Drew and Danielle McTaggart were both touring musicians under separate projects. They met while in their early touring days and began dating before getting married and starting Dear Rouge. The name of the duo is derived from the name of Danielle's home town, Red Deer, Alberta, "dear" being a homophone of deer and "rouge" meaning red in French. Danielle had previously been in a duo called Gaetz Ave, named after a street in Red Deer, and then a solo venture called Elle. Drew was a member of Vancouver indie circuit band Maclean.
In April 2012, Dear Rouge independently released their debut EP Heads Up! Watch Out!, a four-song EP on their Bandcamp page, and followed up six months later with their second EP Kids Wanna Know.
In November 2012, Dear Rouge won $102,700 as the grand prize winners of the Peak Performance Project put on by the Music BC Industry Organization and CKPK-FM radio station in Vancouver.

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