Sammy And Friends

[Cecelia Seiner]

SammyRae: Sure, I mean I think it all sort of taking shape when we started to meet each other and become a project which is very much collaborative in a lot of different ways. I grew up around a lot of classic rock and classic rock bands like Americana stuff so a lot of like Bruce Springsteen and the E street band and Fleetwood MAC and Rolling Stones and then also some more like pop-oriented rock like Queen and electric light Orchestra and the Beatles, so that's the stuff I was obsessed with when I was young. And then I knew from the beginning that I wanted to be a band, and I wanted to form a project that was large and I didn't want to do a thing solo/ I first got to New York City when I was 18. I had an interest in jazz music. I hadn't studied it but, I found that a lot of the work for a singular female in the music industry was singing jazz standards, so I kind of dove into that for maybe a year and I was doing a lot of standard gigs.

So you know JQ comes from world rhythms and some like math stuff and C-BASS comes from world rhythms and Latin grooves and Kellen comes from musical theater and Max comes from straight-ahead jazz and Will comes from punk rock and hard rock and Myron and Kyle come from Gospel and R&B so I knew I wanted a band full of a lot of different people, but with different talents and different backgrounds and influences, but I didn't know what we were going to sound like until we all started playing together, so I think what we get which is Sammy Rae & The Friends.

BOK: Yeah that's very clear from your music. I feel like music can't jive that well unless there's actually a connection with the band. And one of the things I think that sets your band apart is this kind of inclusivity and acceptance that you guys have not only as a band, but you know clearly comes through your music. I was wondering, has that message shaped your music, and was that a conscious choice that you made from the beginning, or did that just kind of happen naturally when you all came together?

BOK: I follow you on Tik Tok and Instagram and I feel like you, in particular, form a bond with your fan base. It's also very clear that you're a genuine, loving, kind person which only draws us in more!

BOK: This is just something I was curious about. Obviously, your music features everything from vocals to the keyboard to any instrument, you could ever imagine, but is there an instrument that you, in particular, love the sound of and love incorporating into your music?

BOK: So you and The Friends just released a new album in January of this year, Let's Throw a Party. I was curious what creating and releasing an album was like in a pandemic and how it was different.

BOK: Obviously you guys didn't expect the pandemic, but I feel like it's the perfect album for a pandemic. Because that's all you can really do is laugh through it until you can eventually throw a party and see your friends!

SR: Yeah! We're supposed to play March 2022 at the Royale. But I think we may age out of that because we'd pretty much sold it out a year ago, but it was canceled. So I think in three years from now, we may very well have to play something even bigger. But we will come to Boston. Boston loves us.

BOK: Yeah I think that you're right. I think it's very hit or miss with musicians. Meeting fans is part of the craft, but obviously it gets overwhelming. I can see how you would get a little worn down.

Sammy Rae & the Friends is the name of the band. Sammy Rae explained to me that not only the members on stage are "friends," but every single one of us fans in the audience are considered friends by her and the band. So, the name of her band is appropriate.

I am a proud member of the friends, even if I can't carry a tune, or play any instruments. It sure feels great to be included, no matter my musical abilities. I loved this conversation with Sammy as she explained "why a band," and the whole idea of how they've expanded their audience so quickly. It's all about inclusion - yea, another great reason to love them.

On Saturday, February 10, 2024, Sammy Rae & the Friends brought it on home for their biggest hometown show yet at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut. This show was a massive event with two members, Sammy Rae herself and guitarist Will Leet, being from Connecticut. Crowds filled with passionate fans and proud family and friends make for the show of a lifetime. The energy in the venue was truly unmatched.

As the night came to a close, I did not want it to end. An emotional and heartfelt concert is something hard to come by. But to see a band wait their whole lives for this moment and have it be everything they have ever wanted is fulfilling, to say the least. Seeing the looks of friends and family who came and hearing the cheers of crowds who have followed you since a small venue is a crazy full circle moment for any artist, and Sammy Rae & the Friends truly took advantage of every second they had on that stage. With an encore and an ending bow, family members cried, fans cheered, and music teachers, who taught these kids their first notes on the guitar, looked on feeling content and complete in their lives. A great night all around. Sammy Rae & the Friends were a breath of fresh air and a new perspective on enjoying every step of the way to reach your goals.

