Melody Baetens , Metro Detroit News- Entertainment August 29, 2003

"Sista Otis has been burning up the Detroit urban-folk scene for a couple of years now, but her spunky new disc is the kind of blast of self-confidence that says an artist has really arrived. This girl pretty much has it all figured out, and damn if she's not going to pull us along for the righteous ride.

Sista Otis is emerging as one of Detroit's most distinctive voices."

A pointed and hard-hitting blend of rock, soul, folk and hip-hop sensibilities.

"It was at a private club, an after-hours party in Philly. I was whooped-up. They were playing Otis Redding songs in the bar, and we started singing along. And the cross-dresser goes, 'Girl, they should call you Otis; with a soulful voice like that, you should have a soulful name.'

"So I traveled all over the country, lived in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, did a lot of street music. I felt if I was gonna be a writer, I needed to get out there and experience life, do what Rimbaud and Kerouac did, see the world and have experience enough to write about the whole thing. So I traveled around the country, hoboing from place to place, crashing on people's couches and playing on the streets. That's where I got my performance skills, and learned to be comfortable in front of people."

-Gary Graff , The Daily Oakland Press, August 31, 2003

With her smoky voice and love of the stage, there was little doubt to Sista Otis that her one true calling was always music. "Just about every venue in Detroit we've played has been sold out and that makes us feel good."

The group had five nominations at the 2003 Detroit Music Awards and took home three, including "Outstanding Acoustic Group," "Outstanding Recording" for "We Ain't Never Gonna Die" and "Outstanding Instrumentalist."

"I think that basically, the elements of our music spring from classic rock and roll to things with a hip-hop flair," Otis said. "I don't really see us in the vein of anyone else right now. We're not garage rock, we're not hip-hop and we're not pop stars," she continued. "We fall somewhere between those things.

-Detroit Daily Tribune

Worldwide Release holds the potential as the record that can break open the national scene for Sista Otis and the Wholly Rollers. And it's a great album, full of the variety and depth that Otis is known for. She pushes her voice all over the board, but not without focus. Never does she sound like she is trying to recreate someone else's style or technique-she takes all of her influences, rolls them up, and pops out solid, rocking songs. With vocals to die for, and songs with substance, Otis has honed her act to a razor-sharp tour-de-force.

One of the most interactive and fun acts I have seen, she clearly cares about and is unafraid of her audience.

- Lucie Bourgeau, "The South End," Official Newspaper of Wayne State University September 4, 2003

Already 13 Michigan local stations are spinning "Worldwide Release." And now, you can get your very own taste of the funky, bluesy, jamming goodness that is Sista Otis & the Wholly Rollers-the c.d. release party is on the 5th, which the WRs claim is a "full out sound and light show extravaganza". As well, the new album, Worldwide Release will be available at www.cdbaby.com beginning Sept. 7th. You won't regret it.

- Lucie Bourgeau, "The South End," Official Newspaper of Wayne State University September 4, 2003