The musicians in Rising Stars grew up together in Tate County, Mississippi, bonded over a shared passion for sound, rhythm, and beats.
Sharde Thomas-Mallory has led fife and drum bands since she was a girl playing alongside her grandfather, the legendary Otha Turner — the patriarch of the North Mississippi hill country fife and drum tradition and a recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship, the nation's highest folk-arts honor. When Otha passed in 2003, a 13-year-old Sharde led the funeral procession on the cane fife. That same year she founded the Rising Stars to carry his legacy forward.
Alongside her, Chris Mallory drives the band on drums and produces its records. Together, the husband-and-wife duo have grown the Rising Stars into a worldwide brand and a monumental force in blues and roots history.
