The Sisterhood Band Stumbled Into Something Magical the First Time They Wrote Together

Backstage at the 2019 ASCAP Awards -- an event honoring some of Nashville's most in-demand songwriters -- Ruby Stewart and Alyssa Bonagura of the Sisterhood Band reflected on how powerfully songwriting has affected their lives. In fact, it's pretty much the reason they became friends and bandmates in the first place!

"When I met her and we wrote for the first time, it was by chance -- a random occurrence," Bonagura recalls. "We got drunk one night for fun and were like, 'Let's write a song!' It came out in 30 minutes, and I was like, 'That doesn't happen.'"

She should know. Both women are not only longtime songwriters, but are also the children of famous artists: Bonagura's parents were part of the '80s country act Bailie & the Boys, while Stewart's dad is British rocker Rod Stewart.

"I've written with a lot of amazing, amazing songwriters, and it only kind of happens sometimes [that two co-writers click that immediately]," Bonagura continues. "When you find those people, you just gotta scoop them up and keep writing music. Because that [chemistry] is just really not from this world. You have to channel it."

Stewart adds that, especially coming from a famous family, she often finds it a little tricky to be vulnerable in her songwriting. With Bonagura, though, striking a balance between privacy and authenticity comes naturally.

"I think there's a lot of things I didn't realize I could put into a song until I spoke to Alyssa about it," she relates. "We have a song on anti-bullying that's called "Words," and that song, to me -- like, I had to go back all the way to seventh grade ... to get to that place where I was like, 'This is how we can talk about it. This is how we solve this issue.'

"What we have ... is really divine and special," Stewart goes on to say. "I love writing with other people, but my favorite, favorite co-write is definitely Alyssa Bonagura."