Rachel Potter has taken an unconventional path in music, starting with Christian music, then moving to Broadway, then competing on The X-Factor, to becoming a country singer.
At age sixteen, Potter released her first Christian album, Come Back Home, with the label, Narrow Door. It wasn’t until after college that she’d start her interest in musicals: she landed her first gig playing various roles at Disney World, such as Ariel, Belle, and Nemo. Doors began to open when she auditioned for MTV’s reality competition for Legally Blonde: The Musical—The Search for Elle Woods, making it to the Top 15. This led her to Broadway, where she made her debut as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, across stars like Brooke Shields. The following year, she originated The Mistress in the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Evita. In tandem with Evita, she also released an EP called Live the Dream and sang her ballad, “Hold Onto Me” on CBS New York around the height of the show. Other musical credits include Broadway’s Wicked (Glinda’s understudy), High School Musical (Sharpay), Wild Party (Sally), and Spring Awakening (Wendla).
Afterwards, Potter decided to compete in The X-Factor (Season 3). Her audition amassed upwards of 52 million views. She reached eleventh place and received praise from her mentor, Kelly Rowland, who referred to Potter as a “powerhouse.”
Following The X-Factor, Potter released her album, Not So Black and White, which was critically acclaimed by Huffington Post, Billboard, Rolling Stone, and more. Entertainment Tonight and CMT’s “New Artist Spotlight” both featured her music video. More recently, she joined forces with Donny Fallgatter and Josh Matheny to create the band Steel Union.
Additionally, Potter’s been a featured singer on the Today Show, with both acappella groups VoicePlay and Voctave, as well as over twenty different symphonies.