New Artist Spotlight: Cherryholmes
By Gary Voorhies
© 2006 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc
Just a few years ago, the family band today known as Cherryholmes didn't exist and several of its young members didn't play instruments yet.
The band is comprised of Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes and four of their six children; Cia, 21, on banjo; B.J., 17, and Molly, 13, on fiddle; and Skip, 15, on guitar.
The family, which hails from just outside Los Angeles, formed the band in 1999 after elder sibling Shelley died at age 20 in her sleep from respiratory failure due to chronic heart problems. They had attended a bluegrass concert to lift their spirits and the parents "assigned" the kids instruments afterward.
Within a year, the family started performing regular shows on Saturdays in the San Bernardino Mountains. When they realized they needed to play for about six hours, they integrated Irish step dancing into their show.
By 2002, Jere had left his job as a carpenter and the family went on the road full-time, traveling first in a car with a tent and later in a vintage bus.
All six band members trade lead vocals, accompanied by stacks of family harmony and high energy bluegrass instrumentation. "We try to take the audience on a roller coaster ride, on purpose. We want them to experience highs and lows, and speed and excitement," said Sandy.
Their first album on Skaggs Family Records, Cherryholmes, was released Sept. 27. The CD, produced by Ben Isaacs, contains nine original songs written by various band members. The band won the 2005 Entertainer of the Year trophy at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
Who is your musical hero?
B.J. & Molly: "We share fiddling heroes. They are Aubrie Haynie, Bobby Hicks, Kenny Baker, Stuart Duncan, Benny Martin and Ron Stewart."
Cia: "J.D. Crowe is my hero."
Skip: "My guitar hero is Clay Jones."
What book is on your nightstand right now?
B.J.: "Horatio Hornblower and the Hotspur, written by Cecil Scott Forester."
Cia: "Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens."
Jere: "The Rogue Warrior, by Richard Marcinko."
Molly: "Journey to the Centre of the Earth, written by Jules Verne."
Sandy: "Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell."
Skip: "A textbook, Chemistry, Precision and Design."
What actor would portray you in a biopic about your life?
Cia: "The Three Stooges."
What song do you wish you had written?
Sandy: "'Lessons in Stone' written by Tom T. and Dixie Hall."
What word or phrase do you find yourself saying over and over again?
B.J.: "Maybe we can all start together next time."
Cia: "Get out of my bunk!"
Molly: "Go away. I'm trying to sleep."
Skip: "Turn the guitar up in the monitor."
When they look back on your life in 50 years, what do you hope people say about you?
Jere: "I want them to say, 'Was that guy for real?'"
On the Web: www.cherryholmesfamilyband.com
January 31, 2006
© Erick Anderson
