk," a combination of worldbeat and folk.
Some definitions are in order. Worldbeat, Cross says, includes musical styles from around the world -- in terms of different rhythms, accents and syncopations, scales, instruments, sometimes even languages. By folk, she means the American gamut, from traditional Woody Guthrie-type to gospel to inner city rap.
In fact, Cross observes, "Worldbeat is the folk music of other countries."
She is pleased and relieved by her recent successes.
"I feel really blessed to have received recognition and support," says Cross, 37. "When you change styles or bands, you don't know if people will change with you."
She wrote eight of the 10 songs on her new CD, "Angels & Aliens, Monsters & Freaks." On most, she plays acoustic guitar.
"I play mostly acoustic because I'm more comfortable with it; it was my first instrument. And I think it has a warmer sound," says Cross, who also plays blues and regular harmonica (which she claims she can play while driving and is not nearly as dangerous as a cell phone) and dabbles in percussion.
Cross tapped into what she calls the "wealth of musicians in the area" to accompany her. She brought in Big Villagers including her husband Henry Cross, on bass; her duo partner Jaqui MacMillan, on djembe [an African drum] and other percussion instruments; and singer Neeta Ragoowasnki; and well-known locals Al Petteway, on acoustic guitar and Ron Holloway, on saxophone.
Petteway, who Cross credits with all her "good guitar habits," has worked with her as teacher and fellow musician.
"Rachel has the rare talent of being able to make people smile," he observes. "She has some of the best 'positive energy' of anybody I know. She brings that same excitement and energy to everything she does whether it's art, music or working with children."
Musical history
The decision to disband Big Village in 1999 provided impetus for Cross to move on to the next phase of her career.
"I thought we had hit a plateau. We went through members more quickly, our focus dissipated, none of us were satisfied musically.
"It was a beautiful adventure, but it was time for a change."
The band had evolved from the duo Rest Area she and then- boyfriend Henry Cross had started.
"We were both very interested in music from other countries, and wanted to create what we weren't hearing here. We both like to push the envelope on what we think we can do," Cross says.
Rest Duo played "quiet music, as a diversion from the everyday rat race and the usual music," Cross says, then expanded to Big Village "when we found people were dancing to us."
"We realized we needed to make a bigger sound. We were listening to African pop music where they'd have 25 people up on stage, each making part of the polyrhythmic sound. We wanted to get that kind of call and response going vocally," she explains.
As Big Village, their performance opportunities grew, with gigs at festivals and international days.
In the early '90s, Cross recalls, "World music was gaining in popularity and the term 'diversity' was coming into everyday speech. It was a great time for us."
Multitasking
Although not directly related, Cross works in two other areas that serve to enhance her music.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts has commissioned Rachel and Henry Cross to write and record an original musical score for a production of an international folk tale. This year, they collaborated on "The Magic Babushka and Other Tales" for the Imagination Stage.
"I like to research the sounds and instruments from other cultures. It seeps into my own music; it inspires me," she says.
After the Russian project, Cross bought an effects pedal for her guitar that simulates the sound of the Russian balalaika, a multi-stringed instrument that she says sounds like a mandolin or bouzouki.
Cross has been teaching visual arts [she studied at the Parsons School of Design and the Corcoran] and guitar in various local programs since college. Currently, on a second grant, she spends eight hours a week creating and recording original songs with 80 4- to 6-year-olds from School-within-school at Peabody on Capitol Hill.
"It's a great way for kids to express themselves. They're the best songwriters on the planet because they don't have preconceived ideas of what a song should be. They take risks all the time, they don't even realize it," she says.
Some of the children recorded a 27-second "School Byte" for Cross' CD.
"I gave them a little air time because they give me so much," she explains. "Kids keep it real, they keep me honest."
At home in Takoma
Rachel Cross is doing the things she likes to do -- composing, recording, performing, studying, teaching, collaborating -- all from her Takoma Park base, which she says, is the perfect locale.
"Takoma Park seemed to fit the philosophy of my music. It is a Big Village -- it is a truly diverse and international community where neighbors actually know each other. World music and folk music is in the air, the food and the water ... On my street, I am lucky enough to have neighbors from Ethiopia, The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Croatia and New York, as well as folks of all ages and sexual identities ... and we all co-exist quite amicably."
She considers herself successful.
"I'm making a life making music," she says, and aspires "to continue in that vein, and even do it more, bring my music to bigger audiences. I'd like to get to the point where I could give back, maybe start a guitar program in a school that can't afford it."