When Jere Cherryholmes and his wife, Sandy, added instruments to their homeschooling lessons 10 years ago, the family began chasing a dream that most would have thought impossible. Instead, through hard work and diligence, they are at the top of the game with regular stints on “Grand Ole Opry” and packed nationwide tours.
Cherryholmes, the family of six hard-driving bluegrass stylists, returns Saturday to George Mason University’s Center for the Arts for an evening of nonstop fiddling and fun.
In keeping with the success of the family’s Grammy-nominated first recording, “Cherryholmes,” and “Cherryholmes II,” which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, the group’s latest CD, “Cherryholmes III,” boasts two Grammy Award nominations.
“This is My Son,” their first country single, was released in January.
“The song of a mother singing about her son who’s gone to war has a timely message,“ Jere Cherryholmes says. “It’s one of the many new ideas you’ll hear in this show. It’ll be an even livelier presentation than the last time we were in town because we’re playing a little over the top with more of an edge. Bands in the DC area like the Seldom Scene are noted for pushing the edge, so our bluegrass instrumentation and songs written from a younger perspective should appeal to the young people in the audience.”
When the band started out, the four children were aged six to 15. Jere (Pop) sang lead and played the bass. Sandy Lee (Mom) played mandolin and clawhammer banjo, learned Irish step dancing by watching “Riverdance” and taught herself to yodel. Along with harmonizing and composing the songs, they were the central performers on stage.
Today their children have come into their own.
Cia Leigh, 25, the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music banjo player of the year for 2005 and 2006, now writes most of the songs. B.J., 21, plays fiddle and wrote several songs for the new CD. Skip, 19, featured in Flat-Picking Guitar Magazine, also plays mandolin, while left-handed fiddler Molly Kate, 16, was so advanced at age 11 that she was nominated fiddler of the year by International Bluegrass Music Association in 2004.
Now that the family has settled in Nashville, Molly Kate is the only one still living at home; the other three have their own places nearby while pursuing a variety of musical opportunities.
“They’re all getting their feet wet in this industry and all four have played on other records,” Jere says. “Cia recently sang on three Grammy nominated songs and B.J. just did some gospel and bluegrass sides.
“From the beginning, audiences have been most gracious and appreciative of what we all do and that fuels the fire. When we’re in places like the GMU Center for the Arts where the audience is more used to sitting politely and listening to a symphony orchestra or an opera, we rule politeness out. We want them to become engaged.
“Being entertained by our music is the best thing they can do to forget the turmoil and sadness over the economy. We want to lift people out of that and to leave them with feelings of hope.”
If you go
Cherryholmes performs a night of bluegrass
Where: George Mason University for the Arts
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Info: $22 to $44, all children under 12 half-price; 888-945-2468, tickets.com
