Rain Perry
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Rain Perry (born November 9, 1966) is a folk-rock singer/songwriter. Her song "Beautiful Tree" was the theme song for the CW Network series Life Unexpected. "Yosemite," her celebration of the pains of growing up, won the Grand Prize (Folk Division) in the 2000 John Lennon Songwriting Contest and has been recorded by Tom Russell and Nanci Griffith. She is the author of autobiographical one-woman, multi-media show Cinderblock Bookshelves.
Biography
Rain Noel Perry was born in Hollywood, California. She spent her early years in Los Angeles and Redondo Beach as a member of Bethel Tabernacle church. When her young mother died in 1974 Perry was raised by her father, writer/actor John Hazen Perry. They lived variously in Marin County, southwestern Colorado, and Los Angeles, before settling in Ojai, California, where she attended Nordhoff High School, graduating in 1984. She married attorney Bill Slaughter in 1988 and graduated with high honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1995, with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. She and her husband live in Ojai with their two daughters.
When she was twenty-two, Perry was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which affects two million Americans, mostly women. She now works as an advocate for people with arthritis. In 2000, she produced "Agility: A Woman’s Music Festival to Benefit the Arthritis Foundation," featuring Julie Christensen, Perla Batalla, Victoria Williams and Sara Hickman.
The play “Cinderblock Bookshelves” evolved from her 2008 album of the same name and is a memoir of her counterculture childhood, an ode to her imperfect, beloved family. The play's subtitle is "A Guide for Children of Fame-Obsessed Bohemian Nomads," and it had its world premiere in 2008 at Theater 150 in Ojai, California, under the direction of Kim Maxwell, with Sasha Heslip producing.
Rain's song "Beautiful Tree," from the album Cinderblock Bookshelves, was chosen as the theme for the CW Network television series Life Unexpected. Rain appeared as herself, alongside Sarah MacLachlan and Ben Lee, in a music festival episode, a crossover with the series One Tree Hill.
Music
Rain Perry has released four albums and a CD single on her own label, Precipitous Records. She has been a guest performer albums by other musicians. Her last three albums were produced by Mark Hallman at the Congress House in Austin, Texas.
Film
Perry’s first film, a documentary about Mark Hallman of the Congress House studio called The Shopkeeper featuring Ani DiFranco, Eliza Gilkyson, Sara Hickman,Tom Russell, and Mark Andes, is in production and will appear in festivals in 2016.
Awards
▪ 2000 Telluride Troubadour Competition (Telluride Bluegrass Festival) Finalist ▪ 2000 John Lennon Songwriting Contest – Grand Prize (Folk Division) ▪ 2005 ROCKRGRL Discoveries Award Grand Prize
Discography
- Balance (2000)
- Wide Awake (CD Single) (2001)
- Cinderblock Bookshelves (2008)
- Internal Combustion (2011)
- Men (2013)
References
- Four Folk Tales for the Modern Age
- Amazon.com
- "Clouded By Memories" - Ventura County Star
- Aspen Times
- Ventura County Reporter: Growing Up Naked
- Ventura County Reporter: Rain on Film
- Filmmaking Noob Rain Perry on What She's Learned About the Craft
- Production Values: A Music Film Celebrates a Storied Austin Studio
