TERRE HAUTE — The holidays are a time for family, music and special memories — sentiments that ring particularly true for Cherryholmes, one of bluegrass music’s biggest buzz bands. The award-winning group will help the Wabash Valley welcome in the holiday season with a special Christmas show on Dec. 6 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Hatfield Hall Theater.
Tickets for the Performing Arts Series concert are $22 for adults, and $17 for youths and non-RHIT students. Tickets can be purchased weekdays from 1-5 p.m. in the Hatfield Hall ticket office or by calling (812) 877-8544.
“Christmas has always been a special time for the Cherryholmes family,” said matriarch Sandy Cherryholmes in a recent interview. The musical group also includes father Jere and four siblings.
Cherryholmes’ down-home bluegrass Christmas show will include such holiday favorites as “Winter Wonderland,” “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem,” “The King as a Babe Comes Down” and a medley of Christmas favorites. There will also be a patriotic tribute to military service members and their families, along with popular selections from the group’s albums. The show will also feature their trademark clawhammer banjo, Celtic-style step dancing, hard-driving instrumental virtuosity and explosive vocal harmonies.
In less than a decade, Cherryholmes has gone from performing at talent shows in California to winning the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Entertainers of the Year Award and moving to Nashville. The six-piece unit has put out three Grammy-nominated albums, been on the Top Country Albums chart, performs regularly on the Grand Ole Opry stage and toured internationally.
Cherryholmes’ self-titled debut album on Ricky Skaggs’ family records was nominated for Best Bluegrass Album, and their second Grammy-nominated album “Black And White” came in at No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Album chart. The group’s latest album, “Don’t Believe” crossed them over into the Grammy Award’s Best Country Instrumental Performance category for the track, “Sumatra.”
It’s no wonder that Cherryholmes is recognized as “the first family of bluegrass.”
Ironically, the family group began out of tragedy, after the death of Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes’ eldest daughter, Shelly, from respiratory failure in 1999. The remaining siblings were brought together and taught to play musical instruments to lift their spirits.
“We saw Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys and it changed our entire lives, going to that bluegrass festival and spending that day with them,” Sandy recalls in a press statement. “On the way home, Jere said, ‘You know, what we really need right now is to do something special with our kids. Let’s start a bluegrass group.’ We decided who would play what and I started giving them music lessons.”
Cia plays the banjo and has proven to be a masterful and versatile songwriter, writing nearly 75 percent of the group’s album releases; B.J. is a dazzling fiddle and mandolin performer; Skip is a guitar player known for his aggressive rhythm style that characterizes Cherryholmes’ drive and energy; and Molly is a left-handed fiddle player who also adds her lead and harmony vocals to many of the group’s hit songs. Jere plays the upright bass hard and fast, sensitive and smooth, while singing lead with a “rough around the edges” old country style. Finally, Sandy plays a hard-hitting mandolin style with driving rhythms that keep the band’s momentum going. For special numbers, she switches to the clawhammer banjo.
“I heard someone say that bluegrass music has to change or evolve, or it will die. I don’t think it needs to be changed. It just needs new breath. I feel like maybe I’m offering something like that with my family,” Jere states.
Rose-Hulman’s Performing Arts Series has been very popular this season, according to director Bunny Nash. She advises that limited tickets are still available for the Moscow Festival Ballet’s performances of “The Sleeping Beauty,” on Jan. 4; “Coppelia”, on Jan. 5; and the Actors From The London Stage’s “Romeo & Juliet” performances on March 19-20; and a show by Celtic Crossroads on March 28. The Five Browns’ show on Feb. 12 is sold out. Advanced tickets for these shows can be purchased from the Hatfield Hall ticket office.
If you go
• The Cherryholmes’ Christmas Show is 7 p.m. Dec. 6
• Where: Hatfield Hall Theater, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 5500 Wabash Ave.
• Tickets: $22 for adults; $17 for students and youths. Purchase tickets by visiting the Hatfield Hall ticket office from 1-5 p.m. on weekdays or calling (812) 877-8544
Concerts
A Bluegrass Christmas: Celebrate the holidays with the Cherryholmes family
- Concerts
-
-
Dicky James and the Blue Flames give strong performance in Memphis
Terre Haute-based Dicky James and the Blue Flames weren’t the big winners at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn., last week, but the group did win accolades and made contacts that should help it raise its profile nationally.
-
Concerts: Feb. 9, 2012
An asterisk (*) indicates tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com.
- Concerts: Jan. 26, 2012
-
Concerts: Jan. 19, 2012
GET TICKETS
April 13-15 —SESAME STREET LIVE, “ELMO’S SUPER HEROES,” at Murat Theatre, Old National Centre, Indianapolis. Tickets: $13, $17 and $25 on sale now. (*) -
Concerts: Jan. 12, 2012
Friday — ARVIN MITCHELL, comedian at Ruxer Student Center Gymnasium, Vincennes University Jasper Campus, 7 p.m. Tickets: $5.
