Cheryl Wheeler (born July 10, 1951) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriterA singer–songwriter is a musician who writes, composes and sings their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano...
of contemporary
folk musicThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
, based in
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
. To date, she has recorded several folk albums, and has toured extensively throughout the United States.
Wheeler was born in Timonium, Maryland. She performed at clubs in the
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
and
BaltimoreBaltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...
area. She moved to
Rhode IslandRhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in 1976, where she played at various clubs in the New England area. Jonathan Edwards asked her to tour with him when his
bassThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
player became unavailable.
Cheryl Wheeler (born July 10, 1951) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriterA singer–songwriter is a musician who writes, composes and sings their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano...
of contemporary
folk musicThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
, based in
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
. To date, she has recorded several folk albums, and has toured extensively throughout the United States.
Wheeler was born in Timonium, Maryland. She performed at clubs in the
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
and
BaltimoreBaltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...
area. She moved to
Rhode IslandRhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in 1976, where she played at various clubs in the New England area. Jonathan Edwards asked her to tour with him when his
bassThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
player became unavailable. He has since produced a number of her albums. Since she lives in
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
, she and her partner Cathleen were able to be married in 2004.
Performances
Wheeler tours extensively, and her live concerts include comic routines and serious discussions in addition to the songs themselves. About half of the songs she performs in concerts are not available on any of her albums. Many never get recorded, and eventually fade from her set list.
Although she mostly tours alone, she has also toured with
Kenny WhiteKenny White is a singer-songwriter from New York City. Originally known mostly as a writer of music for radio and TV commercials and a producer and session keyboard player, in 2002 he released his first album, and began touring to promote his albums...
(who produced a number of her albums).
White generally opens for her, and then plays and sings harmony during Wheeler's set.
Wheeler has also toured with the
Christine LavinChristine Lavin is a New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin' Babes...
-inspired tour "On a Winter's Night", and occasionally as part of Lavin's consortium
Four Bitchin' BabesThe Four Bitchin' Babes is a group of female singer-songwriters with rotating membership, performing mainly humorous, satirical or light-hearted songs in the folk genre.-History:The band was founded in 1990 by Christine Lavin...
.
She has released albums on several major labels, the most recent being
Rounder RecordsRounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is an independent record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students. Rounder is now one of the biggest independent...
. She also approved the production of a double disc album
No Previous Record that contains songs that never made it onto a commercial recording. Distribution of this album is free, but restricted to members of her e-mail list. In 2009, she released the album
Pointing at the Sun on her own recording label, Dias.
In 1988, Wheeler participated in a "trio" concert with fellow folk singer/songwriters
Shawn ColvinShawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
and
Mary Chapin CarpenterMary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
. This concert took place the year before Colvin released her debut album. The three performed on two consecutive nights to critical acclaim, at
The BirchmereThe Birchmere is a well-known, intimate concert hall in Alexandria, Virginia, known for presenting performers in the bluegrass, country, folk, and jazz genres. The main stage has table seating with dinner service. The room seats 500 people and the tables in front are about two feet from the stage...
in Alexandria, VA. The two performances were recorded at the soundboard and although never released officially, have been favorites among fans of the three artists.
Following
Although primarily classified as a folk singer/songwriter, Wheeler has been covered by a number of country music artists, such as
Dan SealsDanny Wayland "Dan" Seals was an American musician. He first gained fame as the "England Dan" half of the soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, which charted nine singles between 1976 and 1980, including the #2 pop hit "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"...
,
Suzy BoggussSuzy Bogguss is an American country music singer. In the 1980s and 90s she released one platinum and three gold albums and charted six top ten singles, winning the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.After taking a brief...
,
Kathy MatteaKathleen Alice Mattea is an American female country music and bluegrass performer who often brings Celtic sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a singer, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
,
SylviaSylvia Jane Kirby is an American country music and country pop singer and songwriter. More commonly known by the singular name Sylvia, she enjoyed crossover music success with the song "Nobody" in 1982....
, and
Garth BrooksTroyal Garth Brooks is an American country music artist. His eponymous first album was released in 1989; it peaked at #2 in the US country album chart and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart...
, as well as artists as diverse as Peter, Paul, and Mary,
Bette MidlerBette Midler is an American singer, actress and comedienne, also known as The Divine Miss M. During her career, she has been nominated for two Academy Awards; and won four Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a special Tony Award.-Biography:In 1945, Midler was born in...
,
Kenny LogginsKenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins is an American singer and songwriter best known for a number of soft rock and adult contemporary hit singles beginning in the 1970s...
,
MelanieMelanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter.Usually known professionally as Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Lay Down " and "What Have They Done To My Song Ma"...
,
Holly NearHolly Near is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and social change activist.-Early years:...
and
cabaretCabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue—a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or MC.Cabaret...
singer D.C. Anderson.
Her song
"If It Were Up to Me" (which was written shortly after the Jonesboro Massacre), with the closing line "If it were up to me, I'd take away the guns" got nationwide attention shortly after the
Columbine High School massacreThe Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton...
. Wheeler released that recording into the public domain to exempt radio stations from paying royalties (it was being played every hour near the high school), and Rounder Records ran a promotional campaign to donate money to the
Brady CampaignThe Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence are affiliated non-profit organizations in the United States...
each time the song was played on
AAAAdult album alternative is a radio format broadcast mostly on FM. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots may have been established sometime during the 1960s from what was called freeform and later progressive...
radio stations.
Discography
The following albums are still in print:
- Cheryl Wheeler (1986)
- Half a Book (1987)
- Circle and Arrows (1990)
- Driving Home (1993)
- Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar (1995)
- Sylvia Hotel (1999)
- Different Stripe (2003)
- No Previous Record (2003)
- Defying Gravity (2005)
- Pointing at the Sun (2009)
External links