Ed Ellis photography
“Miss Rae has pursued other careers but she always comes back to music.
You’ll be glad she did when you hear her unfettered vocal powers honed with a touch of sass and sensitivity.”
— Roger Levesque for the Edmonton Journal
“Miss Rae is a soul well beyond her years.”
— Vinny Marini (Host of Music on the Couch in Mississippi)
“She has a tremendous range, and it’s sweet, sweet savage — it just melts me”
— Rockin’ Ronnie (Host of Bluesday on CKUW 95.9FM)
Take a trip back in musical time with Miss Rae & The Midnight Ramblers, as their vintage sound evokes Fiery Blues and Southern Soul. A “closeted singer”, Cheyenne Rae Bruneau was a quiet child who absorbed her mother’s record collection of Billie Holiday, Howlin’ Wolf, and Big Mama Thornton. She was raised around music jams, like the weekly Blues staple at Edmonton’s former Sidetrack Café. At the ripe ages of 14 & 15, she won scholarships to partake in Rachelle Van Zanten’s Rocker Girl Camp, where for two summers, she was mentored by successful artists in the industry, and given the chance to write/perform with a band on stage.
To overcome her binds of shyness, Cheyenne started singing at open mic’s and coffee houses after moving to Winnipeg alone at the age of 16, accompanied by guitarist Vince Andrushko — who later went on to help her compose the debut album. Her vocal lessons took place on Sunday nights at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club’s blues jams. In 2009, Cheyenne observed in awe as Sharon Jones commanded the stage with the Dap-Kings at the Edmonton Folk Fest. Watching Sharon’s bold & graceful presence was a turning point, as this black Queen inspired Cheyenne to someday lead a soul band of her own with equal finesse.
Before being known for belting behind a microphone around town, Cheyenne moonlighted as a concert photographer for print/online publications and festivals. She also studied Filmmaking at the University of Winnipeg for four years, and is an alumna of the National Screen Institute – Canada. On a whim, she entered the 2012 Harvest Moon Music Festival Songwriting Contest, where she wrote “Clearwater” and a friend filmed her singing acapella by the river. That short video won her first place, and led to a performance on their main stage for a thousand listeners. After connecting with that audience and seeing how the music resonated with them, Cheyenne was hooked on songwriting and singing live.
As a songwriter, Miss Rae weaves undercurrents of personal experiences and ancestral stories through her lyrics, while also confronting social and political issues. She assembles each line-up of The Midnight Ramblers with musicians whom she deeply admires. At age 21, Miss Rae produced her band’s debut album, Big Boned Woman, and wrote the music in collaboration with roots guitarist Vince Andrushko. In August of 2013, the album was cut live on analogue with sound engineer Tony Katsabanis at Empire Recording, and released by the end of that same month. “Leavin” touches upon Alberta’s tar sands, “Blackened History” discusses Canada’s tainted racial past, with “Campbell Road” references true accounts from former residents of Africville. “Last Time” is a true story and the first song Cheyenne ever wrote, outlining the courage it took for her mother to leave an abusive relationship. The subtext of “Revolver Man” recounts her estranged father’s grapple with addictions — the tune reached #1 on SiriusXM’s Top 40 Indigenous Music Countdown.
Winnipeg was where Miss Rae first unearthed her soulful voice, blossoming into a powerhouse who sings as though every performance is her last. A multiracial artist, she is African, Indigenous (Cheyenne and Cree) and of settler (French and German) descent. Following her debut album release, Miss Rae spent forty days on a solo “Blues Journey” travelling throughout the Southern States; from Nashville to Memphis, around Mississippi, and ending in New Orleans. At the Dockery Farms plantation, she sang on the same porch where Charley Patton and Son House used to play.
She lived in Paris for nearly two years in her early twenties. Spellbound by the city’s ambiance, she performed at bistros near Le Louvre with French jazz guitarist Jeff Loiselet. The duo headlined an evening at the 2015 Jazz on Seine Festival (presented by Paris Jazz Club). Marc Loy (the Howlin’ Wolf of Paris) invited Miss Rae up to jam with him at Café des Deux Moulins (Amélie’s Café), it was a blues moment she will forever hold dear to her heart.
Returning to her hometown in 2016, Miss Rae selected local seasoned players to reprise a new line-up of The Midnight Ramblers (including Clayton Sample and Grant Stovel, both whom she grew up watching perform at the Sidetrack). Upon receiving the 2017 Cultural Diversity Grant from the Edmonton Arts Council, Miss Rae collaborated with blues jammer Warren Chan to write music for the sophomore album. During the span of 3 days, the 7 piece ensemble recorded live on analogue, with renowned sound engineer/crooner, Barry Allen at the helm. Wild Rose was released in June of 2018 to a sold out crowd at the Blue Chair. Highlighted Edmonton performances included: packed nights at the southern style juke joint of Have Mercy, a featured set for ‘Canada Day 150’ at The Works Festival, headlining Edmonton’s 7th International Beer Festival, playing the 1st Annual Edmonton Winter Blues Festival, and being invited as the musical guest for the Art Gallery of Alberta’s monthly VIBE soirée.
At age 27, Miss Rae wrote the Wild Rose album partially as an introspection on her life up to that point, while “Honest Man” is a tribute to her late Uncle Lymon Brown (a soulful Black Jazz saxophone player who would frequent the West Edmonton Music Society — after his death, Miss Rae met Lymon’s friend, saxophonist Septimus Alexander, who joined the band for her Wild Rose era). She intentionally pens songs that bring light to controversial issues such as: Indigenous cultural displacement from the Sixties Scoop in “Serpent’s Tongue”, and addresses the continued barriers of Black Segregation in “Promised Land”. “Time’s Up Now” highlights a harrowing reality of Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and reached #1 on SiriusXM’s Top 40 Indigenous Music Countdown. “Handle My Whiskey” references her time spent down South; nominated for Blues Recording of the Year at the Edmonton Music Awards. Miss Rae’s albums have been spun on radio shows throughout North America and Europe.
Miss Rae is currently based in Montreal, Quebec
She is casually writing new songs for a third album and learning how to play slide guitar.
Stay tuned hun. Xo