The authentic, gritty, down-home gals who comprise Sister Sadie show how bluegrass music has evolved over the decades to become an all-inclusive genre with acoustic, country flavorings. Boasting three stellar lead vocalists, Sister Sadie II explains why the band has received so many accolades. Sister Sadie opens with Tina Adair’s heart-tugging urgency and warmth in the “Losing You Blues,” while Dale Ann Bradley takes songs like “No Smoky Mountains” and “I’m Not a Candle in the Wind” to convey poignant messages both thoughtful and tranquil.

Singing her own self-penned “Jay Hugh,” Alabama-born Tina Adair does some balladeering to paint vivid pictures in the song’s story. She began singing at age 3 in her family band, Bluegrass Edition, and in 1996 won first place at the Pizza Hut International Bluegrass Showdown in Owensboro, Ky. She’s released some others albums on the Sugar Hill, Tab Music Group, Pinecastle and Englehardt record labels.

On Sister Sadie II, “Something to Lose” features banjo-player Gene Britt’s winsome, warm and twangy vocals. She also composed track four, the album’s only instrumental, “Raleigh’s Ride” that is arranged for some stellar dialogue between the banjo, fiddle and mandolin.  Originally from North Carolina, Britt has fronted her own band, as well as working with Petticoat Junction, New Vintage, Lou Reid and Carolina, Daughters of Bluegrass, Skip Cherryholmes Quintet, Grasstowne, Phil Leadbetter and the All Stars of Bluegrass, and others.     

I can’t say enough about Deanie Richardson’s fiddling too. From Tennessee, the award-winning fiddler has worked with a variety of country and bluegrass artists like The New Coon Creek Girls and her own band, Second Fiddle. In 2012, she began touring internationally for several years with The Chieftains. In 2019, she released Love Hard, Work Hard, Play Hard on Pinecastle, and in 2020, she won the IBMA Award for Fiddle Player of the Year.

Sister Sadie is making a big impact on the bluegrass music scene, most recently being recognized as IBMA's Vocal Group of the Year for 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as taking home the Entertainer of the Year Award in 2020. The Nashville-based all-woman quintet formed in 2012 after an impromptu jam session at Nashville’s Station Inn. Their self-titled 2016 debut album (reviewed earlier on The Roots Music Report), and Sister Sadie II in 2018, both feature Dale Ann Bradley (guitar), Tina Adair (mandolin), Deanie Richardson (fiddle), Gena Britt (banjo) and Beth Lawrence (bass). 

Late in 2020, Dale Ann Bradley left the group to concentrate on her solo career. In 2021, when Jaelee Roberts (guitar) and Hasee Ciaccio (bass) joined up, the band was featured in a special exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum called “American Currents: State of the Music.” In 2022, Mary Meyer (mandolin) joined the band, replacing Tina Adair who left to pursue her solo career.

The band continues to feature some very astute bluegrass songwriters, and they also find songs from others, like Dan Fogelberg’s “Morning Sky,” and then make them their own.  An all-woman band with strong lead vocals, blended harmonies and instrumental prowess, Sister Sadie (and its alumni) are poised to reach new heights, likely beyond just the loyal, dedicated bluegrass community. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)