- Concerts: Dec. 15, 2011
- Concerts: Dec. 8, 2011
-
Nashville recording artist Eric Church coming to town
Nashville recording artist Eric Church will bring The Blood, Sweat & Beers tour to Hulman Center on Jan. 28.
-
Indiana State University Sycamore Singers present Madrigal Dinners
The Indiana State University Sycamore Singers will present its 64th annual Yuletide Madrigal Dinners beginning at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 and 10 in the Grete Hall of St. Stephens Episcopal Church, at 215 N. Seventh St.
-
Concerts/Live Events
Concert listings for Dec. 2, 2011
-
Symphony Orchestra to perform annual holiday concert
The Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra will perform its annual holiday concert in Indiana State University’s Tilson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
-
BOW Chorus Christmas Show set
Terre Haute’s own “barbershop style” singing chorus, the Banks of the Wabash Chorus, an all mens acapella vocal singing group of 20 men, will be performing its annual Christmas Show at 7 p.m. Dec. 10 on stage at Harmony Hall, 1257 Lafayette Ave., on the near north side, 12 Points historic district.
-
Branson band to perform at Opry
Goldwing Express, based in Branson, Mo., will present a repeat performance at the Boot City Opry Saturday night.
-
ISU Wind Orchestra presents a not-so-typical band concert
Roby George, Indiana State University School of Music’s director of bands will conduct a concert entitled, “Soloists of Distinction” with the Wind Orchestra and guests at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Tirey Hall’s Tilson Auditorium.
-
Get inspired with ‘Christmas at the Woods’
Make “Christmas at the Woods” your musical inspiration for the holidays.
-
Country Music Hall of Famer George Jones not slowing down
Although country great George Jones celebrated his 80th birthday in September, he won’t need a rocking chair anytime soon.
-
Masterworks Chorale presents ‘Gloria,’ selections from ‘Magnificat’
The Indiana State University School of Music Student Ensemble Series will present the Masterworks Chorale in concert at 4 p.m. Sunday in Tilson Auditorium.
-
Concerts/Live Events
Ticket announcements
Feb. 23 — DROP KICK MURPHYS with FRANK TURNER, at Egyptian Room, Old National Centre, Indianapolis, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $28.50 in advance and $31 day of show, and go on sale 10 a.m. today. (*) -
Concerts/Live Events
Concert listings, Nov. 11, 2011
-
ISU faculty series features tuba prof
Indiana State University professor of music Glen Dimick will perform as part of the Faculty Artist Series along with pianist Martha Krasnican at 7:30 p.m. today in the Recital Hall of the Landini Center for Performing and Fine Arts building.
-
Indiana State Symphony Orchestra to feature competition winners
The Indiana State University Symphony Orchestra will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Tirey Hall’s Tilson Auditorium.
-
Mellencamp returns to Clowes Hall
John Mellencamp and his band return to Clowes Memorial Hall for the concluding performance of the year-long No Better Than This Tour on Nov. 19 at Butler University in Indianapolis.
-
Marlins return to the Boot City Opry
The Marlins return to the Boot City Opry stage Saturday night.
-
ISU symphonic, concert bands to feature diverse composers
The Indiana State University School of Music Symphonic Band and Concert Band will perform a concert featuring the music of four diverse composers at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Tilson Auditorium.
-
Brazil Concert Band to present fall concert in Scottish Rite Cathedral
The Scottish Rite Valley of Terre Haute and the Brazil Concert Band, under the direction of Matthew S. Huber, will present the Annual Fall Concert at 3 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 8th and Ohio streets in Terre Haute. Admission is free.
-
Indiana State Fall Choral Showcase Concert coming up
The Indiana State University School of Music will present a Fall Choral Showcase Concert at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 in University Hall Theater.
-
Air Force Band of Flight to perform at Terre Haute South
The United States Air Force Band of Flight will perform a free concert at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at Terre Haute South Vigo High School’s auditorium.
-
Indianapolis Symphonic Choir welcomes holiday season
The Indianapolis Symphonic Choir will welcome the holiday season with the ever-popular annual Festival of Carols performances Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.
-
Crooked Creek defined by hard driven acoustic music
Crooked Creek has been performing around the Wabash Valley for more than 10 years, offering a sound like no other band in the area. The band combines the instrumentation of traditional bluegrass music to play covers for rock, country and bluegrass.
-
‘Potpourri of the Arts’ celebrates black music, dance
Indiana University’s African American Arts Institute will present its annual “A Potpourri of Arts in the African American Tradition” concert at 8 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., in downtown Bloomington.
- More Concerts Headlines
-
Dicky James and the Blue Flames give strong performance in Memphis








