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| INTERVIEWS ARCHIVES RESCHEDULED |
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Name: Jere Cherryholmes
Group: Cherryholmes
Date: Monday February 5th, 2007
Time: 12:00pm EDT
Website: cherryholmes.musiccitynetworks.com
Interviewer: Jim Ellis
Description:
Jere Cherryholmes - upright bass, vocals
Sandy Lee Cherryholmes - mandolin, vocals, yodeling
Cia Leigh Cherryholmes - banjo, vocals
B.J. Cherryholmes - fiddle, vocals
Skip Cherryholmes - guitar, vocals
Molly Kate Cherryholmes - fiddle, vocals
Patriarch Jere Cherryholmes heads up this group. He serves as manager, arranger, bassist, emcee and bus driver. The group was born after the tragic loss of Jere & Sandy's eldest daughter, Shelly in 1999. Jere took the family to a bluegrass festival thinking it might raise their spirits. They saw a scorching set there by Jim & Jesse & the Virginia Boys. On the way home Jere was thinking as a way to heal, the family could learn how to play music together. He thought it would be a neat experience if everybody got instruments and spent time playing together in the evening. He felt it was something to keep everybody busy and said "we needed that kind of challenge, something we could do as a family." Jere's wife, Sandy played piano and had been trained on violin. Cia was already playing guitar and singing in church. Sandy gave the two youngest fiddles and started teaching them. Jere picked up the bass and Sandy took the mandolin. Within four months they were being invited places to play. Jere left his full time carpenter job with the Los Angeles school system and took the family to the family bluegrass band on the road. In 2003, Cherryholmes made their first appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, Ernest Tubb's Midnight Jamboree, the CMA Music Fest and IBMA's Bluegrass FanFest. The same year, Bluegrass Vagabonds, their third album, was produced by Darrin Vincent. In mid-October 2004, the band kicked off their own bluegrass festival, the Best In Tradition With Cherryholmes, at Hoofer's Gospel Barn in LaGrange, Ga., and they've also garnered numerous endorsements. The traditional bluegrass family band was named one of the five final nominees for IBMA's Emerging Artist Of The Year award. Cherryholmes won the SPBGMA Midwest award for Entertaining Group Of The Year in 2004 and 2005. Cia won the banjo award from SPBGMA Midwest awards in 2005. They were named the Entertainers of the Year at the 2005 IBMA Awards. Since then, they've earned numerous awards and Grammy nominations, and have tried their hand at various forms of bluegrass music—from gospel to Irish folk dancing. People rave about how entertaining they are at all the bluegrass festivals where they perform throughout the year. The first three albums -- Still A Little Rough Around The Edges, Dressed For Success, and Bluegrass Vagabonds -- were released on their own label. The band's fourth album, Cherryholmes was issued by Skaggs Family Records in 2005. Cherryholmes II Black and White is due out later this year on the Skaggs label. Be sure to catch this group when you have the opportunity! |
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