Gypsy funk, Arabesque trance, deep Latin grooves, soulful vocal and instrumental performances create the uniquely powerful experience that is SisterMonk. SisterMonk's music probes provocative themes with mystical poetry and driving, rhythmic passion. Adventures through wilderness homesteading, zen meditation, urban/ rural community living and Tai Chi inspire SisterMonk's songs of epic beauty, mystery, and epiphany.

SisterMonk’s power trio is guitarist/songwriter Jody Rubel, singer/ percussionist K. Deane and bass player Trevor Hochman.

The group shares bases in both Seattle, WA and New York City. The band tours frequently and continues to amass a loyal and diverse fan base. Following up the success of their two earlier CD releases (sold over 4, 000 copies) SisterMonk released “Never Give Up” in 2008.

SisterMonk has shared the stage with such notable acts as Zap Mama, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Anoushka Shankar, Karl Denson Trio, On the One, Delta Nove and more. They have appeared at a variety of prominent venues on both east and west coasts. East coast venues include The Knitting Factory, LeBarBat’s, SUNY New Paltz (opened for Michael Franti & 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, Jazzbones, Evergreen St. College, Bastyr U., Humboldt State U., 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, KSER 90.7FM’s “The Sunlit Room” and KISM 92.9FM.


Kathleen Deane
Kathy was born and raised in Queens, NY to Irish immigrant parents. Early musical influence were traditional Irish folk, country and 80’s pop. Frequent trips to Ireland as a child also exposed her to their rich tradition of storytelling, song-sharing and dance. Kathy sang in school choirs and bought her first guitar at 16 but never thought of pursuing music seriously unitl meeting Jody and Willy Rubel in 1992. “Karmic destiny” is how Kathy describes this meeting and it profoundly changed the course of her life. Much music was played and many adventures soon followed including 2 years on a Zen meditation ranch in CA and 3 yrs on an organic farmhouse where Kathy and Rubel bros. hosted a harvest festival bringing together music, organic farming, community living and sustainability. It was after seeing a performance by well loved Pacific NW folk singer Joules Graves at Evergreen College in 1998 that Kathy was inspired to pick up the djembe and start to sing. It was then that she truly felt she found her “musical identity” and has been exploring the 2 in depth ever since. She has studied voice with Irene Mastrangeli and Cathleen Wilder. Mostly a self-taught percussionist, she has taken classes with Senegalese Master drummer Thione Diop, Pepe Danza and Gordy Ryan.

Jody Rubel
Born in Paterson NJ, the city of silk and poetry , I was a child of immigrant parents of French/tunisian and Romaninan/Israeli descent. As a child, I was visited by what I then called “We Wa”; audio and visual sensations accompanied by a sense of contraction and expansion I found mirrored in the marvels of nature.
After graduating Brandeis with highest honors in Cultural Anthroplogy, I traveled extensively thru the rainforests of South America and became fascinated with the Andean village lifestyle which tied together farming and music as a way of life. When I returned to the States I picked up the guitar and farmed and lived yoga and meditation and tai chi at various intentional communities on the West coast ( The Krishnamurti Foundation, Blue Heron Zen Ranch, Twin Brooks Farm, One Drop Zendo, The Earth Sanctuary) living in tepees, a school bus, and rural cabins. Music became a way of translating and focusing the raw primordial energy of visions, dreams, as meditations in nature and city life...somehow altered, with the help of Kathy Deane's alchemical distillation, to a semi-acoustic ferociously lyrical sound.
My earliest musical projects include Alices’ Reality and Owl and were co-founded by both my brothers Erick and Willy. I have travelled full circle and am back on the East Coast...eager to share the Gypsy funk. And all the life it enshrines.

Trevor Hochman
Trevor plays a Sukop four-string electric bass and Gallien Kreuguer amp in jazz and funk styles, sings harmony vocals with Kathy and Jody, and programs and performs live electronics for SisterMonk performances. Trevor has also played alto sax with SisterMonk (2003, New York City). Trevor's mother performed Spanish Flamenco dance, his father played standup bass with jazz greats as a teenager in New York, and his grandparents were a Spanish folk artist, Mexican folk musician, and New York City-born musicians from Eastern European jewish families. All of these traditions influence Trevor's music and performance. Trevor was a member of world-touring men's a cappella group the Whiffenpoofs of Yale, and sang, arranged, and composed for mixed a cappella group Out of the Blue. Trevor also played lead alto sax in Staten Island's all-borough jazz band. Trevor founded and manages NYC's Wonderland Collective creative community and 17-unit converted factory live/work complex in Astoria, Queens. Trevor is also a founder and director of Dance Parade New York, a not-for-profit organization that produces an annual cross-cultural dance parade and festival in New York City.

Links: wonderlandny.com, danceparade.org, trevorhochman.com, myspace.com/trevorhochman