SistaStrings: Meet the Nashville-based sisters behind Brandi Carlile and Allison Russell

Chauntee Ross can’t remember a time she wasn’t playing the violin. Literally.

The 31-year-old’s earliest memory is of Christmas morning in her native Milwaukee, Wisconsin – with her first instrument sitting under the tree. She was 3 years old.

Her 5-year-old sister, Monique, also received a violin, but switched to cello a few years later. That was no easy feat. Their parents, who bought instruments and paid for lessons for all five of their kids, had the expectation that “once you play the instrument, you stick with it.”

Nearly 30 years after that Christmas morning, it’s safe to say the Ross sisters – known as the duo Sistastrings – stuck with it. Over the past year, their talents have taken them to the stages of the Grammys, Red Rocks and Madison Square Garden.

Just a few weeks ago, you might have caught them on “Saturday Night Live,” playing a lush arrangement of “The Story” behind Brandi Carlile. They started performing with the singer-songwriter this past January, after meeting her through Americana phenom Allison Russell, who also recruited them for her band.

Not bad for their first 18 months in Nashville.

“We couldn't have fallen into a more beautiful community, working with such amazing people,” Monique Ross says.

'Your ticket to college'

Chauntee and Monique are the youngest of five kids, raised and homeschooled by their parents, who were both ministers.

“Church and ministry and music was, like, our entire upbringing,” Monique recalls.

Life at home could be strictly regimented – the Ross kids had their own school uniforms, and practiced their instruments between classes, chores and devotionals. But their parents also made sure they had fun, and fostered a sincere love of playing an instrument – as well as the belief that their talents could take them as far as they wanted to go.

“Mom always told us when we were younger, ‘This is going to be your ticket to college. You're going to get full scholarships,’” Chauntee says. “And we did!”

In 2014, following graduation (Monique from UW-Madison, Chauntee from University of Michigan), the pair found themselves where so many 21^st century college grads have before them: back at their parents’ house.

But now, they were free to explore the local scene in Milwaukee, where they were quickly invited to play with a wide swath of music makers, from singer-songwriters to rappers to R&B bands. This coincided with a time when “the string world just opened up,” Monique says, pointing to acts like hip-hop string duo Black Violin.

“You're able to take the things you learned in the traditional setting, but make it yours and vibe in any kind of genre, which I think is the most fun, and the reason why I still love playing music.”

Eventually, they crossed paths with folk stalwart Peter Mulvey, who released a collaborative album with the duo this past summer. They also met Russell when she was playing in the duo Birds of Chicago. They quickly hit it off, and hatched a plan to join forces, somehow. That wouldn’t come to pass until both parties relocated to Nashville, coincidentally.

Joining Russell and Carlile's bands

When they hit the road in support of their debut 2019 EP, the sisters visited several cities where they thought, ‘We could live here.’ But Music City felt the most right – especially since their parents had moved to Jackson, Tenn., a two-hour drive from Nashville.

They arrived in June of ’21, just weeks after Russell released her breakthrough solo album, “Outside Child.” By the time Russell embarked on her first tour in support of it, both Chauntee and Monique had joined her band.

In January of this year, Russell was booked at Carlile’s “Girls Just Wanna Weekend” festival in Mexico, and Carlile asked SistaStrings to play with her, too – over two shows, plus a request to sing background vocals for their ‘80s covers night. They spent that week on the beach learning roughly 60 songs.

Things have only gotten busier – and more surreal – from there. They performed with both Carlile and Russell at the Grammys, and sat right behind Joni Mitchell during her first public performance in 20 years at the Newport Folk Festival.

They were part of a transcendent headlining set by Carlile at the Pilgrimage Festival, and next year, the stages get even bigger: they’ll be with Carlile when she opens for Pink on dates of her 2023 stadium, which includes a stop at Nashville’s Geodis Park.

And the more people that see them in the spotlight, the better.

“I know in depth, the path and route that I came to play my violin,” Chauntee says. “And how ‘othered’ I felt a lot of the time, and how much I want to (change) that to be more inclusive. Because it’s always more a beautiful, wonderful thing for all of us, when we come together, and there's no barrier…That's a huge part of our mission, why we make music, and why we have stopped trying to fit into whatever mold a violinist or cellist is supposed to look like. No, I'm gonna wear my hair in a fro to your concert hall.”

They’re also bringing that energy to the studio. SistaStrings plan to spend their winter (between gigs) working on their first album, and they agree it’s a prime opportunity to ask all the folks they’ve played behind to get involved. Learn more about the group at sistastrings.com

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: SistaStrings: Meet the Nashville-based sisters behind Brandi Carlile