Fry cook by day
Arts/Life
Posted By CATHY PELLETIER, THE CHRONICLE
Posted 1 month ago
Listening to Toni Rae's vast range of musical styles is like changing channels on a radio.
The seasoned, polished performer can belt out a booming bass voice that sounds surprisingly like Louis Armstrong, and then seamlessly switch to an Italian opera before delving into a raspy rock version of the KISS classic anthem, 'I Wanna Rock 'n Roll All Night.'
"I remember singing 'McNamara's Band' at two years old and I've been performing my whole life," said Rae, a Florida native.
"My great-uncle sang for seven (U. S.) presidents in a row and he was an opera virtuoso. My grandmother did the musical follies in Daytona."
Having inherited their musical genes, Rae said that by the time she hit second grade, she knew she'd become a singer.
As a teen growing up in Duncanville, Texas, she was classically trained in voice.
Inspired by her sister's Elvis Presley album and aided by her photographic memory for lyrics, Rae began building her repertoire at an early age, memorizing thousands of songs.
Citing her strongest musical influences as her voice teacher, Sandra McMillan, as well as Elvis, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand and Olivia Newton-John, the versatile musician's four-octave range means she can sing any style.
And while working her day job, serving fresh, homemade fries and burgers at Toni Rae's Fries on Main Street, chances are she's making those meals with music.
"Songs are always going through my head," she explained. "I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't sing. For me, music is my secret lover. It's my secret place. No matter what happens in my life, I have my music."
Her career has taken a long and winding road, with lots of interesting bends.
Rae performed her first opera while pursuing a music degree at the University of Texas in Arlington.
Her ability to sing sustained notes has occasionally left her breathless. "Songs like 'My Love Will Go On' from the Titanic are the kind of notes that make you light-headed," she smiled.
At age 17, Rae and a friend provided the night's musical entertainment at Nabisco's company Christmas party, and more recently, she was asked to sing Amazing Grace at her Aunt Sis' funeral in Philadelphia.
In between, she performed for celebrities at an upscale Florida lounge.
"I sang in the most exclusive place in Fischer Island, called Café Tangiers, where all the stars live," she said.
"I was the house band for seven months."
Rae and her musical partner, Michael York, played several gigs in Miami, which ran the gamut from AC/DC to Celine Dion and "off-the-hook" two-part harmony in Everly Brothers ballads.
For the past 11 years, Rae has made her home in Haldimand. When people ask why she moved here from Florida, she gives her standard reply: "I met a Canadian and for 16 years now, I've been freezing my ass off."
Her naturally comedic personality lends itself well to the stage, where she abandons all thoughts of being a cook, and assumes an entirely different persona.
"I'm fearless on stage," said Rae. "For four hours, I wear my heart on my sleeve and pour myself into my songs. That's why it's called the Toni Rae Experience. It's a fun show and engages the audience. I go out into the crowd and banter with them. You have to have a pretty quick wit and roll with it."
The Toni Rae Experience features Rae in the lead with Claudia Mae playing keyboards and singing background harmonies.
Rae's musical mission is to keep her audiences spellbound.
Often, she'll poll the audience, asking what they want to hear.
She's partial to songs with staying power -such as Sweet Home Alabama.
"We play country, top 40, reggae, easy listening, jazz, 50s and 60s, rock, heavy metal, blues, ballads, Broadway, and I even do Italian Latin arias."
Recently, she was asked to act as a judge in the Dunnville Teen Idol competition.
She also performed for a few years at the Dunnville Golf & Country Club and at Edgewater Gardens, until her take-out business expanded to six days a week.
"I love to sing at Edgewater but I'm too busy right now with the Fry Truck," she said.
Taking pride in her fresh homemade burgers and authentic southern fried chicken -which she only makes on Fridays -Rae said her two seemingly different careers are connected.
"Southern hospitality (at the Fry Truck) is my extension of the stage at work."
With an eye to the oncoming winter -her off-season for cooking, she's now taking bookings for private and Christmas parties for the period from November to March.
