Sammy Rae | |
---|---|
Birth name | Samantha Rae Bowers |
Born | Derby, Connecticut, U.S. | January 4, 1994
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) |
|
Years active | 2016–present |
Labels | |
Website | sammyrae |
Samantha Rae Bowers [1] (born January 4, 1994), known professionally as Sammy Rae, is an American jazz rock and indie singer-songwriter and the leader of the band Sammy Rae & The Friends. [2] [3] [4] She has released one album, two EPs, and one live album, with another studio album slated to be released in 2024. Her musical style is influenced by funk, jazz, rock, folk, and pop. [5]
Rae was born in Derby, Connecticut on January 4, 1994. Rae enjoyed singing from a very young age, starting with nursery rhymes as a toddler. [6] When she was young, her parents fostered her interest in the arts, taking her to participate in a children’s theatre company in Shelton, after-school choirs, and piano lessons. [7] She realized that she wanted to be a songwriter at the age of 12 after watching a segment on VH1 about Bruce Springsteen. [8] When she was 15, she played her first show. [7] She attended Sacred Heart Academy, a private, all-girls Catholic high school with uniform requirements and little chance for self-expression, where she was a member of the art scene. [7] [9] She then attended the University of New Haven for one year studying sound engineering and audio technology. [10] In 2013, at the age of 19, Rae moved to New York City to pursue songwriting and study music and teaching at Manhattan College. [11] She dropped out in 2014 and worked waiting tables while pursuing music in her free time.
Rae took up a six-month residency at the Cotton Club jazz lounge in Harlem, while regularly singing at open mic shows and writing and recording her own songs. [9] It was during this time that she met the six other musicians who became her bandmates in 2016. [11] In November 2016, she released her first album, Sugar, with 10-tracks recorded at Flux Studios on the Lower East Side. [6] She later deleted the album, claiming it was "off-brand".
In 2018, her band, Sammy Rae & The Friends, released their EP The Good Life, followed in 2021 by their EP Let's Throw a Party. [12] Through 2021 and 2022, the band gained popularity on Spotify, partly due to being featured on the platform's "Discover Weekly" playlist. [11]
The band cancelled its 2020 tour dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [11] In 2021, the band embarked on the Follow Me Like The Moon Tour, playing shows across the United States, as well as Toronto, Ontario. [13] In 2022, the band completed their If It All Goes South tour. [14] In 2023, the band released an album composed of live recordings from this tour, called The If It All Goes South Tour (Live). In 2023, the band began its CAMP: The Tour! tour, named after the artistic style of camp. [15] [16]
The band is in the process of recording their debut studio album, slated for release in 2024. [16]
Rae stated she was influenced by church music (particularly gospel music) and classic rock, as well as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon for vocals, and the E Street Band for their group dynamics. [17] The band's style is influenced by the diverse musical backgrounds of all its members, with genres such as jazz, rock, funk, folk, theater, and world music. [11]
Sammy Rae identifies as queer and uses she/her or they/them pronouns. [11] As such, her music often includes themes of queer and female empowerment. This is most apparent in her song "Jackie Onassis," which Rae has stated is "a love song to my first crushes, and it’s also a love song to all young women." [18]
Release Date | Name |
---|---|
July 20, 2018 | The Good Life |
January 22, 2021 | Let's Throw A Party |
Release Date | Name |
---|---|
November 4, 2016 | Sugar |
August 11, 2023 | The If It All Goes South Tour (Live) |
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements. She has received many accolades, including eleven Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century."
The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal and David Lovering (drums). They disbanded acrimoniously in 1993 but reunited in 2004. After Deal left in 2013, the Pixies hired Kim Shattuck as a touring bassist. She was replaced that year by Paz Lenchantin. She became a full member in 2016, and recorded three studio albums with the band before departing in 2024.
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk, and country. She was also a frequent session player and collaborator with other artists, including Warren Zevon, Little Feat, Jackson Browne, the Pointer Sisters, John Prine, and Leon Russell.
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. They started performing with the name Indigo Girls as students at Emory University, performing weekly at The Dugout, a bar in Emory Village.
Aimee Elizabeth Mann is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects. Mann's work with the producer Jon Brion in the 1990s was influential on American alternative rock.
Music of Utah has long been influenced culturally by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The local music scene thrives. The musical history of Utah, and much of its current distinctiveness, is owed to artists from a variety of beliefs.
Rickie Lee Jones is an American singer, musician and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two-time Grammy Award winner, Jones was listed at No. 30 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Rock & Roll in 1999. AllMusic stated: "Few singer/songwriters are as individual and eclectic as Rickie Lee Jones, a vocalist with an expressive and smoky instrument, and a composer who can weave jazz, folk, and R&B into songs with a distinct pop sensibility."
Paula Dorothy Cole is an American singer-songwriter and producer. After gaining attention for her performances as a vocalist on Peter Gabriel's 1993–1994 Secret World Tour, she released her first album, Harbinger, which suffered from a lack of promotion when the label, Imago Records, folded shortly after its release. Her second album, This Fire (1996), brought her worldwide acclaim, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard 200 album chart and producing two hit singles, the triple-Grammy nominated "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?", which reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, and "I Don't Want to Wait", which was used as the theme song of the television show Dawson's Creek. Cole was a featured performer in the 1996 prototype mini-tour for Lilith Fair, and also was a headliner for Lilith Fair in 1997 and 1998. She won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1998, and also became the first woman ever to be nominated for "Producer of the Year" in her own right in that same year.
Tanya Donelly is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England. She came to prominence as a co-founder of the band Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band The Breeders alongside Kim Deal in 1989, before leaving to front her own band Belly in 1991. By the late 1990s, she settled into a solo recording career, working largely with musicians connected to the Boston music scene.
Karan Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas. She resides in Cork, Ireland.
Corin Lisa Tucker is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously recorded with the indie rock group Heavens to Betsy and The Corin Tucker Band.
Alechia Janeice Campbell known professionally as Leela James, is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California.
Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics.
Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of Canadian Idol in 2007. In 2008, Jepsen released her folk-influenced debut studio album Tug of War in Canada before it was internationally released in 2011.
Becca Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who draws upon elements of jazz, chamber pop, indie rock, and folk.
Phoebe Lucille Bridgers is an American singer-songwriter. Her indie folk music typically centers around acoustic guitar and electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes. She has received four Grammy Awards from eleven nominations.
Lucy Elizabeth Dacus is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dacus attracted attention with her debut album No Burden (2016), which led to a deal with Matador Records. Historian, her second album, was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Home Video, her third studio album, was released in 2021.
Ashley Dyan McBryde is an American country music singer–songwriter. She grew up in Arkansas and she was drawn to various types of music from a young age. She also developed a passion for writing songs and later moved to Nashville to pursue a music career.
Stella Donnelly is a Welsh-Australian indie rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. After the success of her debut EP Thrush Metal in 2017, she signed with Secretly Canadian in 2018. She released her debut studio album Beware of the Dogs to critical acclaim in March 2019, peaking at number 15 on the ARIA Album Charts, and winning Independent Album of the Year at the AIR Awards. Her second studio album, Flood, was released in August 2022, debuting at number 29 on the ARIA Charts.
Jordan Shulman, known by his stage name as Jordy, is an American singer-songwriter.