Quick success stuns Bluegrass family Cherryholmes
BevK October 28th, 2005
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I hope the Cherryholmes win the awards they’re up for from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Only six years ago, the group consisting of Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes and their daughters Cia, 21, and Molly, 13, and sons B.J., 17, and Skip, 15, didn’t exist. Three of the four children didn’t even play instruments.
They practiced and performed relentlessly, though, and today find themselves the hottest new act in bluegrass.
On Thursday, they’re up for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s emerging artist award and the night’s top prize, entertainer of the year — the first time in the awards’ 16-year-history that an artist has been nominated in both categories.
Does this sound just like what homeschoolers would do?
Sandy was homeschooling the kids and began incorporating music into the lesson. The children were assigned instruments: B.J. and Molly the fiddle, Skip the guitar and Cia the banjo. Jere and Sandy took what was left, bass and mandolin, respectively.
“We made time during the day with the goal of learning a song, so everyone had a reason for what they were doing,” Sandy said. “We’d teach the parts and then at night we’d have jam time when Jere came home to make the parts fit. We could play two to five hours a day all week long.”
