Moree singer Rachel Louise is preparing to release her debut original single, What It Takes. Image supplied.
For Moree singer Rach Cubis, who performs as Rachel Louise, an Adele Tribute Show shared on social media led to an invitation to perform at Wests’ Diggers during the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2026.
The opportunity introduced Rachel to new industry connections. She later began mentoring and songwriting workshops with Australian country artist Gina Jeffreys and is now preparing to release her debut original single, What It Takes, on July 31, 2026.
The spark: From Adele to Tamworth
The momentum began in October 2025 during Rachel’s Adele Tribute Show.
A video from the performance caught the attention of Wests’ Diggers in Tamworth, which invited her to perform during the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2026.
“That was such a huge achievement for myself,” Rachel said.
“It’s a massive thing to be invited.”
The festival experience introduced Rachel to new industry connections and was followed by mentoring with Gina Jeffreys.
Chasing opportunities
After one of Jeffreys’ performances, Rachel introduced herself and spoke about her music and where she hoped to take it.
“In this music industry, you really have to be bold and confident and willing, because nothing’s going to come to you,” Rachel said.
“You have to actually go and chase it.”
The conversation led to mentoring and songwriting workshops with Jeffreys from February 2026. The workshops also included Max Jackson, who encouraged participants to share ideas and develop their songwriting.
Rachel said offering ideas in front of established artists could be intimidating, but the experience helped clarify what she wanted from her music.
“I feel like it’s really opened up what I want to achieve,” she said.
“I just want to make music. I’d like to do this as a full-time career, but for me it’s more about reaching people and writing songs.”
Inside the studio
Those lessons found their way into What It Takes, which Rachel recorded with producer Jake Davey.
The recording process proved far more involved than she had imagined.
It began with a simple demo before Rachel and Davey spent hours reshaping the song in the studio. She later returned for several days of recording, spending a day recording vocals line by line before completing an in-studio photoshoot and filming a music video.
Rachel said the experience gave her a new appreciation of how much work happens behind the scenes before a song reaches listeners.
“It’s about chasing your dreams,” she said of What It Takes.
“It’s about not sitting in the back seat anymore and getting out there.”
“It’s a real big anthem for my life and the direction I’m going.”
An acoustic version of the song was also recorded during the studio sessions and will be released later.
Rachel hopes What It Takes is only the beginning of a longer career in music.
For now, she is focused on writing songs that connect with people and continuing to build on the opportunities she has pursued.
What It Takes will be released on July 31, 2026, and is available to pre-save here.
