Cheryl WheelerCountry of origin:U.S. Type of music generally:Contemporary folk. Status:Most recent album, Half a Book (compilation, 2016) See also:Cheryl Wheeler's site Comparisons:Patty Larkin, Susan Werner, Dar Williams, Christine Lavin. Covers/own material:All original material. General comments:Cheryl Wheeler has been a mainstay of the US folk scene for almost 25 years. Combining an ability to write heartbreakingly beautiful ballads with a hilarious sense of humour, Cheryl is a tremendously gifted all-around performer. Her ballads, often beautiful enough to move the listener to tears, have been covered by many artists (Suzy Bogguss had a #1 hit with Cheryl's song "Aces"), while her funny songs, which are unfortunately rarely recorded, make her live shows absolutely riotous. If you get the chance I definitely recommend seeing this wonderful woman live. (Sherlyn.Koo) Comments about live performance:Cheryl Wheeler was her usual hilarious self. She started off with "The Potato Song", which is the single silliest piece of music I've ever heard. It's the "Mexican Hat Dance" with the chorus consisting of the word "potato" sung with different emphasis on each syllable, always ending on the "to". It has to be heard to be believed. Then later on she did some of the very serious songs for which she's also known—she's always been an interesting dichotomy, making you roll in the aisles between songs and then killing you with the songs themselves. She's kind of like Susan Werner that way, come to think of it. (c. 1998) Recommended first album:Driving Home Recordings:
Mrs. Pinocci's GuitarRelease info:1995—Rounder Records—1192 Availability:Ecto priority:Highly recommended for folk fans Group members:Cheryl Wheeler Guest artists:Al Peteway, Kenny White, Jonathan Edwards, John Jennings, Jon Carroll, Robbie Magruder, Jonatha Brooke (the Story) Produced by:Jonathan Edwards and Cheryl Wheeler Comments:I wanted to put a plug in for Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar. The last time I liked an album this much on the strength of first listen (which was enough to make me listen to it on repeat many times more :) was Susan Werner's Last of the Good Straight Girls. Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar came in first (with 29 votes, if I recall correctly) in a recent poll on the folk_music mailing list. I bought the album on the strength of this recommendation and love every second of it! Thanks to Sherlyn Koo for work on this entry.
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