Sister Soma

What began as an experiment during a house sitting weekend; Sister Soma has blossomed into an eloquent blend of electronic, eclectic pop sound. Two founding members, Rob Barnes and Katie Martin met years before in 2000, playing together in the rock group Water To Go. Canadian born drummer Martin, now with 20 years behind the kit, (she began her career at the age of eight!) brought a blend of dance and hip-hop to the then predominantly rock sound of the group. Barnes, who had his fair share of different bands and instruments from electronic/industrial, classic rock to heavy metal, brandished his guitar for Water To Go, and together with Martin and the rest of the band, quickly recorded their first CD “Water To Go” and toured independently up and down the east coast. Finally settling in Toronto, Canada, the group played on until taking a musical hiatus in the fall of 2002.

Throughout their downtime, Barnes continued to write, but until 2005, no formal bands or projects were in the picture. During the summer of ‘05, a friend asked Barnes to housesit, with access to recording equipment, keyboards and a computer. It was during this weekend that Barnes hastily (and quite experimentally) put down three tracks with Martin’s assistance on drums. Those three tracks would not be revisited until 2007, when Sister Soma was “officially” reborn! Later in 2005 Barnes and Martin, along with some friends began to play cover songs once again in the local Raleigh, NC scene under the band name Radio Live, which would later evolve into Limelight with the addition of new vocalist Olivia McNutt. Through various lineup changes, Limelight still plays continuously, honing their skills and building support throughout the North Carolina bar scene to this day.

It was during early 2007 that Barnes, Martin and McNutt decided to renew Sister Soma. With Martin’s drumming and vocals, McNutt’s lead vocals, and Barnes’s guitars and keyboards, Sister Soma evolved quickly from a weekend experiment to a full album sound scape entitled “Easter Island”! With Easter Island completed on the band’s own free time, Sister Soma began to promote their album using sites such as Itunes and GarageBand. The latter awarded multiple songs with “track of the day” as well as awards including “female vocals of the week” and “melody of the week” for the electronic genre, all within the first month of review in January 2008! With many positive reviews under its belt and a new album already well under construction, Sister Soma is eager to tackle the music scene with its unique blend of dark, brooding melody, bass thumping groove, and touching lyrical content in which we can all relate!