In a mostly male genre still known as much for its reticence about contemporary subjects as for its powerful harmonies and virtuosic picking, bluegrass music’s Sister Sadie have stood out ever since the all-female group’s founding more than a dozen years ago. Now, with the release of “Let The Circle Be Broken,” the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award-winning, GRAMMY-nominated ensemble is breaking new ground with a somber yet uplifting exorcism of the generational trauma of domestic abuse.
“Dani Flowers, Erin Enderlin and myself wrote “Let the Circle Be Broken” right after my Dad passed away,” says the group’s co-founder, fiddler Deanie Richardson. “He was an abusive man who verbally, emotionally and sexually abused me for most of my 18 years living at home with him. When I confronted him as an adult, he said that it had been done to him as a child. This song is about that generational trauma and abuse that keeps getting passed down. The continuing of that trauma and abuse stops with me. It doesn’t go any further.”
Richardson’s experience may have provided the initial spark for the song, but once it took shape, each of the women in the group found that its powerful message resonated with her own story and observations, and the result is a quiet, yet firm insistence that all of their voices be heard.
“Deanie, Erin and I wrote this song about generational trauma, which each of us have experienced different levels of,” notes Dani Flowers, whose disarmingly direct voice takes the lead role on the track. “This song is about how we’ve decided that these cycles that have been repeated over and over in our families end with us. I was born into a family of some of the worst types of people to ever exist in this world, and it is sometimes so hard to sit with the fact that you come from a line of people who are capable of doing such awful things to others – to you. While I can’t say the same for many of my family members, I can say for sure that my children will never experience from me what I experienced from my mother and what she experienced from hers and what she experienced from hers.”
For others in the group, the impact of “Let The Circle Be Broken” is felt most in the way its performances have touched Sister Sadie’s audiences. “It touches us all within this band because of the very personal nature,” notes Richardson’s co-founder, banjoist Gena Britt. “We feel it every time we perform it on stage. Deanie, Dani and Erin wrote an incredible song that touches the audience. It’s not uncommon to look out and see tears streaming down people’s faces. As a creator, it’s very overwhelming.”
Adds Jaelee Roberts, whose work with the group and on her own led to her capture of the IBMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year trophy in 2024, “I think ‘Circle’ is a beautifully written song that a lot of people need to hear. It has a very important message about stopping generational messes, and I cry almost every time we play it. I love Deanie so much, and I know this song means so much to her, as it does to all of us.”
Still, it is the personal connection to this difficult subject that suffuses “Let The Circle Be Broken” with a special measure of emotion. “I resonate so deeply with the message of ‘Circle’, and I find myself a little emotional every time we play it,” confesses the sextet’s newest member, mandolin player Rainy Miatke. “As someone who is actively working to heal my own generational family trauma, seeing the strong women around me working to do the same makes me feel hopeful, grateful and connected,” she notes.
Indeed, the bonds of sisterhood that have been forged between the members of Sister Sadie – not just with respect to “Let The Circle Be Broken,” but across the whole range of personal and professional experiences – are so strong that it’s fitting to leave the last word to Rebekah Speer, their indispensable “behind the scenes” sound engineer. “For me,” she says, “this song is a powerful reminder that we are not bound by the struggles of those before us. It speaks to the courage it takes to break cycles of pain and to build something better for future generations. Healing is both a personal and collective journey – one where love and resilience can reshape the legacy we leave behind.”
