Photo courtesy of WinterWonderGrass.

Steamboat Magazine caught up with WinterWonderGrass newcomers, Sister Sadie, on the heels of their recent Grammy nomination for best bluegrass album. Fiddle player Deanie Richardson introduces us to the band: its latest (best, she says) iteration, what makes them quirky and what we’ll see at this year’s WinterWonderGrass.

Steamboat Magazine: This is your first year at WinterWonderGrass – do you know what you’re getting yourself into?! 

Deanie Richardson: I don’t! But you know, this was on our bucket list – we all have a bucket list of festivals that we want to play and this was on it. So whatever it is, we’re all in!

SM: Since you’re new to our town, can you tell us a little bit about how you guys got together and what you’re all about?

DR: Thirteen years ago, a group of women that had never played together in that configuration – we’d known of each other our whole lives but had never played in a group together – we just thought it would be fun to do that. We made plans to play at the Station Inn here in Nashville one December night. We didn’t rehearse, we had no idea, there was no set list, we just got together day-of. And in the big room there at the Station Inn, I remember sitting down and as soon as we hit that first note, we all looked at each other and we were like, ‘oh my gosh.’ It just felt incredible. It was one of those things where it just all fell into place. As a musician, any time you’re in a situation like that, you know there’s something special brewing. 

So we played the show and it was so much fun, so we decided to do another one. We booked another one several months later and then started getting some phone calls wondering if we would come play at different festivals. That was never our intention – to start a band and go tour. I've played all over the world with several country artists and was not looking to tour heavily again, so it was never our intention to be a big full-blown touring band. But when we started getting these calls, we played a few festivals and it was fun, and then we got a call from a record label who said, ‘you guys want to make a record?’ And we said, ‘might as well!’

Next thing you know, we’re nominated for all these awards and then we’re winning all these awards…it was very organic. We never really had a team, didn’t have a booking agent, it was just five women doing this as it came and it all just came to us very naturally and very beautifully. We had some personnel changes along the way as the years went on. People want to move on to something else or grow out of the situation, so we brought in some new blood, as  I call it. And that changed everything, changed the whole chemistry, the whole energy when we brought in Jaelee Roberts, Dani Flowers and now Maddie Dalton who’s 20…20! And now Rainy – it just created a whole new vibe; a whole new thing. I feel like it's the best version of Sister Sadie. And we were like, ‘you know what? What if we really did go all in and have a manager and a booking agent and a publicist and a team?’ And that's where we are today and we just got home last night from the Grammys!

SM: That’s so awesome!

DR: So here we are now, six women, plus our sound manager who is also a woman. Seven badass, strong women of all different ages, all different beliefs, all different politics, different creative styles, different everything. But we all come together at that down beat and it still feels amazing as it did 13 years ago. It’s just the most incredible thing that I've ever experienced, to get to do this with these ladies.

SM: Tell us about the Grammys!

DR: Oh, we had the best time. We were nominated along with some of our best friends, some of our heroes. It was just a surreal experience. I just texted the girls before you called because I’m here teaching students all day long in between this interview and Dani is answering customer service calls for Warby Parker and Gena is at a bank and Rainy’s at school finishing up a paper, and I just thought, ‘how surreal that we flew home from the Grammys where we were sitting there with Beyoncé and all these people who we listen to daily?!’ And the performances at the Grammys – it was the best show I’ve seen in a long time.

SM: Well, WinterWonderGrass might be a little bit colder than the Grammys…

DR: We’re prepared!

SM…but is there someone you’re looking forward to seeing at WinterWonderGrass?

DR: You know, we have some friends coming – the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys – who are great friends of ours, but what I’m most excited about, and I've just heard so much about it and the energy around it feels so great and we’re going to be a part of it, is the WinterWonderWomen. I am super pumped about that. Everybody talking about this festival just feels like a place I really want to be. So…you may have to drag me out of there once I get in.

SM: What do you think is the most original or coolest or quirkiest thing about Sister Sadie?

DR: I think our age gaps are pretty significant. The two original members – the girls call us the OGs; I had to look up what that meant! – I'm 53 and Gena’s 52, about to be 53. The other girls are in their 20s. The age gap in itself you think would just be this bizarre thing and it sometimes can be when you’re listening to music or whatever, but I feel like it's also a really beautiful thing. It makes me emotional to talk about it. Because in a time when this world is so f-ed up, it's really magical to be with a group of women who can be vastly different in age, in beliefs, in musical taste, and just on every turn we can be so different, but when we hit that first note, we just love each other. If these seven women can do this in a tight space, surely to God the whole world can.

SM: Such a good reminder! Well, thank you so much. We are all really looking forward to seeing you here in Steamboat.

DR: We are too, and I hope we’re prepared. The girls have been ordering ski outfits and all their gear to stay warm but see, the difference between me and those girls is that I don't really care if it matches…I just care about staying warm!