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updated November 24, 2009
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Musical Cherryholmes Family to Help Rose-Hulman Celebrate
Holidays
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The holidays are a time for family, music and special memories –- sentiments
that ring particularly true for Cherryholmes, one of bluegrass music’s
biggest buzz bands. The award-winning group will help the welcome in the
holiday season with a special Christmas show on Sunday, December 6 at Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology’s Hatfield Hall Theater.
Tickets for the Performing Arts Series concert are $22 for adults; $17 for
youths and non-RHIT students; and free for Rose-Hulman students. Tickets can
be purchased weekdays from 1-5 p.m. in the Hatfield Hall ticket office or by
calling (812) 877-8544.
"Christmas has always been a special time for the Cherryholmes family,” said
matriarch Sandy Cherryholmes in a recent interview. The musical group also
includes father Jere and four siblings.
Cherryholmes’ down-home bluegrass Christmas show will include such holiday
favorites as “Winter Wonderland,” “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem,” “The King
as a Babe Comes Down” and a medley of Christmas favorites. There will also
be a patriotic tribute to military service members and their families, along
with popular selections from the group’s albums. The show will also feature
their trademark clawhammer banjo, Celtic-style step dancing, hard-driving
instrumental virtuosity and explosive vocal harmonies. In less than a
decade, Cherryholmes has gone from performing at talent shows in California
to winning the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Entertainers of
the Year Award and moving to Nashville. The six-piece unit has put out three
Grammy-nominated albums, been on the Top Country Albums chart, performs
regularly on the Grand Ole Opry stage and toured internationally.
Cherryholmes’ self-titled debut album on Ricky Skaggs’ family records was
nominated for Best Bluegrass Album, and their second Grammy-nominated album
"Black And White" came in at No. 1 on Billboard's Bluegrass Album chart. The
group’s latest album, "Don't Believe" crossed them over into the Grammy
Award’s Best Country Instrumental Performance category for the track,
"Sumatra."
It’s no wonder that Cherryholmes is recognized as “the first family of
bluegrass.”
Ironically, the family group began out of tragedy, after the death of Jere
and Sandy Cherryholmes’ eldest daughter, Shelly, from respiratory failure in
1999. The remaining siblings were brought together and taught to play
musical instruments to lift their spirits.
“We saw Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys and it changed our entire lives,
going to that bluegrass festival and spending that day with them,” Sandy
recalls in a press statement. “On the way home, Jere said, ‘You know, what
we really need right now is to do something special with our kids. Let’s
start a bluegrass group.’ We decided who would play what and I started
giving them music lessons.”
Cia plays the banjo and has proven to be a masterful and versatile
songwriter, writing nearly 75 percent of the group’s album releases; B.J. is
a dazzling fiddle and mandolin performer; Skip is a guitar player known for
his aggressive rhythm style that characterizes Cherryholmes’ drive and
energy; and Molly is a left-handed fiddle player who also adds her lead and
harmony vocals to many of the group’s hit songs. Jere plays the upright bass
hard and fast, sensitive and smooth, while singing lead with a "rough around
the edges" old country style. Finally, Sandy plays a hard-hitting mandolin
style with driving rhythms that keep the band's momentum going. For special
numbers, she switches to the clawhammer banjo.
“I heard someone say that bluegrass music has to change or evolve, or it
will die. I don’t think it needs to be changed. It just needs new breath. I
feel like maybe I’m offering something like that with my family,” Jere
states.
Rose-Hulman’s Performing Arts Series has been very popular this season,
according to director Bunny Nash. She advises that limited tickets are still
available for the Moscow Festival Ballet’s performances of “The Sleeping
Beauty,” on January 4; “Coppelia”, on January 5; and the Actors From The
London Stage’s “Romeo & Juliet” performances on March 19-20; and a show by
Celtic Crossroads on March 28. The Five Browns’ show on February 12 is sold
out. Advanced tickets for these shows can be purchased from the Hatfield
Hall ticket office.
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