If you're making a list of the best friends in rock 'n' roll, it won't take very long before you get to Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony. During their decade together in Van Halen, the duo forged a bond that even Hagar's 1996 dismissal from the group couldn't destroy. Their latest band, the Circle, just released its debut album Space Between, and Hagar tells UCR how he met his "dearest friend in the world," and how it took several years for them to realize just how well they got along.

As a solo artist, you shared some bills with Van Halen back in the '70s. Is that when you met Michael?

I did play with them, but I didn't meet Mike. Back in the day, [guitarist] Eddie [Van Halen] always came to my dressing room. He was a big fan of Montrose and would come back to my room, he was just really be humble, to talk about things. I don't think I met Michael until I walked into the 5150 studio [in 1985] for what I guess you could call an audition. But it wasn't really an audition, I went down to jam with the boys, when Eddie asked me to come down. I said sure, let's see if we can get along. Eddie was trying to subtly get me in the band. I wasn't interested, I was doing well, had just finished the VOA tour. I mean, I was home two days, shaved my hair off because it was all fried from sweating every night [from] the lights onstage. I thought, Oh, I'll just shave it off, take a year off and write a new record, take it easy. He calls me two days later, says why don't you come on down? I said yeah, give me a couple of weeks or something. and he goes, well, how about tomorrow? He was in a hurry. When I walked in the door, it was the first time I met Michael. Him and Ed and [drummer] Al [Van Halen] were there, they'd been up all night trying to get some music together for me to jam to. They had "Summer Nights" and "Good Enough." We jammed for about 12 hours, I took a cassette home and said, I like this music, I'm joining this fucking band. That was that first time I met Mike.

How quickly did you and Michael become friends?

Back then, he and I didn't really know what good friends we were yet, because we hadn't gotten to know each other. He was the quiet guy in the band, and Ed and Al were doing all the yakking about "Hey, what do you want to do?" Michael was just going along with the program, I didn't pay much attention to him. But as years went by, I started realizing he was my kind of guy. As soon as we went to Cabo [San Lucas, where Van Halen started the Cabo Wabo nightclub; Hagar eventually bought out the rest of his bandmates], Mike got it. He went, "This fucking place is awesome, man, holy shit!" And Ed and Al are going, "Well, I can't get a phone call in, wait a minute I can't get room service." They bitched about the whole thing and it was too hot and all this. Meanwhile, Mikey and I are on the beach saying this is it! We're drinking tequila and eating tacos. That's when him and I really connected, I think -- the first time we went to Cabo.

When did you first realize how well your voices worked together?

Musically, the thing that first got my attention was when we started writing. When we jammed, Mikey didn't sing at all, that first time. But when we started writing, and I would say, Hey, Mike, can you hit these backgrounds on this? Let's do a background part here, and this harmony on the chorus. I sing in that supersonic range that nobody can go above me. Steve Perry one time did a record with me. On Danger Zone, he sang harmony with me. He's one of the few guys that ever stepped onstage with that could sing above me, without [going into] a falsetto. And when Mike started singing "Summer Nights," I'm going, Holy shit, this fucker can sing! That really got my attention. If you listen to the harmonies on 5150 and OU812, there are a lot of background parts, which are very Van Halen-esque. They always had some nice singing, and it was always Michael's voice that gave it that sound. And I think I utilized that even more than they ever did before, because I was so excited that I had a guy who could sing harmony to me. We became more melodic, with more intricate melodies, holding out notes longer and so forth. Just things that a singer that likes to sing would do. Nothing wrong with [previous singer] Dave [Lee Roth]. I certainly wouldn't say anything bad about those early records, they were fantastic, it was awesome, it was just a whole different style.

3a8082e126