WORDS FROM JOE HENRY ON ALLISON RUSSELL
Though deep and wide may be the world, it is within dim and narrow rooms -- airless and mundane -- that the true stories of our lives are enacted; are bartered and brokered -- enslaved and empowered; held in and sung out.
And Song most surely began as a cry or a prayer -- though no need discerning between the two, for they are the same -- and both sacred: the prayer and the wail becoming Song as soon as shared.
Some of us come, later in life, to find our knees; while others slip young into trauma like a quarry stone gone under, held down by the weight of their own world.
Many of those, alas, never come back up. But those able are wont to be luminous, struggle having landed their hearts on the outside of their bodies: a swinging lantern within that aforementioned dim room -- where stories are unraveled, thus to be reconstructed... purposefully reanimated.
It was also within such a room that Allison Russell -- singer, songwriter, poet, and activist -- bore witness to herself in descent. But the abused child she was played mother to the brave woman and fierce artist she would become -- surviving being one of only two options, and not the most likely.
Blessed be.
Allison's new album, Outside Child -- that draws water from the dark well of a violent past -- is her first solo offering, she also being a pivotal voice in two bands: Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters. And telling her own story sounds now to have made her free -- not from it all, but free within it: to reframe and reclaim her identity and its singular authority.
The songs themselves -- though iron-hard in their concerns -- are exultant: exercising haunted dream like clean bedsheets snapped and hung out into broad daylight, and with the romantic poet's lust for living and audacity of endurance.
Nina Simone comes to mind, as well Edith Piaf: two shamanistic practitioners who turned their faces into the blade of storm and roared back dignity and hope.
This music, no less -- no less -- is a triumph: a courageous work -- burnished and bright; unspeakably beautiful as she sings the unspeakable.
Above all, it is an act of remarkable generosity: a cathartic, soulful, buoyant and redeeming gift to us all and, one must believe, to herself as well.
SistaStrings
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. SistaStrings will be releasing their debut EP in 2019.