Award-winning family bluegrass band Cherryholmes to Perform April 22 at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Cherryholmes on April 22 at 8 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts, UB North Campus. The concert is sponsored in part by Creekside Dentistry.

Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes married and began raising a family of six children just outside of Los Angeles. In 1999, their eldest daughter died from respiratory failure. The family heard about a nearby bluegrass festival and decided to go to lift their spirits.

"We saw Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys and it changed our entire lives," Sandy recalls. "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." What started out as a desire to draw the family closer soon developed into a legitimate band. Cherryholmes won a few local contests as their skills improved and their reputation spread.

By 2003, Cherryholmes had made their first appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, Ernest Tubb's Midnight Jamboree, the Country Music Association's (CMA) Music Fest and International Bluegrass Music Association's (IBMA) FanFest.

The group's growing popularity caught the attention of Ricky Skaggs, who signed the band to his Skaggs Family Records label in 2005. Their self-titled debut entered Billboard's Top Bluegrass Albums chart at No. 3, even gaining status on the Top Country Albums chart, unheard of for a bluegrass act making its first national chart appearance.

When nominations were announced for the 16th Annual International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards, Cherryholmes appeared as nominees not only for Emerging Artist of the Year (an award given to artists on the rise), the band also won the most coveted award of the night, Entertainer of the Year.

Their follow-up album, Cherryholmes II: Black and White, enjoyed even greater success, topping Billboard's Top Bluegrass Albums chart and earning the band its second Grammy nomination. Their third Skaggs Family Records release, Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe, exhibits a fearless approach to composition, mixing traditional elements with advanced melodies and chord progressions.

Jere concludes, "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."

Tickets for Cherryholmes are $25.50 general admission and $21.50 for students (any school). Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts Box Office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations, including ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets, call 1-800-745-3000; in Canada, call 416-870-8000. For group sales, call 716-645-6771. For more information, call 716-645-2787.