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Sammy Rae & The Friends
American jazz-pop band from Brooklyn
Sammy Rae & The Friends is an American jazz-pop band from Brooklyn, New York City, led by singer-songwriter Samantha "Sammy Rae" Bowers. Formed in 2016, the group is known for high-energy live shows; in February 2024 they played two sold-out nights at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club.
Their debut studio album, Something for Everybody, was released on September 20, 2024, via Nettwerk, following the EPs The Good Life (2018) and Let's Throw a Party (2021).
Singer Samantha Bowers assembled the Friends in New York after moving to the city in her late teens; early shows and singles in 2018 led to a rapid live following and a sold-out hometown EP release show for The Good Life. A 2020 Boston Globe profile described the ensemble as a “musical community” with horns, rhythm section and backing vocalists, noting sellouts and expanded touring around the Northeast.
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. 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. She realized that she wanted to be a songwriter at the age of 12 after watching a segment on VH1 about Bruce Springsteen. When she was 15, she played her first show. 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. She then attended the University of New Haven for one year studying sound...
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. It was during this period that she met the six other musicians who became her bandmates in 2016. At this time, she was also a member of folk-rock band "Newcomers Club". In November 2016, she released her first album, Sugar, with 10-tracks recorded at Flux Studios on the Lower East Side. She later deleted the album, claiming it was "off-brand".
