Rebekah Long
| Rebekah Long | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rebekah Ann Marie Long January 19, 1984 Lincolnton, GA |
| 🏫 Education | BA in Music Education, BA in Bluegrass Music, SAE Institute - Recording & Mix Engineer (Honors) |
| 💼 Occupation | Bluegrass/Americana Artist |
| 📆 Years active | 2005-Present |
| 🏡 Home town | Lincolnton, GA |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Ben Speer (m.2014) |
| 👴 👵 Parents |
|
| 🌐 Website | www.rebekahlong.com |
| Twitter= | |
Rebekah Long (; born January 19, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, recording and mix engineer.[1]Born and raised in Lincolnton, Georgia, Long was one of the first students to graduate from the Glenville State College Bluegrass Certificate Program after it was created in 2002. With a BA in Bluegrass Music and a BA in Music Education under her belt, Long immersed herself in the bluegrass business working as a recording engineer, graphic designer, video editor and session musician while also playing in various bands.
Personal Life[edit]
Rebekah Long was born in Lincoln County, growing up on a generational farm working alongside family in duties like cattle, barrel racing, logging, carpentry, brick masons, and septic services. She is estranged from her real mother and her father, Raleigh Meldrum Long Jr, worked for the tri-county area as a Health Environmentalist III, and was also responsible for the family farm with her grandfather Raleigh Meldrum Long Sr. Her real mother was born in Connecticut and father in Georgia. She was named after her great grandmother on her mother's side, Rebekah Leone and her middle name coming from Grandmother, "Ann Raccio". She was raised in Lincolnton and attended Lincoln County Elementary & High School. In 2000, Long, her twin sister and younger brother were placed into the foster care system. Her brother would return to live with their father after 6 months and her twin sister was placed with Little Roy and Bonnie Lewis, whereas Rebekah was placed first with her youth pastor's. Long's first set of foster parents would eventually return back to work overseas on American Embassy's as contractors and after 9 months she was invited to live with her high school English/Drama teacher, Randy Smith, and his wife, Jeanie Smith, who also worked as the media specialist. Long considers Smith as her mother. Long was voted "Most Accident Prone" (after breaking her arm and then ribs from multiple horse accidents) in the 2001 school superlatives election in her senior year (class of 2002). Long majored in music education at Georgia Southern University but left after two years transferring to Glenville State College in Glenville, WV. She earned money by starting her first bluegrass band, Mountain Fury, in 2005 playing upright bass alongside her twin sister Lizzy Long.
Long returned to Nashville rejoining boyfriend Ben Speer. Long would continue her education into recording and mix engineering at Nashville's SAE Institute location graduating with honors. She married Southern Gospel artist Ben Lacy Speer on October 27, 2014 (Wedding Ceremony was held on December 6th, 2014) about twelve years after their first meeting on a Gaither Homecoming Cruise. Speer passed away at 86 on April 7, 2017 after three years of battling Alzheimer's Disease.[1][2][3][4]
Career[edit]
Long relocated to Nashville, TN in the winter of 2004, after being invited to stay with boyfriend Ben Speer. She landed her first professional side musician role with identical twin, Lizzy Long and Little Roy Lewis in approximately 2005. After graduating from the SAE Institute in October 2009 long interned at The SoundShop under grammy winning engineer, Mark Capps, while continuing to perform with her twin and Lewis. Long left her long-time position with The Little Roy & Lizzy Long Show to join Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike on upright bass. By 2011, Long grew weary of the road and became depressed. After concern expressed by Speer to mother Jeanie Smith and Long's twin, word found it's way to Country singer and songwriter Tom T. Hall and wife, "Ms. Dixie" Hall. Ms. Dixie would call Rebekah and in her own British with a hint of southern accent demand Long come out to Fox Hollow where the Hall's offered her a job doing their graphic design and eventually in house recording and engineering. This began the long journey working with Dixie and creating and releasing the box set for the final "The Daughters of Bluegrass" project that included over 120 women in the bluegrass genre and 70 songs from Hall (one being Long's first co-penned and step out as a solo artist). This would be the start of long time friendship with Singer and Songwriter, Donna Ulisse. Unfortunately, after Hall became sick, Long moved on going back to work on Nashville's "Music Row" at Catch This Music Studios (2013) then was hired on as house engineer for Dale Morris's The Tracking Room (2013-2014). Long would marry (Oct 2014) long-time boyfriend Ben Speer and come off the road to care for him after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in March of 2015.
During this time Long found solace in songwriting, an interest fostered by her work with the Hall's and nurtured by Donna Ulisse, and began cowriting with Ulisse who would eventually become her producer. Long now has two solo projects under her belt with Donna Ulisse at the helm producing. Rebekah's first and only appearance while Speer was alive was in Guyton, GA at The Mossy Oak's Daughter of Bluegrass Festival. After her husband's death, Rebekah took back to the stage and road as a full-time bluegrass/americana artist at Norman Adam's 6th Annual The Lizzy Long and Little Roy Lewis Bluegrass Festival in Lincolnton, GA.[1][2][4][5]
Discography[edit]
Other Notable Works[6][edit]
| 2016 | Fired Up | Randy Houser | Assistant Engineer |
| 2015 | Aaron Tippin 25 | Aaron Tippin | Assistant Engineer |
| 2014 | Classic Christmas | Tim Rushlow / Tim Rushlow & His Big Band | Assistant Engineer |
| The Songwriter in Me: The Demo Recordings | Donna Ulisse | Track Engineer | |
| Wilder Days | Natasha Borzilova | Graphic Design | |
| 2013 | A Cappella | The Martins | Vocal Engineer, Assistant Engineer |
| 2013 | Goodbye Trouble | Jackson Ward | Engineer |
| 2010 | Giving Thanks | Bill & Gloria Gaither/Homecoming Friends | Assistant Engineer |
| 2010 | Blame It on the Bluegrass | Valerie Smith | Bass, Vocal Harmony, Assistant Engineer, Cover Design |
| 2012 | Pickin' Like a Girl | The Daughters of Bluegrass | Composer, Engineer, Producer, Musician, Vocalist, Graphic Design |
| 2011 | So Much in Between | Brooke Aldridge / Darin Aldridge | Vocal Engineer |
| Breaking Like Dawn | Little Roy Lewis & Lizzy Long | Background Vocals |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Rebekah Long". Rebekah Long. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Rebekah Long | Hadley Music Group Records". hadleymusicgroup.com. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
- ↑ "REBEKAH LONG". Bluegrass Unlimited. 2018-06-01. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Strictly Country - Long, Rebekah - Here I Am". www.strictly-country.com. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
- ↑ "Rebekah Long is Here with "Here I Am" | Cybergrass Bluegrass Music News". www.cybergrass.com. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Rebekah Long | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
External links[edit]
- https://www.rebekahlong.com
- https://www.facebook.com/rebekahlongmusician
- https://www.twitter.com/rebekahlong
Rebekah Long[edit]
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