Sammy Rae built her band the way a certain kind of songwriter builds a song: out of necessity, out of arriving somewhere new and deciding not to feel alone. She moved to New York City from Connecticut in her early twenties, dropped out of college, and landed a residency at Harlem’s Cotton Club, where she found, one by one, the musicians who would become the Friends. That origin story is the key to everything. Sammy Rae & The Friends doesn’t perform for an audience so much as expand one, pulling listeners into a collective that, from the start, she has insisted on treating as family.
About the Show
The band brings “The Get Down!” to Higher Ground on Friday, February 26, with a second night on Saturday the 27th. Their sound moves across a lot of ground on purpose: classic rock, folk, funk, soul and jazz. What holds it together live is what the band calls “palpable chemistry, deft virtuosity, and vocal fireworks.” Singer and songwriter Sammy Rae (born Samantha Bowers, raised in Derby, Connecticut, and now based in Brooklyn) counts Bruce Springsteen, Ella Fitzgerald, and Freddie Mercury among her influences, a trio that explains the breadth of this project as well as anything could.
The group formed in 2016 and built its following the patient way, through touring and a pair of EPs (The Good Life in 2018, Let’s Throw a Party in 2021) before releasing their debut full-length, Something For Everybody, on Nettwerk in September 2024. They’ve since put out singles “You Just Wanna Get With My Friend” and “Boogie All By Yourself.” The grassroots run has taken them to Bonnaroo’s main stage, sold-out shows across the UK and Europe, and two consecutive sold-out nights at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club. The mantra at the center of their work has always been simple and startlingly earnest: “Go put a smile on somebody’s face. Go tell somebody they’ve got a place in this world.” The shows are built around that promise, and audiences tend to hold them to it.
Venue & Logistics
Higher Ground in South Burlington sits just over the Vermont border, within easy reach of the north country, and for a Brooklyn act with the touring footprint Sammy Rae & The Friends have built, a stop here is both a natural fit and a relatively rare opportunity for this region. Doors at 7:00 p.m., show at 8:00 p.m. Both the February 26 and 27 dates are all ages.
Tickets
Tickets are $30–$35. General on-sale begins September 25, 2026. Buy tickets