By Mandy Tracy

Relationships. A bad day. A broken heart. The emotions felt from these are what Rachel Ulreich thrives on when writing music. She finds her strength in the raw emotion that she puts into her voice to create powerful songs.

A junior music business major, Ulreich is taking the time to finish school before embarking on a music career. She realizes that devoting all of her time to her own personal music would keep her from getting involved with Sigma’capella, an on-campus co-ed a cappella group, and the Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association (M.E.I.S.A.) at Hofstra.

“I’m not a musician who is looking for fame,” says Ulreich. “I want a career that lasts, so I’m going to take my time to build it the right way.”

Ulreich says that when she writes songs, it has to be the right time because her best songs come from such a deep place.

She finds inspiration to write music from the relationships she has had and the situations that make her emotional.

“I think when you can move people to feel that emotion is really powerful,” says Ulreich.

Other than her own tribulations, Ulreich finds inspiration from the music of Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Missy Higgins and Adele. Even as simple as hearing a certain word in a song can give her something to work with.

For now, Ulreich’s raw cuts are available for listening on MySpace, Facebook, ReverbNation and YouTube. In the future, she would like to get a manager and start a band to be able to collaborate with other musicians. She has no interest in burning bridges with people in order to climb to the top and be a pop star.

Since entering college, Ulreich’s songwriting has become more serious than the songs she wrote in fourth grade. Those who listen to her music will be taken to the emotion she was feeling when she wrote it.

“It’s my therapy,” she says. “But it’s also for people to enjoy and relate to.”