Music Binds the Family Together

Music Binds the Family Together

The smiles coming from the Cherryholmes family are almost as infectious as their vibrant music. They kick up their heels, buck dancing while blazing through an instrumental breakdown. For onlookers of the animated performance, it’s hard to imagine that the bluegrass band’s existence was born out of tragedy.

“Our daughter’s death was the catalyst,” says Sandy Cherryholmes of the band’s genesis. “It was the motivation to want to get closer together.”

That closeness among the Cherryholmes—Jere, 54; Sandy, 48; Cia, 20; B.J., 16; Skip, 14; and Molly, 12—was put to the test in 1999, when eldest daughter Shelly died at age 20 from chronic heart problems.

Saddened by the loss, the family attempted to lift their spirits by attending a bluegrass festival. Jere and Sandy recall seeing bluegrass legends Jim and Jesse McReynolds and being struck by the warmth and fun the brothers shared on stage.

“They made you feel good, joked with each other, laughed,” says Sandy, who plays mandolin and makes the Cherryholmes’ vintage-style wardrobe. “It wasn’t just music, it was the whole performance that was uplifting. And we were coming off a funeral.”

The event inspired the Los Angeles family to start playing music in an effort to spend more time together, and to have some fun. It wasn’t long before musicians at festival campgrounds began telling the Cherryholmes they should perform for audiences. Then the owner of Oak Tree Village, an apple orchard that was a tourist attraction in California’s San Bernadino Mountains, hired them to provide weekend entertainment.

“Everything sort of grew from that,” says Jere, who plays upright bass, sings, arranges and emcees. “Pretty soon we won a couple of contests and were playing a lot of festivals.”

“Once we all started playing together, we really enjoyed it,” says Cia, who started on guitar, then switched to banjo and taught brother Skip to play guitar. “None of us realized we were going to be doing as much as we are now. It was just kind of a new family activity.”

Only eldest son Tyson, 24, who was away in the Air Force when the family started the band and now has his own family, doesn’t play with the band.

“The overall atmosphere of the whole bluegrass community is one of family,” says Jere, a retired carpenter with the Los Angeles school district. “My children have hundreds of surrogate grandparents and aunts and uncles when we’re on the road.”

Since forming five years ago, the band’s highlights include playing the Grand Ole Opry, completing a national tour, and recording three CDs—Still a Little Rough Around the Edges, Dressed for Success and Bluegrass Vagabonds. Another feather in the family cap came courtesy of youngest daughter Molly, whose song, Frankie Belle, was recorded by renowned bluegrass artist Rhonda Vincent for her album One Step Ahead.

At Fan Fair 2003, one of Nashville, Tenn.’s biggest music events, the Cherryholmes played on the bluegrass show hosted by Vincent. Molly even joined Vincent onstage to perform Frankie Belle, which was originally penned as a school assignment.

Fan Fair attendee Patsy Simmons of Provencal, La., says she saw Molly on the Grand Ole Opry, too. “She’s something else. The whole family is terrific.”

The family recently moved to an apartment in Goodlettsville, Tenn. (pop. 13,780), to be closer to the music industry in Nashville. However, the family doesn’t see much of the place, considering they're already scheduled to perform more than 50 shows around the country this year.

Still, Jere says that no matter where they’re at, the band is their real home. “It’s a family project,” he concludes, “everybody has a part to play and every part is very crucial.”

Vicki Brown is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn.

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