Monterey Blues Festival San Francisco Examiner


June 29, 8:56 PM

 ...Especially impressive was the quartet of home schooled Sledge Grits sisters.  The youngest, Bopa a sub-4-foot tall little girl mounted the drum set and rocked an amazingly crisp beat.  Her sister, Mimi, only inches taller, sang with the natural stage presence and confidence of a true rock star. ...

 Register Pajaronian

100 Westridge Dr., Watsonville, CA 95076 • Ph: 831-761-7300 • 831-722-8386

August 4th One stage performance that appeared to take the audience by surprise was the Hollister-based rock group, the Sledge Grits Band. Comprised of four sisters ages 7 to 14, the group wasted no time grabbing people’s attention with their delivery of popular rock tunes and a sampling of their own original songs. Disbelief was plainly registered on many people’s faces as the lead singer, Mimi Sledge, 8, sang and waltzed about the stage and into the audience, microphone in hand, with apparent confidence.

Daisy Rock Welcomes New Artists The Sledge Grits Band

 

LOS ANGELES, CA – July 8, 2008
Daisy Rock is pleased to announce the latest addition to their talented roster of artists: the talented Sledge Grits Band.  
 
Ranging in age from 6 to 13, sisters Keiko, Kariel, Mimi, and Kelly Jo comprise the Sledge Grits Band, and have been practicing their craft for the past 3 years together.  Performing a mix of covers and original material, the girls know what it takes to draw a crowd.
 
Past performances include the Monterey Bay Blues Festival and various community events throughout the Salinas and Gilroy area.  Their blues-infused guitar rhythms, positive energy, and vibrant appearance attract fans everywhere they perform, and Daisy Rock is excited to help the band through their success every step of the way.
 

Daisy Rock offers a complete line of girl guitars designed to look and sound great, and to fit the female form.  To learn more about Daisy Rock endorsed artists, and to view Daisy Rock’s entire line of guitars, visit daisyrock.com now!

 

3/17/2009

 THE SLEDGE GRITS BAND ROCKS ON CBS “SINGING FAMILY FACE OFF”              
Written by Tara W. Pretends Eagle  

(Native American Times)   

The Sledge Grits Band- Sledge is their last name. “Grits, the acronym that means raised in the south because we were raised in south (in Florida.) It also means, warm and inviting like a bowl of grits, which we hope our band is like.”

 Keiko, oldest sister, guitar player, Head songwriter, back-up vocals.


The dynamically talented, The Sledge Grits Band, the four sisters, from Salinas, CA, performed live Wednesday morning on the CBS Early Show’s stage in New York City, as one of the six finalists in the “Singing Family Face Off’s” competition.

 

Even though the winner is determined by the viewers votes through the CBS Early Show’s website, there were still ‘celebrity judges’ David Cassidy, teen idol from the Partridge Family, Kathy Sledge from Sister Sledge and Jermaine Dupree on site available for critiques of their performances. This week’s genre was ‘gospel music.’ So, the sisters chose to perform , Aretha Franklin’s “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s hand.)


 

Mimi, 9,  The Sledge Grits’ Band’s Lead vocalist, powerfully sang, the Queen of Soul’s tune with the confidence rarely seen in a child performer. Midway through the song, Mimi approached, the ‘judges’ table, where she gracefully held her arm out toward David Cassidy, making direct eye contact with him and Kathy Sledge, who fought off tears as the song played on.

 

Cassidy beamed with a huge smile and said of Mimi’s voice and her sisters, “It a remarkable instrument you have! (Mimi’s voice)….it is mind blowing. And the three of you, give her wonderful support!”

 
(The Sledge Grits Band with Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge and Kristin Sledge, her daughter)

Both Cassidy and Dupree were also impressed with Bo-Pah, 6, the precious drummer who plays like no other first grader around! Cassidy giggled as the camera panned in on Bo-Pah,  asking “Where was this drummer when we were auditioning for the Partridge Family? You blew him away.”

 


Dupree commented also on how it was so nice to see girls so involved in music and that he also really liked the drummer and asked how old she was. When Bo-Pah responded that she was six, there was a reaction of gasps of awe, among the people in the in the studio.  Because Bo-Pah like her sisters gave a really incredible performance. They were truly spectacular!

 

Sledge too, praised the girls, “Amazing. Amazing.  I  was  almost in tears (when Mimi walked over to  our table) I am glad you walked away when you did... Beautiful voices…I love the (group’s) name….Don’t ever change the name... What I love the most,  is you can feel the sisterly love on the stage... Most importantly, Great Job!”

