Indie Singer/Songwriter Brings Unapologetic Message of Empathy to St. Louis

Our Daily Show Interview! Rachel Sage is Coming to St. Louis!

SAINT LOUIS - Rachael Sage doesn’t apologize for her art.

Sage, a Billboard-charting independent artist, will perform at Riviera STL on July 8, 2025, as part of her “Joy = Resistance” tour with Kristen Ford. As she prepares to tour and release her 17th album, “Canopy,” later this year, Sage looks forward to getting back onstage and enjoying the “bliss” of sharing her voice with other people.

“It’s as close to Zen as I think I ever get,” she said. “For me, it’s this absolute freedom to get up on stage, have this connection with the community and the moment, and just celebrate life and joy and our collective humanity.”

As an independent artist, it’s up to Sage to manage the writing, mastering, scheduling, marketing and press for her work. While it’s a lot of work, it’s also exciting for her to share her message with the world. She loves performing and always looks forward to returning to the stage.

“There’s a never-ending list of things that we’re doing to support the onstage bliss that we get to do just playing music. It’s not just performing,” she explained. “Finding that balance and managing to stay centered is a challenge, but I love it. I love it all so much.”

Sage plans to release a single every four weeks until her album’s debut in October. Her first song, “Canopy,” is her “anthem du jour” about inclusivity. It felt especially appropriate to release this song during Pride Month, and Sage is pleased with the response she has received so far, adding that she is “just not about” the “horrible divisiveness” she sees in the world.

This passion for empathy guides much of Sage’s work. She shared that as a young writer, she had “so much to say and so much inside and [she] just wanted to get it out.” She joked that her work was “a lot of me, me, me,” until she started meeting new people and learning more about the world around her. Today, she tries to strike a balance between others’ perspectives and telling her own story.

Sage once got some advice from singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega that she has been following ever since: “Make music that you love, that pleases you.” “Canopy” is an example of Sage doing exactly that.

“If you make it so that you love it and you believe in it so much, the rest will fall into place,” Sage explained. “You’re a human being with wants and needs and expression and values and empathy. You’re a universe. So other people are going to gravitate to it if you love it, you feel confident in it, and you believe in it.”

With this in mind, the “Joy = Resistance” tour will hit Missouri next month, and Sage can’t wait to play songs from “Canopy” as well as a few of her hits over the years, including music that was featured in the TV show “Dance Moms.” She hopes her music resonates with St. Louis and beyond.

As Sage prepares to release “Canopy” and tour the U.S. this fall, she encourages other aspiring artists to find their own voice and share it with the world. She joked that she makes “no-apology recordings” — recordings where she doesn’t “qualify” anything. She urges all artists to create art unapologetically.

“I was definitely raised in a family of folks who believe if you don’t enter, you can’t win,” she added. “You can’t be too precious about making art. I think that applies to painting, to songwriting, even to getting into a dance studio, shaking it out. That’s what rehearsal is for. If you put it out into the world and years later it makes you cringe, you did something brave and you put yourself out there, and that’s a lot to be proud of unto itself.”

For more information about Rachael Sage, including how to purchase tickets online for the Riviera STL show on July 8, 2025, visit her official website at RachaelSage.com.

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