Introducing: The Sisterhood Band
Get the inside scoop on the promising duo behind 'Get Up and Go' and 'Bullet.'
With famous parents like rock icon Rod Stewart and country favorites Kathie Baillie and Michael Bonagura of Baillie and the Boys, a duo like The Sisterhood Band might be forgiven for treading familiar artistic ground. But the promising pair of Alyssa Bonagura and Ruby Stewart has a sound and style all their own.
After meeting on a whim discovering similar tastes in both music and lifestyle, the budding solo artists teamed up just a few years ago and have hit the scene running. Now part of the Sony Music Nashville roster, they released an acoustic EP titled Summer Setlist in 2018 and promptly hit the road with Aerosmith legend Steven Tyler, showing off their eye-catching stage presence along with a knack for lived-in country lyrics, rootsy, folk-rocking sounds and stunning sister-from-a-different-mister harmonies.
Recently, the duo put it all on display at Nashville’s boutique Kimpton Aertson Hotel, taking part in the Kimpton Off The Record concert series to benefit The Trevor Project — a national organization dedicated to crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ young people under the age of 25. They’ve also been opening for artists like Jessie James Decker and Toby Keith, and earlier this year they unveiled two torchy tunes off their upcoming album debut, “Get Up and Go” and “Bullet.”
Sounds Like Nashville figured it was high time to get to know these intriguing artists, so we asked Bonagura and Stewart to answer a few questions via email.
Your sound seems like a really solid mix of country, folk, rock and soul. Can you explain how that fits in with your musical upbringing?
We are both really influenced by our parents music of course, but also from the music they played around the house growing up. From Joni Mitchell to Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin and Dolly Parton. We are also huge ’90s radio kids, so you hear a lot of that in our music as well.
You both were pursuing solo careers when you met. Did the band start purely by chance?
We met through mutual friends in Nashville. We decided to write a song one night because we got snowed in and ended up writing our song “Someone’s” in about 30 minutes! We knew we had something special after that moment. We bonded over not being heard creatively in our solo careers. We seemed to find a freedom when we wrote and produced together. Then we started discovering we had basically lived parallel lives! We both lived in London and L.A. at the same time. We both had commercials with our songs in them at the same time. Our grandmothers share the same first name and a lot of other random connections. So it was honestly purely by chance with a little cosmic pull.
Alyssa, what would you say is Ruby’s biggest musical contribution to the band?
Ruby’s ability to be completely free lyrically and go anywhere imaginable in a song. She brings the edge to our group and helps bring out my inner rocker.
Ruby, what would you say is Alyssa’s?
Alyssa’s has an innate sensibility to find harmonies. She is also an incredible songwriter and producer and friend!
You both seem to have an adventurous sense of personal style. If you each had to describe it in three words or less, how would you do it?
Ruby: Cosmic Gypsy // Alyssa: Penny Lane from Almost Famous.
The Summer Sessions EP was acoustically driven, but the two singles released this year show a different side. How has your music evolved?
We created the Summer Setlist for our listeners to get to know our voices and songs. It was an introduction to the Sisterhood. A majority of those songs were written four years ago. Our newest two songs we released this summer are a glimpse of the evolutionary process of us as a band. We are inspired by a lot of different types of music and are living in an era of musical freedom, so we want to explore that and crossover into new territory. When you listen to a track like “Get Up and Go,” it has a lot of funk-pop influences, with the sway of California meeting country guitars. We want people to feel free and open when they hear our music. That’s always been our intention.
What’s the story behind “Get Up and Go”?
We are both very spontaneous and the majority of our lives have been “get up and go” all over the world! The song started as a chorus idea Alyssa had written because she wanted her boyfriend at the time to spontaneously take her somewhere. Ruby was in London when the idea started so we ended up finishing it across the ocean over voice memos. We’ve also spent a lot of time out in California and there is something so fun and freeing about the beach in Malibu and driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, so we wanted to incorporate that feeling into this song. It turned into our summer, windows down, drivin’ too fast in your car, having spontaneous fun anthem song!
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Where did “Bullet” come from?
We all have our own personal stories about dodging a bullet. There are so many victims of abuse whether it be psychically or mentally. Male or female. We wanted to write a song of empowerment for those who have been through it. “Bullet” encapsulates a moment of someone trying to change themselves for their lover and then realizing when it’s over that they dodged a bullet. We opened up to one another about our past abusive relationships. How we didn’t realize how unhealthy they were until we were out of them. How it should be more of an open conversation. Writing this song was like therapy for us.
How is the debut album coming along, and when will fans hear it?
We are currently in the mixing stages of the record. We have about seven songs finished and about five more to go. We CAN’T WAIT for fans to hear it. The full length will be coming in 2020, but we will be releasing new music to build up to the debut. We are so proud of this record and cannot wait for you to experience it!
