Rachel Trachtenburg

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Rachel Trachtenburg
Background information
Birth name	Rachel Piña Trachtenburg
Born	December 10, 1993 (age 12)
Origin	Seattle, Washington, United States
Genre(s)	Indie rock,
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress, drummer,
Years active	2000–present
Label(s)	Bar/None Records, Cass Records, Sarathan Records
Website	SlideshowPlayers.com

Rachel Piña Trachtenburg (born December 10, 1993 in Seattle, Washington) is a musician and singer from New York City. She is a drummer and vocalist in the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, a band she is a member of along with her parents, Jason, who is Jewish, and Tina, who is Mexican American.

Rachel Trachtenburg in her younger years on the cover of Time Out New York Kids

Jason and Tina began taking their slideshow act in various places all over Seattle. Later, they added Rachel to the band, with her playing the drums at the age of six. Trachtenburg is multi-talented; She plays not only drums, but the harmonica and the Bass guitar and she sings back-up along with her father. When Rachel is not performing with her family, she has also played guitar with other bands such as King Missile and Schwervon. She also appeared in the short indie film, Happy Birthday, playing the role of Lisa, and was the youngest member of a Seattle-based band. The second youngest member of a Seattle-based band is Chloe of the band Smoosh.

Trachtenburg has often been compared to Meg White of the White Stripes because the two of them wear pigtails.^{[citation needed]} In March of 2004, Trachtenburg made her appearance on the first issue cover of TimeOut New York Kids, posing with a guitar.

To date, Trachtenburg and her family still tour around the world, in numerous places. A lot of people were concerned about Rachel being exploited and performing in underage clubs and bars, but throughout her career, Trachtenburg has proven to herself through various interviews that she is very smart, mature and according to her grandfather, Milton Trachtenburg, a "astute businesswoman".^{[citation needed]} Trachtenburg is also a vegetarian, as are her parents.

A lot of Trachtenburg fans have wondered if Rachel understands the lyrics in which she is singing. In an interview for PopMatters.com, her father said this:

I think about that in particular she doesn't know what we're talking about. It's just a lyric, but with Iraq becoming the new Vietnam, or so they say, maybe it will become all that much clearer.

Her mother also added:

She's definitely not learning about Agent Orange in school, but it's kind of a history lesson for her. I don't think she knows about that.

Rachel and her parents are currently 'characters' for USA Network's 'Characters Welcome' campaign. One of her favorite foods are bagels with cream cheese.

Trachtenburg's favorite musicians include Quasi, ELO, Led Zeppelin, Moldy Peaches, The White Stripes, Bicycle, The Beatles, Andrew Katz, Dorkweed, Nellie McKay, Regina Spektor, Anna Copacabana, Liquid Tapedeck, Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra, Rufus Wainwright, ABBA, Funkadelic and The Cardigans.

There are two songs written about Rachel: "May I Have Your Hand Rachel Trachtenburg?" by Liquid Tapedeck and "Rachel Trachtenburg" by Touching You. Trachtenburg appears on anti-folk musician Lach's album Today. The Rachel doll are all handmade by Tina, Rachel's mother. The dolls are only available through the mail or at a Trachtenburg show.

In 2000, she was declared #1 performer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and also the only child performer at the festival. Rachel has plans to create an all-girl band called The Oh My God Girls. She is currently in the 7th grade at the Alternative School No. 1 in Seattle. The rest of her time, she is homeschooled by her parents.