Rachael Eisley

Who is Rachael Eisley?

Rachael Eisley, (b. 17 July 1971), is the only child of Lionel William, a Swiss national, and Vera (née Spence-McDougall) Eisley. She was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but spent her early years in Montreal, Quebec, where her father was a financier with Wegelin & Co. When Eisley was four years old, her father died of a heart attack while driving in a car with his wife and daughter. After his death, her mother worked as a school teacher. In 1986, when her mother remarried, the family returned to their native St. John’s.

As music was an early passion of Eisley’s, Vera encouraged her daughter to experiment liberally with many instruments, and so it is little wonder that Eisley developed proficiency with the guitar, keyboard, French horn and harp. Eisley cites Lonnie Mack, Link Wray and Duane Eddy as early influences on her development as a guitarist. It was chiefly as a guitarist that Eisley approached Fahy; later, emphasis was placed on her synthesizer work.