Few musicians have ever gotten my immediate attention with the first song, chord, or verse. It happened once when Francesco Franco and I went to lunch. He insisted I listen to a new band and popped a CD into the car stereo. With the first song, it had my attention. After song two and three, the quality and entertainment did not let up.  Whoever was performing could write and perform great music, and back it up with some mean guitar. The band was The White Stripes. The singer/songwriter/guitarist was Jack White, a native of Detroit, Michigan.
Two years ago, another Detroit native did the same thing. Sista Otis and the Wholly Rollers played the 2008 Pride Fest in Lansing’s Adado Park.  From the first note on stage, she ignited an enthusiastic crowd with a high-energy show. It was a revelation. She was a powerful indie rock-folk-gospel-soul revival all rolled into one. I bought a couple of her CDs that day and have since gone into long stretches of listening to her music exclusively in the car, a stretch of which I am in again lately after seeing Sista Otis at this year’s 2010 Pride Festival.
The good news is Sista Otis has been touring a lot lately, including a number of locations in Michigan. She just released her new single “Charmed†in the national market. The “Charmed†video below was just released as well. It is quintessential Otis.  In a double extra bonus, Sista Otis is playing my hometown, Lansing, Michigan, this Friday evening (August 20, 2010) at The Chrome Cat, 226 E. Grand River in Old Town.  The event promotion on Facebook says $5 cover at 9 p.m. and Sista Otis performing at 10:30 p.m.
It’s not easy carrying the legacy of Detroit pop music scene, but Jack White has made us proud and now Sista Otis has come along to be a new generation’s Sista Soul.  If you’re in mid-Michigan this Friday, don’t miss the opportunity to see Sista Otis’s live performance. You’ll be charmed — I guarantee it.
– Rico Thomas Rico
