‘Common Threads’ bind Cherryholmes

True, the family band has had four Grammy nominations for its bluegrass sound, but listening to its music you’ll find that jazz, rock and other formats work their way into the mix. Perhaps that’s because the four young Cherryholmes — Cia, Molly, B.J. and Skip — didn’t have formal instruction in music, but learned it as part of home schooling sessions. “I’m the only one who has studied music … and I taught them to play front porch style,” Sandy, the matriarch of the family who reads music and has studied classical piano, said. “They would interpret it in a relaxed way so I [because of my musical training I] probably go into this with the biggest handicap.”

However the members learned to write and play music, the sound works. “Cherryholmes IV: Common Threads,” the band’s album due to be released in June, already is receiving buzz. The song “When It’s Not With Me Every Day,” by Cia, age 26, and “Live It,” by Molly, age 17, are drawing special praise for their witty lyrics and richly textured sounds.

What truly sets the band apart, though, is that the music is a collaborative effort.

“Someone will bring a song in and people will give suggestions and we’ll say this is a neat idea but why don’t we try this approach … to keep it within the creative area of the genre,” Sandy said.

The family started the band just more than a decade ago as a way to ease its sorrow after the eldest daughter died. At the time, the children ranged in age from 7 to 15 and avidly jumped into the playing and songwriting.

“They loved it,” Sandy said. “They took pride in it. It wasn’t us saying, ‘You’d better not mess up!’ It was more of a cooperative and we’d say we had better work on everything to make sure we sound good. They also worked on the music on their own, though, just because it was fun.”

The new album has the richest array of sounds because the children’s musical tastes have expanded as they have matured.

“All our musical tastes are colored in slightly different ways and part of that is the generational difference,” Sandy said. “Jere [her husband] and I come from the ’60s and we come from everything from Stevie Ray Vaughn to contemporary gospel and rock. The kids have a lot of jazz and modern edges.”

That can sometimes result in songs that drift to formats other than bluegrass. The family works together on songs presented by individual members structuring them so they best fit the band’s format while retaining its original integrity.

“The creativity is just a gift God gave them. At any one time, one of them is jamming,” Sandy said. “It’s exciting because now this is a creative entity filled with adults.”