Sister Sadie Shares New Single 'Marlboros in Muskogee'

Nashville bluegrass band Sister Sadie has released a new single, 'Marlboros in Muskogee,' a true account of an extended tour out west from their hometown of Nashville through Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona under a super blood moon, followed by a 30-hour drive straight back home to Tennessee.

Listen to 'Marlboros in Muskogee'

'We drove all of this in a van, pulling a trailer,' notes fiddle player and co-founder Deanie Richardson, who co-wrote the song with her bandmate, guitarist/vocalist Dani Flowers, and Nashville songwriters Jon Randall Stewart and Jessi Alexander. 'Coming up to this trip, we were all kind of dreading it, because it was going to be so much riding and driving. And from the minute we left home, everything about this trip was magical.'

That's evident from the lyrics, which start with the event that gave the song its title: buying cigarettes after their Oklahoma gig. 'I get in the car, and Dani says, 'That's pretty badass. We just bought Marlboros in Muskogee. That feels like Merle Haggard,'' Richardson recalls. From there, the tune started writing itself, as the lyrics reference stunning moments (rolling into Taos, New Mexico, at sunrise; staying the night at the Sagebrush Inn) and the less-glamorous parts of road life (scrounging up clean clothes).

But in addition to being a travelogue, it's also a love letter to being in a band and a testament to Sister Sadie's passion for performing: 'I'd drive a couple thousand miles from my own driveway/Just to play a country song.' Gena Britt's easygoing banjo and Richardson's sage fiddle serve as anchors; the song feels like a tranquil musical jam around a roaring campfire.

Flowers had started sketching out lyrics and music for 'Marlboros in Muskogee' while Sister Sadie was on the road. When the group got back to Nashville, she and Richardson immediately called up Stewart and Alexander, headed to their house, and started writing. 'We told them about the entire trip, and then wrote the song with them,' Richardson says. 'And they got exactly what we were looking for. When we played it for the girls, we were all sobbing because it is exactly what it's like on the road with us. This song is the story of this band.'

Since forming in 2012, Sister Sadie has had plenty of these magical moments. Back then, Richardson and banjo/vocalist Gena Britt started playing together with friends at the Nashville venue Station Inn, just for fun. 'We never intended to be this full-time touring band,' Richardson says. 'We were five women who had known each other, but never really played together. So we had this night of, 'Hey, let's get together and play some tunes.' From the first note we played, it felt like we'd played together our whole lives.'

This impromptu gig led to promoters and record labels reaching out. Things snowballed from there: Over the next decade-plus, Sister Sadie released four studio albums, earned two Grammy nominations and numerous IBMA Awards—in fact, they were the first all-female group to win IBMA Entertainer of the Year—and became a formidable live act. Incredibly, the group did that all while being self-managed and doing all the booking themselves; they only very recently brought on a team to help with the business side.

Although Sister Sadie's lineup has changed over the years, their commitment to writing and performing bluegrass tinged with country, folk and Americana has never wavered. Accordingly, their current configuration features two young musicians who are also talented songwriters, guitarist/lead vocalist Jaelee Roberts and mandolinist/vocalist Rainy Miatke, as well as multifaceted bassist/vocalist Katie Blomarz-Kimball.

Their onstage musical chemistry translates offstage. 'We do our whole lives together,' Richardson says. 'When we come home, we have dinner club together, or we go see movies together. On Friday night, we're all going honky-tonking together. It's just seven women who really do have a great time together. We don't always get along. We don't always agree, but we do love each other.'

With new music on the horizon and a future packed full of touring, Sister Sadie is poised to have a big 2027. Richardson couldn't be more thrilled. 'I've toured with Patty Loveless, Bob Seger, the Chieftains, Vince Gill,' she says. 'I've done it all; I've seen the world. I never thought I would be in a band with 20-year-olds doing this again. I was ready to stay home and raise my granddaughter and teach and play on the Grand Ole Opry. Famous last words.

'But It's like starting over,' she adds. 'And it makes me super emotional to even look across that stage and see a 23-year-old and a 25-year-old just getting started, and watching them do things that I did when I was their age. I'm having the best time, and I'm so inspired musically more than I ever have been doing this through them again.'

This year, Sister Sadie is nominated for eleven International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year, Video of the Year, and Collaborative Recording of the Year. The band made history in 2020 as the first all-female group to win the Entertainer of the Year category. This year's IBMA Awards Ceremony will take place on October 22, 2026.

Sister Sadie 2026 Tour Dates

October 9 - Nashville, TN (with Deana Carter)

October 14 - Berkeley, CA

October 15 - Sebastopol, CA

October 16 - Los Angeles, CA

October 17 - Las Vegas, NV

November 5 - Ft. Collins, CO

November 6 - Denver, CO (private show)

November 7 - Santa Fe, NM

November 8 - Moab, UT

November 10 - Phoenix, AZ

November 13 - Birmingham, AL