Sistah Boom played at many events during the 1980′s under the musical direction of it’s creator Carolyn Brandy. It continued at various times since then with various musical directors At some time, the band dissolved. Then In 2008, Cleve Jones called Carolyn to ask her to bring Sistah Boom to the filming of Milk.
Sistah Boom in the 80's -- Photo by Cathy Cade
We had an exciting time playing together in a scene for the film and decided to reconstitute the group. Sistah Boom played at the Dyke March stage and led the parade out into the streets in 2008, 2009, and 2010 and at Gay Pride in 2009. We’ve played at Sistahs Steppin’ in Pride in Oakland the same years. In 2008 we celebrated gay marriage in San Francisco by playing on the steps of City Hall for the newlyweds. We were honored to play at the memorial for Del Martin in 2008.
Sistah Boom at MILK filming Photo by Maria Verdan
Statement: Sistah Boom has been active in support of racial, gender and social justice. We are committed to working on these issues internally as well as playing kick-ass music!
Our Instrumentation: Bells, (Brazilian) Tamborims, Rattles, Shakers, Snare, Toms, Surdos, and any small percussion instrument that is easy to march with.
To join Sistah Boom for future events, or to invite Sistah Boom to play at your event, contact us.
Contribution: We pass a bucket at each rehearsal for a contribution of $5-$10 or more per player to help pay Carolyn, our musical director, take care of expenses, and fund STB.
Instruments: We would like women to bring their own instruments if they have ones that are part of our instrumentation. We also have some instruments that can be loaned. We will have a “check out” system for old STB instruments and some of Carolyn’s instruments. Women checking out instruments will be asked to pay a deposit to be held by STB.
