SistaStrings // Johanna Rose

224 West Bruce Street,Milwaukee WI 53204

12 September, 2021

Description

With thick string harmonies between violin and cello and soulful voices, SistaStrings takes you on a journey. $15 adv/ $20 at the door (advance sales until 3pm day of show, then available at the door). Doors at 6pm, showtime 7pm The sound of SistaStrings can’t be described in one word. The Milwaukee based sister duo combines their classical background with R&B with a touch of gospel influence that culminates in a vibey, lush sound. With thick string harmonies between violin and cello and soulful voices, SistaStrings takes you on a journey. Formed in 2014 after the sisters graduated from college, Chauntee (violin) moved back from her studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Monique from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the sisters began doing string arrangements for local hip-hop artists and the rest is history. Slowly but surely, SistaStrings built a following and began playing more shows with collaboration being one of their strongest points. The sisters not only write and arrange but find pleasure sitting in with musicians and exploring what sounds come from improvisation and spontaneity. Outside of being their own act, SistaStrings can often be found playing alongside singer/songwriter Peter Mulvey. Having been raised in church, SistaStrings was able to build their improv skills and ear training. The classical background that the two sisters have had allows them to command their instrument at will. Between the two of them, they have performed in some of the most reputable halls, including Carnegie Hall and in their classical career they have soloed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. SistaStrings has performed with Malik Yusef, opened for Black Violin, Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony, Lupe Fiasco, BJ The Chicago Kid, and The Roots. Outside of playing music venues, SistaStrings goes into schools and conducts assemblies, encouraging young people to pursue the arts and to not be afraid of hard work. Outreach and representation are important to these two young ladies as African American string players. The ladies are advocates for diversity in the arts and promote social justice in all that they do musically. Vocals, Violin / Chauntee Ross Vocals, Cello / Monique Ross /// Johanna Rose is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and audio engineer from Milwaukee, WI. Their songs are deeply personal, unashamed, confessions put to an impressive array of instrumentation. Johanna spent the last decade playing upright bass, singing and songwriting in various bands in Milwaukee and Portland, OR, notably, The Calamity Janes and the Fratney Street Band, RuthB8r Ginsberg, New Boyz Club, and the renowned duo, Nickel&Rose, with whom Johanna spent the four years leading up to the pandemic touring internationally. The standstill and isolation of 2020 inspired Johanna to start putting music out under their own name. In March of 2020, Johanna released postponedalone, “a series of demos, voice memos, and songs recorded at 3AM, old and new, put together in one lo-fi emotional outburst, a dissonant shout into the void, proof of my existence - that I loved, got pissed, surveyed and contemplated my life, and was maybe occasionally happy.” This was followed in May of 2020 by the more polished EP, Only Good Nites. Their most recent release, Eat The Rich, is a song off the digital 7”, Hunter’s Moon, a collaboration with the Austin, TX based singer-songwriter, Sugar Ransom. In the summer of 2020 Johanna built a treehouse in Vermont and lived in it. This was documented in the three-part mini series, Loon Lake, by Dan Boville. While there, Johanna wrote the album, Lunar Eclipse, which they recorded and mixed the following winter. Lunar Eclipse will be released during the “super flower blood moon” lunar eclipse, on May 26, 2021. $15 adv/ $20 at the door (advance sales until 3pm day of show, then available at the door). Doors at 6pm, showtime 7pm