A Conversation with Sandy Cherryholmes (continued)

PM: So after releasing your first three CDs, how does that compare to suddenly being part of an outfit like Skaggs Family Records?

SC: Oh, it's a whole different life. We worked hard when we did our self-released ones, but there's only so much you can do on your own. If you're at that point, to get you to the next level you really need someone with some backing and some confidence in you. We found that, even though we had a top producer, Darrin Vincent--Rhonda Vincent's brother--do our last one, and we did it in Nashville. We were going to do it on our own. And we didn't choose a label. We were holding off. We did all the promotion ourselves, and I don't think that we got enough airplay to really do much of anything with it, even with all the good people involved and all of that. And after that, we realized, "Now is the time for a label, because I think we've hit the wall. We've gone real far, but I don't think we're going any farther than this without help."

And the Skaggs people called us and asked to meet with us. We had already spoken to a few different labels and really felt hesitant. We wanted to know exactly why we would sign before we did. We didn't want to do it just because it might make us feel good. We wanted to know what we were signing and why, and what was going to happen when we signed. And so we were really holding off for the right one. We had about five meetings with the Skaggs folks before we signed--it was like a courtship and the marriage. I mean, there was no question. As soon as we got together we all realized we were headed the same direction, and that we were all on the same page.

PM: Wow. Yeah, because obviously, the profit per record goes down significantly, so there's got to be other perks, like publicity and promotion to tip the scales.

SC: Right. And this has been amazing. I think you probably got information about us and arranged this interview through Kissy Black's office.

PM: The lovely and talented, indeed. Kissy is a friend of mine.

SC: She has just been incredible. I'm just amazed at the things she's come up with, and the places they've been able to stick us. Not to mention just Ricky Scaggs going around telling people what he thinks. And that endorsement is worth gold, anyway.

PM: Absolutely.

SC: It's just been great. And they let us do our own material. They let us be who we want to be. That was another very important thing in choosing a label, was that we wanted our image. We didn't want to be forced to pull out a lead singer and be a backup band for our daughter, or we didn't--we have a family act. And everyone has worked hard to be a family act, and our popularity on the stage is due to the fact there are six people who are totally involved.

PM: Right.

SC: There's no one who's just sitting around, and we wanted to make sure that we weren't changed, that we weren't turned into the next Dixie Chicks, or any of that. We wanted to be us. And Skaggs said, "Hey, if that's what's winning, why change it?" 

PM: And he's so right, and you're so right, because as soon as they pull a lead singer out of the band, then everyone else is subjugated to instrumental roles, and that's where it all goes wrong.

SC: Right. And then pretty soon, the lead singer is pulled out of the band altogether to go with a better band. So we've been looking at this as a tight family team, and trying to make sure that everybody, every year, everyone who gets a little bit better in skill--which they do, they're young, so every year they can sing or play something they couldn't do the year before--and then we start incorporating that.

Another big feature is that we all do Irish step dancing. Five of us do. Dad wasn't around to learn it. That's become a real big feature with the group, because we'll play music, and in the middle of the playing, we can all stop, do a five-man dance routine, and jump right back in the music again.

PM: That's unreal.

SC: It's a lot of fun. It's a ball.

PM: I can't wait to see the act. I've not had the pleasure yet. But certainly, I'm looking forward to it. It must be immensely hard to continue to home school the kids when they're living the life of bluegrass stars and always on the move, right?

SC: We've done it so long--home schooling is not new, we've been doing it about 15 years--so when we went on this adventure, it was just a matter of let's keep up and reschedule.

PM: Right.

SC: Home schooling itself was not a difficult thing to do as we made our changes. Even today--we drove all night, and now all day today, tomorrow, and probably a good part of the next day will be catching up on assignments. And they're all in there where they're supposed to be. We've got one graduating this year, another one will graduate in two years, and then Molly, who will start high school at the end of this year.   continue

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