 

Older sisters, Keiko, 14, on guitar and Kariel, 12, on bass jammed and sang back-u[ like seasoned rockers beyond their years and have striking stage presence which stems from a blend of their Cherokee, Japanese, African American, Irish and German heritage.

 

The Sledge Grits Band has brought back the true meaning of “family band!” They are all talented, young musicians, who all do very well in school and their love as sisters shines through their music.

 

 Kariel summed it up perfectly, “We love to play music! It is what...our life is.”

 

 

To see the CBS Early Show performance, check out The Sledge Grits Family site at www.gritsworld.com

 Subscribe to our youtube videos! We will upload more videos soon

Salinas' Sledge Grits band makes Top 20 in competition for CBS appearance

The Monterey County Herald
Posted: 02/15/2009 01:44:56 AM PST


A CBS Morning Show crew films The Sledge Grits band from left, ... (ORVILLE MYERS/The Herald)
New York City could soon be rocking out to the sounds of Salinas's very own Sisters Sledge.
The Sledge Grits band was chosen as a top-20 finalist in a children's band competition on the CBS Morning Show. They are in line to be one of six bands vying for a slot on the nationally televised show.

Band members, all daughters of Salinas residents Kelly Jo and Wendy Sledge, are Keiko, 14, guitar; Kariel, 12, bass; Millenia "MiMi," 8, lead vocals; and the youngest, Kelly Jo, aka "Bo-Pah," 6.

The band has played seriously for a year now, doing a couple of shows a month. They do a few originals mixed with covers, blending funk, blues and rock with an adorable girl-power punch.

Adorned in tiaras and jamming out on hot-pink instruments, the girls are button-cute on stage until the music kicks in. Keiko and Kariel can bust out blues and funk with a mature measure, while MiMi's vocals carry a spirit that belies her young age.

Most impressive is little Bo-Pah, blasting away on her drum set that's four times her size. Watching the band perform at a talent competition last summer, I couldn't help but smile. These girls mean business on stage.

In December, mom Wendy uploaded a video of their performance to the CBS Web site after catching wind of the competition.

In early February, they were informed of their status in the Top 20, chosen from 280 online entries and several hundred more mailed entries.

On Tuesday, a CBS crew followed the band for the day, taking

trips to the beach and Fisherman's Wharf. The band also performed some of its songs live in their family room. The crew stayed around until 10 p.m.
"It was a long day," said Wendy Sledge.

CBS told the family they'll be in touch by the end of the month, with more news on how they placed in the contest.

It was also a special pre-birthday celebration for Keiko, whose big day was Wednesday. On her birthday wish-list were books and some spending cash.

"That way, if we go to New York on this competition, I can have some money to spend," she said.

For now, the band will have to wait until the final six bands are selected later in the month. The top six will be shipped out to New York for a quick appearance on the show.


An online vote will determine the top three, and from there a final winner will be chosen.

For Keiko, the early attention has been a thrill in itself.

"I was just so excited to hear that we had gotten to the Top 20," she said. "Even if we don't get any farther than this, I am extremely excited."

For all of her birthday cheer, there was one thing that eluded Keiko's birthday wish list.

"I do want to get a cell phone. My mom said maybe I could get one, but that didn't happen," she said.

If they make it to New York, mom may need to come correct on that request.

Marc Cabrera can be reached at 646-4345 or mcabrera@montereyherald.com

(The Sledge Grits Band with the CBS crew)

 (The Sledge Grits Band after opening for Coco Montoya)

 Salinas girls band goes national
Sledge Grits one of 20 to appear on CBS' 'The Early Show'
BY BRITTANY DURGIN • THE SALINAS CALIFORNIAN • FEBRUARY 11, 2009
 
Rock 'n' roll drummer Bo-pah Sledge cringed while wiggling a loose tooth between songs during band practice on Tuesday afternoon.


But the 6-year-old percussionist didn't let the distraction interefere with her performance - the band had important guests at this jam session.
CBS News was filming The Sledge Grits Band at their Salinas home. The all-sisters band will be featured on the network's "The Early Show" in the coming months.
In December, the girls submitted a video of themselves to CBS as an entry to the "CBS Singing Family Face Off" competition. Last week, they received a call from the network saying they were one of 20 finalists who will be featured on the early morning show.
The Sledge sisters - Bo-pah, Mimi, 8; Kariel, 12 and Keiko, 14 - formed the band one year ago, with grits standing for Girls Raised In The South.
"We hope we're warm and inviting like grits, too," said Kariel, the bassist. Mimi sings and Keiko plays the guitar to round out the group.
Americans will vote online for their favorite band once all 20 groups have been featured. The six with the most votes will go to New York City to compete in the "face-off." The Salinas girls are hoping to be on the East Coast for this match, and it would be a big step for them, as they would like to become professional musicians some day.
The Sledge Grits Band may sound familiar: They've played local venues such as the Fox Theatre, Wise Music store, Embassy Suites, as well as at Kids Fest and Blues Fest at the Monterey County Fairgrounds.
Wendy Sledge, the girls' mother, said she is happy with their success. "It's nice to see their hard work pay off," she said.

