Milwaukee's SistaStrings is playing 'Saturday Night Live' with Brandi Carlile. Here's who they are, and how it happened.

Live from New York, it's Milwaukee's SistaStrings!

The musical duo, made up of sisters Chauntee Ross on violin and Monique Ross on cello, are joining an elite list of Wisconsin natives to perform live from 30 Rock on "Saturday Night Live," as part of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile's band. They're in excellent company, with comedy legends and "Only Murders in the Building" co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short co-hosting.

Here's everything you need to know about SistaStrings and this week's "SNL."

How can I watch "SNL?"

"Saturday Night Live" airs on NBC (in Milwaukee that's via WTMJ-TV, Channel 4) at 10:30 p.m.

Who is hosting the Dec. 10 edition of "SNL?"

Steve Martin and Martin Short are co-hosting. This will be Martin's 16th time hosting the iconic comedy sketch show. Short, a one-time cast member, will host for the fourth time.

SistaStrings learned how to play music from Milwaukee's north side

Born and raised on the north side, Chauntee and her older sister Monique first played in another sister group, Sisters of Praize, with older sisters Charice Ross on violin and Rickena Johnson on viola, landing their first gigs at schools, libraries, churches and nursing homes in the city.

"There are five of us (Ross kids) that play music," Chauntee told the Journal Sentinel in 2017. "We all took lessons and all bought instruments, and my parents were not rich, but they made it work."

"As we grew up we asked for more and more instruments," Monique told the Journal Sentinel in 2017. Her first instrument was piano starting at 3, while Chauntee picked up violin at 4. They also took lessons at the String Academy of Wisconsin.

SistaStrings first made waves in Milwaukee's music scene

Following a five-year stint at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Chauntee moved back to Milwaukee in 2014 and started playing with Monique in their own duo, SistaStrings, where they not only showed off their instrumental skills, but also their gospel-infused voices.

"Our style is soulful and kind of romantic," Chauntee told the Journal Sentinel in 2017. "The tone is super lush."

And their sound was incredibly amenable. Aside from playing their own gigs around town, SistaStrings became one of the scene's most in-demand collaborators, performing and recording with rappers (including IshDARR and Klassik), jam bands (Foreign Goods), electronic artists (Strehlow) and singer-songwriters (Mike Mangione, Peter Mulvey). They're still collaborating with Mulvey, releasing the superb joint album "Love Is The Only Thing" in August on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe Records. Mulvey and SistaStrings are also opening a few January dates for DiFranco, including at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee Jan. 25.

A move to Nashville supercharged SistaStrings' career

The Ross sisters first toyed with the idea of moving in 2019. Then, after the pandemic hit, robbing them of gigs and teaching opportunities, they decided to move in June 2020, opting for Nashville, after their parents had relocated to Jackson, Tenn., the year prior.

"We had no jobs lined up," Monique told the Journal Sentinel in July, of moving to Nashville. "Miraculously, it worked where within a couple of weeks we were performing."

Mulvey had put the word out to his Nashville contacts about the Ross sisters relocating, hoping they could secure work. Monique ended up playing in fast-rising, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Allison Russell's band, whom the sisters had previously met and befriended at a gig at Cafe Carpe in Fort Atkinson. Chauntee ended up joining the band as well.

SistaStrings has teamed with Brandi Carlile since early 2022

Less than a month after joining Russell's group, Monique was playing with her at the famed Newport Folk Festival, where Brandi Carlile joined the band as a special guest.

"Afterwards, Brandi came to see me and said, 'I need you in our band,'" Monique said. "I said, 'Yes, I can tour, and I also have this amazing sister,' and gave her and her wife a card and wondered if I would hear anything from them."

A couple of months later, Carlile's manager reached out with an offer for both sisters to join the band. They officially played their first Carlile gigs in January 2022.

With Carlile and Russell, TV gigs, huge shows — and witnessing history with Joni Mitchell

This year has been a whirlwind for the Ross sisters as they jumped back and forth playing shows for the in-demand Carlile and Russell. With Russell they performed on "Ellen" (with Carlile guest hosting) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" With Carlile they performed on the Grammys this year, did a live IMAX concert, and are now appearing on "SNL."

Those are just the TV and movie gigs too. The Ross sisters have also played some of the most prestigious venues around the country this year, including a homecoming show at Fiserv Forum backing Carlile in August. And they got to sit on stage to watch the historic return of Joni Mitchell in the public eye, for her first performance in over 20 years, as a surprise guest at Newport this past July. The Ross sisters will also be at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington June 9 weekend, for a Carlile performance and Joni Mitchell's first full comeback concert. And they'll be playing stadiums around North America with Carlile, who's an opening act on select dates of Pink's "Summer Carnival" tour (although, alas, not at American Family Field in August).

"It's really beautiful," Monique told the Journal Sentinel in July of playing with Carlile. "With Brandi, it is becoming another family. When you get to know each other as humans, I think it just makes the music better."

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Meet SistaStrings, Milwaukee band playing with Brandi Carlile on SNL