Song Spotlight: Rachel Goodrich's Why Do We Fall In Love? (a night at The Fable)

I noticed that Rachel Goodrich was playing Ryan Pollie's showcase at The Fable. There was a tough decision to make. That tough decision wasn't rather or not I was going to The Fable on a Tuesday night. No, the tough decision was what future night was getting cut out of my schedule. I'll repeat what I've written before, 2025 is dedicated to going out less often than I did in 2024. In 2024, I would not have made an adjustment to my schedule, but this being 2025 it means that unexpected surprises result in scratching a future planned music night. To say it this way: I really wanted to catch up with Goodrich again. 

Rachel Goodrich at The Fable

My first encounter with Rachel Goodrich was actually a non-encounter at Make Music Pasadena in 2016. I was with a group of friends and it was suggested that we check out her set. I don't remember what exactly the situation was, but I missed the set. Either we got there and she'd already gotten up on stage or the venue was running late. This is Los Angeles and that meant another opportunity to catch a set popped up soon enough. The 2016 calendar flipped over to August and I got to see a set at Harvard & Stone. Here's a sentence I wrote about the night, "Most of the set was with her playing a guitar on her lap." 

Rachel Goodrich at The Fable

I've followed Goodrich throughout the years. In 2018, I shot her Echo Park Rising set for Buzzbands, which you can read here. If you follow my Instagram page, you know I have the "Notes from Vivace Rule: eye the camera get a post on Instagram" series. Buzzbands has an example of that look. There was a possibility that like Make Music Pasadena I would have missed her set. The goal of Echo Park Rising is to shoot as many bands as possible for blog sites such as Buzzbands. Her stage was behind by 30 minutes. I so wanted to make sure that she got some love on Buzzbands that I went back and forth three different times -- leaving to shoot other sets before making it back. One of those sets that I shot during those speed walks back and forth was Livingmore. Livingmore played Trencher. Goodrich played Blue Collar. Both businesses are now closed so for context that is like walking from The Echo to the Short Stop and back to The Echo. Yes, I'm insane. 

Rachel Goodrich at The Fable

Another big memory about catching a Goodrich set has to be August 20th, 2023. That's the night of tropical storm Hilary, which dumped a whole lot of rain in the middle of summer. I figured the night would be cancelled, but it was still a go even though she mentioned that she was forced to come out and play the set as the promoter refused to cancel the night. Obviously, I wasn't all that concerned about going out myself during a tropical storm though to be honest I believe the tropical storm had largely run its course. 

Back in April, she released her Once Before album. Over the years, she's shifted her sound from that of a singer-songwriter to a jazz enthusiast. I was primed for a jazz night as during the weekend I had watched Round Midnight. The Fable set started off with attempting to deal with a buzzing sound that she was in a very focused mood to solve, "This is a comedy show. What's up with this amp." She wasn't able to figure it fully out, but the buzzing did quiet down. The night had a distinct Herbie Hancock (did the soundtrack for Round Midnight) vibe, one just needed to replace the saxophone with Goodrich's guitar playing. Unlike 2016, she did not play the guitar on her lap, but she still played it in her own unique fashion.  

Rachel Goodrich at The Fable

All 8 songs from the album were played. "Why Do We Fall In Love?" is a lovelorn piece that is a nice representation of the album. If you're interested in the full lyrics, click here, but here's a short snipit:

It's bittersweet
And somethings just aren't
Meant to be.

Comment of the set as perhaps Goodrich didn't wish to tell the bar to shut up, "Everybody's having fun at the bar. Give a round of applause for the bar." From the more attentive group of people not hanging at the bar, came the response, "Rachel!" 

Rachel Goodrich at The Fable

In the audience was Jenny O. It was a reminder that I need to catch a Jenny O set as soon as possible.

Setlist: When You Know, You Know. Why Do We Fall In Love?. You Don't Own Your Swing. The Moon, Art Deco Town. Love You Still. For You. Dreamland.