(Cbs news crew in The Sledge Grits Band living room) 

BIG SOUND IN SMALL PACKAGE
Pint-size guitarslinger Mimi Sledge rocks the house; backed by veterans
By DENNIS TAYLOR
Monterey Herald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 06/30/2008 09:21:48 AM PDT


When Mimi Sledge becomes famous — which, judging from the two standing ovations she got Sunday at the Monterey Bay Blues Festival, won't take long — she has huge plans: "I want to buy a mansion and a puppy," she says.
Mimi, who is 8, plans to be a big singing star, like Whitney, Mariah or Aretha, which, despite her monstrous talent, is a fairly new aspiration.
"Up until recently, she wanted to be a lion," explains her father, Kelly Jo Sledge. "And her little sister (6-year-old Kelly Jo II, whom the family calls Bo-pah) is still planning to be a tiger."
Mimi, with guitar in hand, rocked the house Sunday on the President's Stage, where she was backed by some of the best-known musicians on the Central Coast — keyboardist Dale Ockerman (formerly of the Doobie Brothers and Quicksilver Messenger Service), guitarists Mike Lent (who has toured with Barry Manilow and Jeffrey Osbourne) and "Mighty" Mike Schermer (Maria Muldaur, Elvin Bishop), drummer June Core (who played later in the day behind Charlie Musselwhite), and Dennis Murphy, who not only heads the Dennis Murphy Band, but also is director of Monterey County's "Blues In The Schools" program. (Each of the aforementioned players is a clinician in Murphy's program, and Ockerman has his own private school for young musicians in Santa Cruz.)
"It was exciting, but I wasn't nervous," Mimi said after belting out Aretha Franklin's "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." "There
were so many people watching me when I went up there — this was pretty big for me — but I don't get nervous very much."
Well, heck, she's been doing it for a long time. She started singing opera with her mom at age 5. She picked up a guitar a short time later and never put it down. By the time she was 6, she was interrupting her singing coach — Mommy — to tell her she was singing off-key.
"And when she did that, I realized she was right. I was off-key. She just has an ear for it," said her mother, Wendy Lynn Sledge.
She's not the only one with some natural chops. Little Bo-pah, the 6-year-old, is the drummer for The Sledge Grits Band.
Mimi sings lead and plays guitar. The bass player is 11-year-old Kariel, and big sister Keiko, 13, handles lead guitar and backup vocals.
The band brought home top honors in its category earlier this year — and Keiko won as an individual performer — at the Seaside Talent Show — award trinkets that were added to an already-full wall next to the staircase in the family home. But Mom and Dad are anything but prototypical stage parents.
"The Sledges are a family, first and foremost," says Murphy, who coaches Kariel in his "Blues In The Schools" honor band. "The girls are musicians second, and that's the foundation by which they're able to get more expanded, more into their expression, as musicians."
And their talent?
"Unbelievable," he marvels. "Mimi is absolutely incredible, and they're all going to be forces to be reckoned with on their own levels."
Where the talent came from is a good question. Kelly Jo says he helps Mimi with her stage choreography, but says he's strictly an amateur. Wendy had vocal training as a child, but her music lessons ended there.
"But most of it ... I'd have to say it comes from up above," Kelly Jo says. "There's no other explanation for some of the things those girls do."
Some of the things they do — garage-band videos of "Wild Thing" and "Mississippi Girl" — can be viewed on YouTube, or via the Sledge GritsBand home page at www.myspace.com/sledgegrits.
The sisters will appear on July 4 in Downtown Salinas (time TBA), and at 1 p.m. July 26 at CSU-Monterey Bay's World Theatre, where they'll perform both individually and as a group at the Marina Youth Arts Summer Talent Showcase.

Dennis Taylor can be reached at dtaylor@montereyherald.com or 646-4344.
Video of the Sledge G.R.I.T.S. Band can be viewed at profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile.&friendid=369205351.

 For Booking information please call (831)905-2361 or email booking@gritsworld.com