Now, step back and take it all in on Sister 7's debut on Arista Austin, This The Trip. The album gleefully mixes melodic hard rock and funk with a touch of hip hop to create a unique, irresistible sound.

This The Trip reveals a band with a lot to say and no respect for borders. But six years of constant touring has kept them close to the streets. No matter how adventurous things get, every song on the This The Trip could and has rocked the house on a Saturday night.

"This band is four very different people," Pike said. "it took us a lot of touring to gel and to find our own sound."

Growing up in Dallas, Pike heard a lot of Led Zeppelin, Motown and Billie Holiday. Meanwhile, Sutton was learning guitar with the help of his Eagles, Pink Floyd and Santana records.

Darrell Phillips cut his teeth on R&B;, gospel, jazz and funk. "I've wanted to be a musician since I was four years old," he said. "I had a James Brown record I carried around With me everywhere."

Pike tags Sean Phillips as the band's resident guru of alternative rock, something he does not dispute.

"But as a kid," adds Sean, "my mom set me down in front of the stereo and said, 'Son, I'm going to play for you the best album of all time,' and put on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. To this day, I agree with her, and I did the same for my son."

Mix it all together, add a thousand nights on stage and one great singer, and you have Sister 7.

Critics have taken note: "A tight unit capable of a blues, rock or soulful groove," praised The Columbus Dispatch. The Memphis Commercial Appeal declared them "the hottest ticket on the competitive scene, with a reputation built on sweat-soaked, dance-crazed, three hour plus sets."

The Black Cat Lounge in Austin, where the Sister 7 played regularly for over a year in 1993 under-the name Little Sister, required the headlining band to play for three hours. The band soon established itself as an adventurously passionate group renowned for their killer original songs, breathtaking jams, and the, powerful vocals of frontwoman Pike.

"It came to be more than people coming to see our show, they formed a bond with each other, too," said Sean Phillips.

The band keeps in touch with more than 15,000 fans with a newsletter and website (www.sister7.com) which has logged over 250,000 hits in the past year.

"We're getting a Powerbook so we can communicate and add soundbites and photos from the road," Darrell Phillips said. "We like to keep in touch."

Sister 7 grew out of an impromptu jam at Dallas' Club Dada in 1991 but they located their real creative base after moving to Austin in 1993. Appropriately their major label debut was a live EP capturing the energy and spontaneity of a Club Dada performance - a,funky valentine to their rabidly loyal following. Free Love and Nickel Beer was released in 1994 on SBK/EMI.

Critics loved it, and in August of 1994 Sister 7 found themselves on the H.O.R.D.E. Tour after being invited by Dave Matthews and Blues Traveler's John Popper.

1995 saw the release of the band's second effort, Liffle Sister / Sister 7, an independent self-titled studio album produced by Dave McNair (Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan) that was released on Rhythmic Records. The album harnessed the intensity of the band's material that was conceived, rehearsed and played on the road.

"Our records were created by us, paid by us--we did everything," Pike said. Non-stop national touring culminated in a dazzling South By Southwest showcase at Austin's Steamboat in 1996. The band was signed to Arista Austin by the end of the evening.

Producer Danny "Kooch" Kortchmar (Spin Doctors, Freedy Johnston, Don Henley, James Taylor) helped Sister 7 capture the passion and adventure of their stage show in the studio for This The Trip. The CD was recorded at the Power Station in New England and was mastered by Bob Ludwig. All the songs were written by the band.

"Boftle Rocket" sports an ethereal hip hop trance with R&B; vocals, "and the chorus is real hard-slamming rock, a fat sound," Pike said.

"Know What You Mean" concerns "what it's like when a friend is going through a tough time in a love relationship, what it's like to be there for that friend," says Sean Phillips, "and it's one of my favorites." "Perfect," on the other hand, "is a real droning kind of tune," Pike said. "A lot of the album has cutting, wailing, rock vocals but this is ghostly and really different, really beautiful, but kind of dark." The title track's languid guitar excursion evolves into an urban vibe and takes the listener on a "trip."

"Patrice wrote that after we went to Paris," Sean Phillips said. "She was really struck-by the free-spirited attitude about sex there-- that's what that song's about."

That's just the beginning of the experience of This The Trip. It's one well worth taking.

Sister 7: Sounds

This The Trip

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Flesh and Bones

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Some Things Are Free

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Bottle Rocket

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Shelter

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-- Reprinted from the Official Sister 7 web site.