Biography

Sam Rae (they/them) blends the traditional landscape of storytelling through song with their roots in classical cello and improvisational cello looping. Rae focuses their performance lens on their Americana/Folk driven songs with vibrant vocals and acoustic guitar painting achingly familiar melodies with strong lyrical content. Rae uses the cello as a hypnotic interlude between songs weaving the performance together with improvised, looped cello melodies that remind the audience of how fleeting every moment can be.

Alongside their national tours as an independent artist they have doubled as cellist and back up singer for Grammy Award-winning artist Brandi Carlile (2015, 2018-2021) and have toured extensively around the US collaborating with a variety of other artists including Gregory Alan Isakov, The Highwomen, Courtney Marie Andrews, Andrea Gibson and more. Sam Rae has been touring and performing original music since 2011 after receiving their degree in Classical Cello Performance from the University of Iowa. In 2020 Sam Rae released their third and most poignant album Ten Thousand Years recorded at the Hall of Justice Studios in Seattle, WA following albums Stories From the Marrow (2014) and Bring us to New Islands (2017). Charleston Magazine describes them as an entity that ‘…is intentional. Once you accept that Rae is taking you on a journey, you can surrender to the ride.’