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Hidden Gems: Meet Rachel Sellick of Scarlet River PR

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Sellick.

Hi Rachel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
In 2017, I attended Country2Country Festival at the O2 Area, London. During the 4-day weekend, I met a bunch of great people, a couple of which were looking to release country music!

Although being an absolute lover of mainstream US country music, I wasn’t aware of the growing UK scene so, jumped at the opportunity to get involved. At the time – studying for an undergraduate degree in Human Biology – I knew that I was probably better equipped and suited to help with the organization, and promotional aspect as, as a scientist, I spend a lot of time writing emails! Little did I know, the release of this debut single would lead to connections and opportunities abroad!

Over the course of the coming months, I was organising full UK tours, festival appearances in the US, and was a part of multiple award nominations and award wins. Although not everything that came to be was as fancy as that, I really found that I belonged in this area and decided to become an independent artist manager. In 2019 I decided that I wanted to take my artist management to the next step, working in a more professional capacity and with more artists. So, at the end of 2019, Scarlet River Management came to be!

As with most jobs, 2020 was hit with COVID-19 and, this really made me re-analyze my business, and where to go with it. A lot of touring opportunities weren’t possible, and as a result, a lot of the ordinary managerial roles and artist opportunities had come to a halt. Having been involved in the music industry for a couple of years and having spent a lot of time on social media, I figured that I probably had a good amount of connections with others involved in the industry to help up-and-coming artists within the country music industry!

Many artists had already recorded tracks that were ready for release but, were uncertain about whether to release. This is where my interest in PR came about! I loved the idea of working with numerous artists, and using my connections to help them and point them in the right direction to further their own careers! I was really grateful for all the support that I received in this, and at the end of 2021, I decided to make this my full-time focus!

Scarlet River PR provides a full suite of PR services as well as touring opportunities across the UK and Europe. We have worked with award-winning country music artists in the UK and in Nashville, and I have been humbly recognized by receiving nominations from Indie Star Radio, Woods Music Norway, and the International Singer-Songwriters Association (ISSA).

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh, I wish!

I think it can be very easy – whoever you are – to struggle with self-doubt or enthusiasm at one time or another. I wrote an article a couple of years about which I entitled ‘You Do Not Need To Be ‘Qualified’ to Qualify’. The main take-aways from this article really were to stress that if you have a passion and a talent for something, you can do it, and a lot of this came from me believing in my own ability and overcoming those fears.

I’m also not one for using my gender as a reason for struggle, but there were occasional periods where I wasn’t taken seriously because, I was ‘the roady or, ‘the one following her friend around’ when actually I’d organized the whole flippin’ thing! https://theeverydaymagazine.co.uk/opinion/you-dont-need-to-be-qualified-to-do-what-you-love.

We’ve been impressed with Scarlet River PR, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Since its origin as a boutique management agency, Scarlet River PR has worked with award-winning country music artists in the UK, Europe, and the United States. I like to think that one of the reasons the company is set apart from others is that I really try to work hard and be persistent as an individual. That way, I hope our clients feel that they are working with another human being rather than being seen as another client in a company looking to make money.

Since 2020, the business has been nominated twice for Fair Play Country’s music management company of the year, as well as receiving nominations from Indie Star Radio, Woods Music Norway, and the International Singer-Songwriters Association (ISSA).

I like to think that I have been exceptionally driven to ensure that the company is seen as a professional, yet homely brand where people know exactly who they are working with, and that our vision is their vision, amplified! Our two primary focuses are to provide country music artists in the UK with an extensive presence with non-genre as well as genre-specific media and, to provide non-UK artists with a presence in an ever-growing UK country scene.

You can find out more about Scarlet River, its previous clients, and what we do via the website: www.scarletriverpr.com.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most who do not know me personally probably don’t know that I am currently in my 2nd year (of 4) of my Ph.D. in Neuroscience!

I am funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to research the genetic neurological disease, Huntington’s Disease, and am working with my laboratory at Cardiff University to investigate how we might slow the progression of the disease and enhance the quality of life!

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