Singer, songwriter and producer Gretchen Rhodes is certainly moving forward with her artisitic projects in 2024. A mighty talent, Maui powerhouse Gretchen Rhodes is ready to take on the world with the release of three memorable new songs, including the bluesy rocker “Cupid’s Arrow,” which one could imagine the late Christine McVie singing with Fleetwood Mac. “The ultimate plan is to be able to gig as much as we can and tour with our original songs. This is what I love,” says Rhodes.

A mighty talent, Maui powerhouse Gretchen Rhodes is ready to take on the world with the release of three memorable new songs, including the bluesy rocker “Cupid’s Arrow,” which one could imagine the late Christine McVie singing with Fleetwood Mac. Maybe it’s because Rhodes spent 18 years paying homage to the Mac songbook, fronting Mick Fleetwood’s Island Rumours Band and the House of Rumours.

She also released the infectious, funky “Dusted and Done” and the soulful “Sisters Forever,” which were both co-composed by Justin Morris, who plays in the Gretchen Rhodes Band.

Submitted for Hoku consideration, “Cupid’s Arrow,” explores the ups and downs of relationships. “It’s the messiness of being in a relationship,” Rhodes explained. “I’m going to cling on to Cupid’s Arrow for life. I’m going to cling on to this because life’s messy and it’s intertwined.”

The moving “Sisters Forever” is a homage to two best friends who have passed on. Recently interviewed on Hawaii News Now, she sang the song a capella live in the studio.

A strident statement about misogyny in the music business, the rousing “Dusted and Done,” is about “being a woman in this music industry, which is such a man’s world, and being tired of being told what to do and looked over,” said Rhodes. “It’s me being screw this. I’m done with this. It’s 30 years of doing this. It’s a boys’ club. How many rock and roll women do you know as opposed to men?”

Rhodes flew to Nashville to record the songs at the famed RCA Studio and was blessed to have Stax Records’ legend, Steve Cropper, as a producer. The guitarist with Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Cropper played on and co-wrote hits like “Green Onions,” and “Soul Limbo,” and composed with Otis Redding the number one single “Dock of the Bay.” She became friends with Cropper from touring with him and British rock legend Dave Mason for two years in the Rock & Soul Revue.

“When we were on tour together he was like, ‘if you ever need any help with anything.’ So I called Steve and told him I have these three songs. I spent a week in the studio with Nashville session players.”

Besides the Nashville sessions, Rhodes has several recording projects in the works. She flew to Italy in late January to work with Italian blues musician Gennaro Porcelli on a new EP. The duo previously recorded a cover of J.J. Cale’s “Call Me the Breeze” and released a cover of “Please Come Home For Christmas” in December.

They teamed up after Porcelli had reached out to her on Facebook. “He was a blues guitar prodigy who has played with all the legends,” she explained before leaving for Italy. “He is writing the music, and I sent him the lyrics. We have this song called ‘Thinking of You,’ which is being looked out by a few different people to see what we can do with it.”

Then she has a tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s founding guitarist/composer Peter Green and the blues years of Christine McVie, which is planned for a future vinyl release.

It will feature her singing Green’s songs “Rattlesnake Shake,” “Oh Well,” and “Black Magic Woman.” “We hooked up with producer Kerry Brown (Smashing Pumpkins, Ziggy Marley),” she said. “He came to see what ended up being the last show with Mick at Fleetwood’s on Front St. We recorded those three songs, and right after that, the fires happened. Mick is playing on the Peter Green songs, and Carmine Rojas, the bass player for David Bowie.”

Before McVie became famous as a member of Fleetwood Mac, she was part of the ’60s British blues boom, as Christine Perfect in the band Chicken Shack. Rhodes has recorded three of her songs–“Get Like You Used to Be,” “Woman is the Blues” and “It’s Okay With Me Baby”–from those days. “I rerecorded the songs and made the Peter Green songs mine and made those three songs that she wrote mine as well,” she said.

Living on Maui for years, her previous recording credits include singing on country star Kenny Chesney’s song “Happy on the Hey Now (A Song for Kristi)” and starring in his “Wild Child” video, which was filmed on Maui. “She is as good as they come, has a voice that’ll stop you,” Chesney reported. His song “Happy on the Hey Now” was about a late friend, Kristi Hansen, who Rhodes also paid tribute to on “Sisters Forever.”

With a new band and all this recording output, Rhodes is looking forward to a bright 2024. She hopes it will lead to “a respect for the musicianship and lyrics and just music in general. The ultimate plan is to be able to gig as much as we can and tour with our original songs. This is what I love.”