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."