Sister Strange

Sister Strange is a new Toronto-based four-piece band whose goal is to make people dance by blending jazz, blues and rock with grooving rhythms.

Supporting a self-released EP, Sister Strange are booking all kinds of shows to expand their network of friends and fans. The recordings are controlled and expressive — methodically constructed and recorded to burn the melodies into the listener ears. But the live experience varies based on the environment: Sister Strange can turn up the heat at a punk commune in Montreal, smooth over a seniors’ birthday party as a jazz combo, or make the crowds scream and shake at an underground party in Kensington Market. Live testing new material while building an audience for a vinyl LP release comes smoothly when the music speaks for itself.

Sister Strange came together based on circumstance of being in the right place at the right time. Singer Esther Harvey met guitarist Ethan Feldman when they were studying philosophy at McGill in Montréal, though they both called Toronto home. Bassist Tyler Babcock met Ethan through friends and they played together at every opportunity when Ethan was in Toronto, including a few sessions with drummer Scott Nickol. Ethan and Tyler agreed Scott was too good to call on for their other projects, but in the spring of 2016, Ethan discovered Esther had relocated to Toronto and it was time to call Scott in and get serious about making the music they wished was already out there.

In 2017, Sister Strange will continue to write, record, and play their original brand of dark jazz blues to a variety of stages for a wide range of audiences and continue to craft a name for themselves and work hard to turn the uninitiated into devotees by avoiding gimmicks and focusing on a repertoire of well crafted songs backed up with searing and passionate live performances.