White Sister (band)

Career

White Sister was formed in Burbank, California by lead vocalist/bassist Dennis Churchill-Dries, guitarist Rick Chadock, lead vocalist/keyboardist, Gary Brandon and drummer Gus Moratinos. The group played their first gig at The Ice House in Pasadena, California and worked their way up; eventually headlining shows at The Troubadour, West Hollywood, Whiskey A Go Go, Roxy Theatre, and other prominent clubs in Hollywood, California. Original drummer Gus Moratinos left amicably in 1981 citing musical differences, and was replaced by Richard Wright to round out the second incarnation of the band.

White Sister met Gregg Giuffria from the band Angel at a gas station one evening, and wound up working with him to assist with song writing, leading Giuffria to produce White Sister demos and eventually, their debut album, released in 1984, on EMI America Records.

Shortly after the release of the album, the band approached EMI to secure tour support money. They believed that their powerful live show would aid greatly in boosting sales, but unfortunately, the label was not willing to fund a tour for the band. Additional friction was caused when the label requested that the band change its name, since another national band also had the word "sister" in their name (Twisted Sister). After a band vote, the members decided they would not change their name, citing the fact that more than one other national band had the word "white" in their name, and those bands were being marketed successfully by their labels. EMI relented and the self-titled album was not re-packaged.

Brandon parted ways with the band before they released their second album entitled Fashion by Passion on the FM Revolver label. Brandon went on to do multiple TV appearances, and tour, with British pop sensation John Parr, while the remaining band members patched the lineup and eventually traveled overseas to the U.K. themselves, where their reception was a bit warmer than in the United States. They toured with the band FM and established a cult following in the process.

Churchill-Dries, Chadock and Wright would eventually let go of White Sister and go on to form another group, Tattoo Rodeo, which was signed to Atlantic Records.

After suffering health complications, Richard Wright died on June 14, 2006, at the age of 44.

In 2008, Brandon rejoined Churchill-Dries and Chadock, as the 3 original members were invited to the UK to play the Firefest rock festival. A full-length concert DVD of their 2008 Nottingham performance was filmed and released in 2009. The DVDs sold out in short order. The band was invited back by the festival organizers in 2009 for an encore performance, but this, possibly their final White Sister show, was not filmed professionally.

On October 15, 2012, Rick Chadock lost his battle with cancer.

Churchill Dries recently completed his first solo album (entitled "I"), which was released May 15th 2015.

Brandon is currently performing live with his solo band, supporting the release of his archived album Radioux City (1989-91), which was released in August 2015. Original White Sister drummer, Gus Moratinos, joined Gary for a couple of the 2015 shows, with plans to do more.

Former

Discography