Sister C

The country vocal trio Sister C came by their name easily enough -- the trio features three sisters whose given names all begin with the letter C. Cirby Ryan Manchaca (born in 1990), Carli Rayne Manchaca (born in 1993), and Celbi Rheygan Manchaca (born in 1994) were all born in Mont Belvieu, Texas, a small town east of Houston, and grew up singing together. The sisters had a passion for country music with a traditional bent, ranging from the Dixie Chicks to George Jones, as well as vocal jazz, smooth R&B, and contemporary pop, and their father was a musician who performed in honky tonks around the state. When Cirby moved to Austin to attend college, she began playing out as a solo act, while her younger sisters at home were honing their skills as harmony vocalists. In time, the three sisters came together as a trio, adopting the Sister C moniker, and in 2012 they successfully auditioned for Simon Cowell's music competition show The X Factor when the program's judges came to Austin. Their brief run on The X Factor gave the trio nationwide television exposure, and they moved to Nashville with an eye toward a professional career in music. In 2014 they released a digital single, "Ladies of the South," that earned enthusiastic reviews and satellite radio airplay. The group followed it up with an acoustic EP, The Blue Room Sessions, recorded in the home the siblings share, and a second studio single, "Faint of Heart," produced by Lee Brice, became another satellite radio success, with female fans embracing the song's pithy lyrics about a woman's place in the world. As "Faint of Heart" helped spread the word about the group, Sister C returned to the studio with Brice to record an EP, and they also toured extensively, playing large halls opening for Brice and smaller venues as headliners. ~ Mark Deming