Six members of a family named Cherryholmes attended the Golden West Bluegrass Festival in Norco, Calif., nine years ago.
Their oldest daughter, a teenager named Shelley, had recently died, and they were trying to deal with the pain. So the family turned to bluegrass, and bluegrass embraced them.
Nine years later, Cherryholmes ranks as one of the genre’s hottest names. They headline Song of the Mountains on June 14 at the Lincoln Theatre in Marion.
Just six years removed from working as a carpenter in Los Angeles, patriarch Jere Cherryholmes can look at his family’s 2005 IBMA Entertainers of the Year award and marvel.
“I was pounding nails in Los Angeles, and now I can walk the streets of Nashville and people know who I am,” Jere Cherryholmes, 58, said Tuesday morning from his new home in Goodlettsville, Tenn. “The ride has been wild.”
Cherryholmes – father Jere (upright bass); mother Sandy (mandolin); and their kids Cia (banjo); B.J. (fiddle); Skip (guitar); and Molly (fiddle) – confuse some fans. Their name is neither Cherry nor Holmes. They are Cherryholmes, family name and band name.
They play bluegrass. Theirs is a hard-driving sound forged as if from the school of bluegrass according to Jimmy Martin. Not surprisingly, the late legend known as the king of bluegrass befriended the Cherryholmes family and offered some wise and helpful advice.
“He called me Fuzzy,” the bearded Jere Cherryholmes said. “He said, ‘Listen, Fuzzy, you have to play your own music. There was only one Bill Monroe and he’s gone. There’s only one Jimmy Martin, and I’ll be gone, too. You have to find your own sound.’ ”
Cherryholmes listened, and they have done exactly as advised by Martin.
“Our sound is busy. Our band is busy. It has a drive in it,” Jere Cherryholmes said. “I don’t like laid-back music. I like music that makes you feel something.”
No problem there. Pick up and tune in to any one of Cherryholmes’ five albums to date – with their sixth on the way in September – and power jumps out and demands attention like a grizzly grabs its prey. Strong. Growling strong.
“I call it bluegrass on steroids,” Jere Cherryholmes said.
He could just as easily have described it as bluegrass on a miracle.
While attending that fateful bluegrass festival a decade ago, the Cherryholmes family met pioneers Jim & Jesse. So impressed was the family at the outpouring of kindness extended by the brothers from Coeburn, Va., that inspiration took root.
“We decided to get some instruments,” Jere Cherryholmes said. “We started jamming together in April 1999. By June, we were jamming with people. By July, we had a job playing six hours every Saturday in an apple orchard.”
Six years later, Ricky Skaggs signed them to his record label. Later that year, Cherryholmes won the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Entertainers of the Year award. Then came a Grammy nomination, followed by another.
Mercy.
“It’s like a thrill ride in an amusement park,” Jere Cherryholmes said. “It’s been a thrill a moment.”
ALBUMS BY CHERRYHOLMES
“Cherryholmes II: Black and White” (2007)
“Cherryholmes” (2005)
“Bluegrass Vagabonds” (2003)
“Dressed for Success” (2002)
“Still a Little Rough Around the Edges” (2001)
IF YOU GO
What: Song of the Mountains featuring Cherryholmes, Gold Heart, Pine Mountain Railroad and Naomi’s Fancy
When: June 14, 7 p.m.
Where: Lincoln Theatre, 117 E. Main St., Marion
Tickets: $15
Info: (276) 783-6093
Web: www.cherryholmes.musiccitynetworks.com
Also: www.songofthemountains.org
TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristol-news.com.
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