Bands Through Town
Canada’s New Pop Dancing Songstress
Tate McRae Live from ACL Festival
Story: Madisyn siebert • Photos: Cory Weaver
“Hi, I’m Tate McRae, and I am 18 years old; I’m from Canada and I’m a singer and dancer,” McRae bluntly says with a smile lounging in a chair. You may not have heard of McRae, but you will know her soon enough. This girl is starting to make a name for herself, and she doesn’t even have an album yet, but her fans are dancing and singing along with her the whole way. She even performed on the main stage at Austin City Limits in 2021.
McRae never expected to live this life; in fact, for most of her younger years, she just thought dance alone would be her career. But now, she has been jumping head first into the world of music and is figuring it out as she goes, while still enjoying being a regular teenager.
McRae has always been on the stage from a young age, really getting her start on “So You Think You Can Dance” at age 12. This launched her into the limelight and helped her secure gigs like being a backup dancer for Justin Bieber. McRae is now finding the balance between singing and dancing as she navigates her way through her career.
“Obviously dance has been a huge part of my life since I was like six; even when I was like two, I was dancing around the house all the time. I think that my biggest dream ever was to do both and to be like Brittney Spears and do both on stage. I think that honestly, the fact that I can write my own music and feel really connected to it and then be able to execute it by dancing on stage is everything I dreamed of and more,” McRae smiled.
Not only is McRae connecting to her music, her fans are as well, the performer blowing up on YouTube and on TikTok with her own original songs. She has a young generation dancing and singing alongside her on social media. McRae acknowledges the power of social media herself saying, “I think I got my start on social media, and I think that was the only way that I connected with my fans was by posting original songs straight to them. So I feel like that has been our whole relationship. Like, me and my fans just having me post whatever I want and writing whatever I want and just putting it out on the internet and seeing whatever happens with it. I feel like social media is a huge, huge part of my singing so far.”
Not only is McRae connecting to her music, her fans are as well, the performer blowing up on YouTube and on TikTok with her own original songs. She has a young generation dancing and singing alongside her on social media. McRae acknowledges the power of social media herself saying, “I think I got my start on social media, and I think that was the only way that I connected with my fans was by posting original songs straight to them. So I feel like that has been our whole relationship. Like, me and my fans just having me post whatever I want and writing whatever I want and just putting it out on the internet and seeing whatever happens with it. I feel like social media is a huge, huge part of my singing so far.”