The seven sisters in Shiloh Rising almost named themselves the Seven Cs.
They decided it was too tacky, but it was tempting for the Vancouver group, who all have names that start with the letter C, members said.
The group released its first CD in early November. But the siblings have been singing together off and on for almost 30 years.
“I think we first sang together at a wedding when we ranged from around (age) 10 to 2 or so,” said Crystal Mattila, 34, the second oldest. “We sang all the time. And one day my oldest sister, Chastity (36), was sitting in church and thought (creating an album) would be something for us all to do. She was inspired by that.”
Her older sister decided that if all seven sisters agreed to do it, then the project would go forward; if even one declined, they wouldn’t do it, Mattila explained.
“And amazingly, all of us said yes,” she said.
All the sisters were born and raised in Vancouver, and six of them still live in the region. Chanelle, 33, lives in Minnesota now, but she also agreed to come back for the recording, which was done this summer.
“Part of our drive and motivation to record this CD right now is that Chanelle and Ciarra (21) were in a horrible accident a few years ago and Chanelle almost lost her life,” Mattila said. “We realized we might not always be together, and we always wanted to record together, so this was the time.”
Many of the group’s songs were written by the sisters. One selection also has a children’s choir on it made up of the women’s sons and daughters.
“We have 12 songs on our CD and nine are originals that we wrote throughout the years,” Mattila said. “Some were written years ago, and some were co-written during the project.”
The styles range from bluegrass, Celtic, Christian worship and hymns.
As to why the women all ended up with names that start with the letter C, nobody really knows, Mattila added.
“I don’t think there was any logic (as to why our parents named us that way),” Mattila said. “I think they just liked the names Chastity and Crystal, and then they had Chanelle, who was almost named Janelle, but they were worried ‘what if she’s the last girl.’ She’ll feel left out.”
She wasn’t. After Chanelle, came sisters Carla, 30, Chandra, 28, Ciarra and Chera-Lee.
The devout Christian family actually has nine siblings, but the two boys, who are the sixth and seventh youngest, didn’t sing on the album.
“We’re all musical — it was a lot of fun growing up that way because music was something we always did for entertainment,” Mattila said. “Some of my best memories are laying in bed at night and listening to my father play guitar.”
The group plans to sing one of their songs together at Crossroads Community Church, 7708 N.E. 78th St., on Dec. 8 as part of the regular service. People can also buy the CD or download MP3s of the songs through the group’s website at http://www.shilohrising.com.
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