Chattanooga Pulse

“Bluegrass music has been played in this region of the country for a long time. Bluegrass festivals are always family-friendly, and not only focus on the music but also the camaraderie of the festival goers.”

Jordia Waller and the White Oak Mountain Bluegrass Festival committee had to put their heads together to come up with a festival headliner that would uphold the family-friendly credo the festival is known for.

“Each year we try and bring in the best act possible,” says Waller. “Cherryholmes continued to pop up when we were going through our decision-making process.  The band won the 2005 IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) for Entertainer of the Year. They have also been nominated for four Grammy Awards over the last few years. They have a unique sound and have not played our festival in the past, so they seemed like the best choice [to headline this year’s festival].”

Cherryholmes is a family act that started back in 1999 as a homeschool project. The name of the band, Cherryholmes, is the family’s last name. Mother and mandolin player Sandy tells their story.

“Our oldest daughter passed away early in 1999. As a family, we went to see Jim and Jessie and the Virginia Boys at a local [bluegrass] festival. That experience inspired us to create the band so we could spend more time together as a family. We first started playing together with the kids in church in Los Angeles in April 1999. Our oldest daughter, Cia, played guitar already. We started the band as a homeschool music class. We chose instruments that we needed and put it all together,” she explains.
The members of the band, the “kids,” are Cia (25, banjo), B.J. (21, fiddle), Skip (19, guitar), and Molly (16, fiddle). Along with Sandy on mandolin and their father Jere on bass, these talented young people produce some of the most innovative bluegrass out there.

“We started out very traditional, but as the kids got older everyone started to write. Molly is more classical, B.J. is more eclectic jazz, and the other two [Cia and Skip] prefer a more bluegrass/acoustic style.

“We don’t pattern ourselves after bluegrass musicians,” insists Sandy, “and yet we try to keep the different sound—everything from traditional bluegrass to country fused together with rock—within the parameters of bluegrass.”

As for their performance style? Sandy did a lot of drama and theatre when she was younger, and that, she says, is where she got the great stage ideas. Other than that, the band just “watches what big artists do and tries to make the music exciting.” They use remote microphones to move around onstage and engage the audience, and then they come back to one central mike.

“Traditionally, bluegrass artists just stood there,” Sandy says. “We’re breaking new ground, this new generation—we’re excited about the music so we want to do it in a way that makes other people excited. This gives each show more of a rock appearance.”
So far this year, Cherryholmes has been rocking stages everywhere from Scotland, England and Switzerland to the Caribbean and Canada. This fall, they embark on a major West Coast tour to promote their sixth CD—their third under the Skaggs Family label— entitled Don’t Believe. Being signed by the Skaggs Family is perfect for the family-oriented Cherryholmes.

“Ricky is wonderful,” Sandy says. “He lets us create, he’s a friend, and he helps us keep the kids on a certain path. We’re very honored he’s signed us on.”

Being a part of a label that values the bluegrass tradition is also important to Cherryholmes, especially since they weren’t raised in the Southeast.

“I think [bluegrass] is some of America’s most important music,” Sandy explains. “It represents a time, way back to Bill Monroe, when bluegrass was something that families and communities did together. We need to get families picking; it’s a social music and it really is one of the few social activities that we can encourage people [of different backgrounds] to participate in at the same time.

“We’ve had to make choices to find out what it was like [to live back then]. So, we sold our house and rough-camped on this property in Arizona for six years. We did it because we wanted to experience what it was like to grow up during those times. And, once you get out and around and experience life, the soul of the music can express itself no matter where you are.”

9th Annual White Oak Mountain Bluegrass Festival
$20
9 a.m. to dark
Saturday, July 18
Tri-State Exhibition Center, One-half mile west of I-75 at Exit 20, Cleveland, TN.
www.whiteoakbluegrass.com