Biography
This mantra bookends any show from Brooklyn-based Sammy Rae & the Friends, tuning the audience’s mindset before performances and celebrating the sprit of friendship at the close. It’s this celebration of humanity that has driven the rise of the 8-piece band over the last four years, beginning in New York City and expanding throughout the United States and globally. Each performance, whether in person or more recently digital, is a reminder that we are all as great in the things that bring us together as the things that make us unique.
Sammy Rae grew up in a small town in Connecticut, learning piano, and penning her first crop of songs at the age of 12. Under the spell of artist life Queen and Ella Fitzgerald to Bruce Springsteen and Aretha Franklin, she honed her voice as a singer and songwriter. Moving to New York at age 19, she pursued a career as a professional singer from an early age, singing at spotlight clubs like the Cotton Club and The Bitter End while continuing to write and record at a prolific pace. In the summer of 2018, she released her debut EP “The Good Life” and caught fire leading to increasingly larger sold-out shows around the NYC-area at world-renowned venues like The Brooklyn Bowl and Le Poisson Rouge, and recently Brooklyn Steel. The lineup solidified early, bringing in C-Bass Chiriboga [drums], James Quinlan [bass], Will Leet [guitar/keys], Myra Moon[backing vocals], Kaya Kulu [backing vocals], Max Zooi [tenor saxophone/synths], and Kellon Anderson [alto saxophone]. While the shows and online presence have continued to grow exponentially (currently almost 500,000 monthly Spotify listeners), the band still prides itself on the grassroots growth of it’s fanbase and the music’s message of self-love, self-identity, acceptance, and creating a safe space for the overlooked and underserved.
While Sammy’s songwriting pulls on her influences and personal voice as a queer artist, the group’s sound brings to life the diverse make up of the band, equally drawing inspiration from Jazz in New York City, Folk Americana in New England, Latin Rhythm in South Florida, Rock and Roll in California, Blues and Soul in the American South, and beyond. Linguistically, the band draws on their bi-lingual Spanish speakers as heard in the song “Creo Lo Sientes”.
International commitments are nothing new to the group. In their short time together, the band has already performed in Brazil and England. A few members of the band are seasoned touring pros on their own, with C-Bass an alum of AMA (2019 Aberdeen – Mongolia & Kyrgyzstan) and James performing for the State Department on two tours through Russia with Migguel Anggelo (2016 & 2018) as well as other international shows in Thailand, Sweden, Argentina, and the Caribbean.