Sammy Rae & The Friends @ HI-FI Annex

SAMMY RAE & THE FRIENDS W/ SIR WOMAN @ HI-FI ANNEX INDIANAPOLIS 

DOORS: 6:00 PM, SHOW: 7:00 PM

GENERAL ADMISSION, LIMITED SEATING.

AGE RESTRICTIONS: ALL AGES

ALL TICKETS ARE NON TRANSFERABLE AND NON REFUNDABLE. SUPPORT ACTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

----------------------------

About Sammy Rae & The Friends:

Listen | Watch Video

For as much as Sammy Rae & The Friends may be a band, this collective of dreamers and artists considers themselves a family first. That all-for-one and one-for-all camaraderie ignites their unforgettable and can’t-miss live shows, which serve as a catharsis for both the musicians and their fervent audience. Fronted by singer/songwriter Sammy Rae and honed through years of touring, the group is capable of flourishing in any spotlight thanks to its signature blend of palpable chemistry, deft virtuosity, and vocal fireworks.

 Their sound, which has attracted new fans by the thousands in the past few years, is a unique mélange of Sammy’s influences: classic rock, folk and funk and sprinkled with soul and jazz. Rae has been building toward this moment since moving to NYC from Connecticut in her early 20s. Finding herself without a built-in peer group, she simply built it herself: the literal and proverbial Friends. When she started playing shows, she made sure the audience was part of the family too. Everything that’s happened since, from the EPs The Good Life (2018) and Let’s Throw a Party (2021) to sold-out shows in major markets and secondary markets alike across North American and the UK & Europe, to high-profile festival sets around the world, including Bonnaroo’s main stage, Sound on Sound, Green River Fest and more, has been based on friends telling friends. This year, they’ll take it up a notch with appearances at All Things Go and Holland’s North Sea Jazz fest.

 As they prepare for the release of their long-awaited debut full-length album in 2024, Sammy Rae & The Friends have come to represent more than just a band: they are a full-on movement being adopted with refreshingly diverse clientele.

About Sir Woman:

Listen | Watch Video

Sir Woman, Austin Music Award’s Best New Act of 2020, was primed to hit the road promoting its much-anticipated debut album Party City, when the world changed. With fewer reasons to celebrate, soul-singer Kelsey Wilson (Wild Child, Glorietta) ditched the party vibe she planned for her maiden, solo debut in favor of a more aptly titled record for troubled times.

Bitch, a genre-bending, Motown-influenced five-song EP, is set for an Oct. 16 release under Wilson’s acid-trip inspired stage name on Austin’s Nine Mile Records.

Wilson’s backing band — drummer Amber Baker (Jon Batiste) and back-up singers Spice and Roy Jr. — were joined on the album by guitarist Nik Lee and multi-instrumentalist Dan Creamer (Shakey Graves, The Texas Gentlemen), and critically acclaimed country-pop artist Robert Ellis.

But make no mistake, the Wild Child co-founder has stepped into the spotlight alone with this collection of love songs she wrote for herself as the perpetual party of touring life started to spin out of control. 

“This EP is me finding what makes me feel good and falling in love with myself. A mix of everything that makes my body move — pop, soul, gospel, funk, folk, and R&B. It feels so right to make a record that has my actual heart in it,” Wilson said. “These songs are the part of me that wants to help people fall in love with themselves through music. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it."

World Café declared “warmth, empathy and humor are the shining stars” of the EP’s first track, “Highroad,” which earned a slot on NPR’s “Heavy Rotation: 9 Songs Public Radio Can’t Stop Playing.”

Consider that evidence Wilson is “moving effortlessly into a brave new R&B infused, gospel-flecked world where her golden pipes ease you back into a fluffy pillow of serenity and bliss,” NPR critic Gini Moscorro proclaimed. In some ways, the EP’s title track, “Bitch,” set for an Oct. 1 release, took on new meaning after the world shutdown. 

When Wilson belts, “You’ve been a bitch, baby,” it's as if a year at the crossroads of coronavirus crisis and national civil unrest is the unintended target of the soul singer’s angsty honesty.