Life and how people treat others are the main influences on Irene Rae’s reflective and emotional sound. “I find it fascinating how people can effect your outlook on life and the way that you live it”

Music was something that Irene adopted quite late on in comparison to her peers, in fact she taught herself to play the guitar at the age of 22. “I started writing music when I was going through a situation that I couldn’t explain via speaking”. Basically sitting down and teaching herself to play to accompany the singing that was already a natural part of her through Musical Theatre training. 

It is this voice that has caught the attention of Local BBC radio stations throughout the UK and also the eye of signed musicians such as Midge Ure and Carina Round. Irene’s first performance was actually supporting Midge Ure at a Festival, two months after starting to teach herself Guitar. Many more artists supported include Hazel O’Connor, The Levellers, Si Connolly, Dogs Die in Hot Cars and Sonja Kristina.

Almost 3 years on, it is her voice that stays in audience’s memories and won her 2^nd place in a local Cambridge Battle of the Bands competition. Being the only solo act out of 85 entrants, it seemed an unbelievable task to even get through one heat opening many doors for live gigs, and live radio broadcasts for Irene, and from gig to gig both her fan base and confidence has grown, hand in hand. However the most important aspect of playing live, to Irene Rae, is still the feeling and emotion that can be and should be conveyed:

“I love playing with passion and feeling. To connect with an audience through my experiences and voice is what I strive for. The feelings that I express are raw, and so should be the vehicle of their expression.”