gREETIngS, nAPA muSIc LoVERS bySkYLER JETT Skyler Jett talks to singer and Vallejo native VET STonE about her brother, Sly, and her book, Blood is Thicker Than the Mud, a true account of events in their lives. Q: How did you get the name “Lil Sister”? A: Sly would call me Lil Sis when I would record for him in the studio as a teenager, at the age of sixteen. Q: Is this the first book ever from your family’s perspective? A: Yes, this is the first book anyone in my immediate family has ever written about us. Q: Why is this book more insightful than others written about your family? A: Because it is filled with actual events that went on in our lives. The information is coming from the inside out. Q: Were you parents talented as well? A: Yes, my father began playing a washboard and a spoon before I was born, in the tomato patches—which is what I call his rhythm section. God bless him, if he were living he would have been 100 years old yesterday, August 19. My Mom played piano for the church, and she went on to teach Sly how to tune it, and we the First Family played by ear, and the rest is history. Skyler Jett and Vet Stoneall learned to play it from each other. Only myoldest sister Loretta took music. The rest of us OF FunK the seventies. What were the names of the songs?: I hear you have had two Top Ten hits inQ FGhost rhythms of the Church of to the stage? How did you get your brother to return Skyler and I put a band together andQ:A:One,” and “Stanga.”played The Knitting Factory in LA. Sly came-rom the cotton fields of Denton, Texas, drenched in the Holyfrom the inside out “Somebody’s Watching You,” “I’m TheA: God in Christ, Sly Stone conquered the to hear it and enjoyed it so much, he began world of pop before his own excesses dancing to his own music and took a genuine brought him down. Before they died, Sly’s interest in the band. Shortly after that he parents charged their youngest daughter, moved to the Bay Area, to a ranch. He started rehearsing with us and giving us tips and new music to learn. In the meantime you (Skyler Jett) Vet Stone, with the task of restoring her and I were still on the phones getting gigs for the band. And once we landed the tour for Europe, brother’s musical persona to the world. This I told Sly and he said, “I’m gonna go with you.” Which was really an answer to prayer for me, is a small bit of the story of how Vet and her because I had been telling everyone that if Sly did come back, doesn’t it stand to reason that he business partner and NVL’s own Skyler Jett, would come with his family? Fortunately, the promoter Skyler and I were talking to, got the pressing past many obstacles of deceit, re- picture. And thirteen gigs followed in Europe. turned Sly to the stage in 2007. Q: Are your siblings still recording? A: Yes, Freddie just finished a CD called “Right Now.” And Rose is on the road with Elton John. Q: Will your family be releasing new music in the future? Sly Stone A: My hope is that we will do that very soon. We talk about that all the time. And at some point I will pull away and record a song Skyler wrote for me, titled “He’s A Better Way.” Q: Why doesn’t your family have a star on the Walk of Fame? A: I think the best way to answer that is to say that it was neglect from Sly’s previous manager. Q: How can we buy the book? A: Go to www.vetstone.com and you can purchase the book. 64 w w w. n A PA V A L L E Y L I F E m A g A z I n E . c o m
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