Ladies’ Night: Shevonne, Flow Sisters and Ari Chi at Skipper’s Smokehouse!
Oh, yes, it’s ladies night,
And the feeling’s right,
Oh, yes, it’s ladies night,
Oh, what a night (oh what a night)!
A special event is coming to Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa on Sunday, August 7th. It is indeed ladies’ night, with a debut album release from Shevonne & The Bad Boys, the debut performance by Flow Sisters, and a special set from Ari Chi. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a glorious trifecta.
A self-taught musician, Shevonne Philidor first surfaced on the national stage on America’s Most Talented Kids, America’s Got Talent and this season of American Idol with her vocal and guitar skills. She started early — at the age of five — and has been at it ever since. Shevonne has been working hard to perfect her craft and has spent the last ten years performing live, performing music by artists from Bob Marley to Prince. Today, her band Shevonne & The Bad Boys have come together to create not just a band but also a complete show, with the aim of performing all over.
Shevonne spent nine years in Entertainment Revue and started performing live with local bands at age 14. She won the NFAA National Scholarship in musical theater and left high school early to travel on the national tour of Oz the Musical.
Shevonne has spent the last four years writing and producing her album Shevizzle encompassing her original music, which has a pop, rock, reggae, soul and blues vibe. This is the first-ever Shevonne album release.
Concert and festival fans throughout Central Florida may not know Flow Sisters by that title, but they certainly exactly who these two young ladies are. Alexa and Bella Toro have graced stages with their former band, Endless Flow, and with countless musicians from dozens of bands. They have had many memorable performances, including great sets with The Dunedin Brewery House Band, Josh We Know, The Tony Tyler Band and lots more.
None might be more memorable than their New Year’s Eve appearance at Hometeam New Year’s Rally with x, performing a wickedly incredible version of “Eminence Front.”
Alexa explains the birth of Flow sisters:
“It is a new project that Bella and I have been working on we decided to leave Endless Flow. Endless Flow was and still is something that changed our lives forever. It was the best experience we could have asked for with a band; we learned so much as performers and really found who we were and who we wanted to be on and off the stage.
It broke our hearts to leave Endless Flow, but we are thankful for it all, because we found our name, one that would help us shine in the music industry, and that name is Flow Sisters, and, boy, does that name make us feel good! It truly feels like us!
This project will be focused on our vocals and the performance aspect of our show. We have six songs that we have prepared for this gig, with lyrics focusing on positivity and the troubles that we all find ourselves in, written by bella and me. We want everyone to know you are not alone, and we will make it together!
Mark Mayea (the superb keyboard player for Ajeva and Joose) has helped us by composing our music, working with us to find exactly what sound we want to give to our audience. For this show, we will have Mark on keys, Jimmy Jams on percussion, Vinny Svoboda (Displace) on bass, and Sam Barber on guitar!
We are super excited for everyone to see what we’ve been working on, because it means the world to us, and it is seriously going to melt some souls. The musicians we are working with are going to help our harmonies shine and our vocals really soar!
We am sooo very excited!”
There is another reason you know Flow Sisters — fashion! They are always at festivals, even when not performing, supporting other musicians, but there glorious outfits are what you notice, beyond the fact that they are lovely young ladies. Alexa adds:
“Our fashion is a huge aspect to our show. Bella and I love fashion! Shopping only at thrift shops, we find the most colorful scarves that we flow on our mic stands, crazy bright shirts that we cut up to our liking, skirts that flow with the wind, and jewelry that screams WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!?
Colors tell you a lot about a person. We all have a color for our aura, and when we are on stage our colors are the rainbow! With our groovy music and crazy-cool outfits, you’ll leave wanting to know more about Flow Sisters!”
Ari Chi Bryant is a passionate singer, song writer and composer who has played all over Tampa and St. Petersburg entertaining audiences with her ukulele and soulful voice. Ari Chi is also a music instructor at Noisemakers, Inc.
That makes for a great ladies’ night indeed! See you at the Skipperdome!
