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SisterMonk: Bio

SisterMonk BIO 2008

From tangy funk to deep bottomed Latin grooves, from Middle-eastern trance to rock and soul, SisterMonk remains one of the hottest emerging world funk acts today. Sharing bases in Seattle and New York City, the band continues to amass a loyal and diverse fan base. They will be following up the success of their previous two releases (sold over 4,000 copies) with a new album in 2006 - a collaborative effort featuring their new sound and an exciting new line-up of musicians.

Since the birth of SisterMonk in 1999 Kathleen Deane's sultry, soulful vocals and djembe-drumming prowess have alchemically combined with Jody Rubel's rhythm guitar. Raised by Irish immigrant parents in NYC Kathy was heavily influenced by traditional Irish folk music. It wasn’t until she moved out west as a young woman that she found new inspiration in the strong female voices of independent musicians, most notably Ani DiFranco and locally, Joules Graves.

After studying cultural anthropology, guitarist Jody Rubel was inspired to initiate his own progressive, cultural experiment through songwriting and performance. Jody draws musical and lyrical inspiration from Peter Gabriel, Jorge Ben Jor and the music of Bahia Brazil, William Blake, tantric yoga, dialectics and world religion.

Joining the songwriting duo and adding to SisterMonk's distict sound are Dereke James on bass (toured internationally with Aretha Franklin and Aliyah), Grant Schroff on drums (also performs with nu-jazz/funk group The Jake Shaw Trio) and Tom Mazzuca on tenor and soprano saxophones (voted "Best in Blues" in the reeds/brass section for the Washington State Blues Society).

SisterMonk has appeared at a variety of prominent venues on both east and west coasts. East coast venues include The Knitting Factory, Open Center, LeBarBat's, SUNY New Paltz (opened for Michael Franti and Spearhead), Tower Records and Border Books. Pacific Northwest venues include the NW Folklife Festival, Seattle Hempfest, Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour (opened for Zap Mama), Nectar, Evergreen St. College, Bastyr University, Humboldt State University, and numerous other clubs and venues in the area. They have been featured on radio shows such as "The Beat" with Dave Beck – KUOW 94.9FM (NPR), KBCS's "Roots and Branches" segment and KSER 90.7FM's "The Sunlit Room."