Recommended Sandy Cherryholmes’ bluegrass essentials

Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to start in a genre or medium. What’s the best comic book to read first? Which symphonies are essential? With Recommended, The A.V. Club asks some of our favorite pop-culture experts what some of their favorite things are in an attempt to make everyone’s lives just a little bit more well-rounded. In this edition of Recommended, Cherryholmes mandolinist Sandy Cherryholmes gets down-home and dirty about some of the records she thinks are bluegrass essentials. Mumford & Sons fans and Avett Brothers aficionados, you might want to pay attention to this.  

Bill Monroe—The Music Of Bill Monroe
Sandy Cherryholmes: I’m flattered you asked me this, because, being the mother in the group, people don’t always ask my opinion.

Making this list, I tried to consider a broad spectrum of different types of music and people with different tastes. Bluegrass music has always been very misunderstood and underrated. I think when people think of bluegrass they think of Deliverance and those old dueling banjos. Or people say O Brother, Where Art Thou, which did have a lot of old music, but most of it wasn’t bluegrass.

I think if you want to go back to the very beginnings of bluegrass, though, you have to start with the genre’s father, Bill Monroe. Just Google him and you’ll see how much he mattered.

I really like this four-tape set I have called The Music Of Bill Monroe. It covers his music from 1936 to 1994. There’s an early recording on there of “My Long Journey Home,” and there’s a version of “[My] Last Days On Earth” that he did pretty close to his death. The record’s a really great way to get a sense of the music from a bluegrass master.

Before Bill Monroe, there was roots music, but it didn’t have that running banjo that bluegrass does. It was almost string-band hillbilly music.

Alison Krauss And Union Station—New Favorite
SC: For us, Cherryholmes, we’ve been influenced by a lot of different artists and different musicians. In bluegrass in particular, there are a lot of brilliant artists. A lot of times, I don’t think onlookers realize how good some of these musicians are.

So, if I want to go with something more modern, I’d say Alison Krauss. A lot of people know her, especially from her more recent project with Robert Plant. When Cherryholmes got started in 1999, though, she was our new favorite. There was a backlash against her in the bluegrass community, though, because she was from Illinois and she’d play fiddle and sing. People were saying it wasn’t bluegrass, but all sorts of people who didn’t have bluegrass leanings heard “Let Me Touch You For A While” and “The Lucky One” and wanted to hear more.

Jim & Jesse And The Virginia Boys—A Gift For Keith
SC: Cherryholmes got started at a time, in 1999, where we didn’t know much about bluegrass, and because we were in L.A., we had to really search to find good, old bluegrass music. We were learners and listeners so far from the East where it all started. One of the records that we really got into, though, and that was instrumental in us deciding to form a band, was by Jim & Jesse And The Virginia Boys. Jim and Jesse McReynolds are brothers, and Jim has since passed away, but we went to see them, and the only record left at their table was called A [Gift] For Keith. We bought it, and it’s just the greatest, most heartfelt bluegrass music that we’d heard. They did that record to raise money for Jesse’s son, who had multiple sclerosis and eventually passed away.

Their songs are so different than Bill Monroe’s. They have an old country approach, almost, and they do these O Brother-style harmonies.

Ralph Stanley And Jim Lauderdale — I Feel Like Singing Today
SC: Another thing that was very inspirational for us was to go and see Ralph Stanley. He’s a gem. He’s 84 years old now, and he still does a great show. We’ve connected with him since we’ve moved east, and we’ve played all his festivals. For the past two years, our agencies have worked together putting together a show of old and new bluegrass. He’s the old, and we’re the new. We really love those guys, and we love playing together.

He put out this record in 2000 with Jim Lauderdale called I Feel Like Singing Today, and it’s great. It’s got his sound, plus Jim Lauderdale’s old country sound. It’s an excellent record.

Jimmy Martin—Don’t Cry To Me
SC: When it comes to bluegrass, I had a hard time getting my list down to 10 [albums]. I probably had 30, and then I had to narrow it down to ones I thought were more personal for us.

When Cherryholmes first came to Nashville and were starting our career, we met Jimmy Martin. He was a performer with Bill Monroe and then he went solo, and he became a friend of ours. He made a really great record that they’ve reissued now called Don’t Cry To Me, and it has J.D. Crowe on there as a young man. Anyone who knows about bluegrass knows that J.D. Crowe is just the man when it comes to banjo, and on this record he must have been 17 or 18.

Marbletown—Blue Highway
SC: Here’s something that’s a little more cutting-edge, for those who find that old just doesn’t appeal to them. Blue Highway is a great acoustic recording by Marbletown from 2005. It was up for a Grammy and we were up for a Grammy, and we all went together. They go for a real cutting-edge dynamic on this record. It’s more arranged and not as raw. It’s very well done, and the vocals are very good.

Ricky Skaggs And Bruce Hornsby—Ricky Skaggs And Bruce Hornsby
SC: This is one of my favorites. Anyone who’s a fan from Bruce Hornsby’s pop days remembers “Mandolin Rain” and “Age Of Innocence,” but he got together with Rick’s bluegrass band and made this record. They really stretch the parameters of things. They even cover Rick James’ “Super Freak.” It’s more of an acoustic record with a bluegrass flavor, because it has piano involved, but it shows that the same music can really lend itself to a lot of different styles.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band—Will The Circle Be Unbroken
SC: There are a ton of records from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band that are really wonderful. People might remember “Mr. Bojangles,” which was one of their hits. Their stuff’s more pop-country, but they use a banjo. They have great records from the ’70s and ’80s, though, like Will The Circle Be Unbroken.

Marty Raybon—Full Circle
SC: If anyone was a fan of the old country band Shenandoah, Martin Raybon, the lead singer, has since gone on to form a bluegrass band. He put out a record, Full Circle, where he covered “Next To You, Next To Me,” from that original Shenandoah record. He has a wonderful voice, and it’s nice that he keeps that country connection with bluegrass.

Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers—Rare Bird Alert
SC: If people are into something exotic, there’s Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers. This just came out a few weeks ago, and Steve is just great. He’s gotten back into his banjo thing, and the record right before this, The Crow, got a Grammy a couple of years ago. I think he was hesitant to get back into performing music, but he’s come on with a vengeance with this strictly traditional band from North Carolina. They do everything from bluegrass to a cover of “King Tut.” Plus, the record has appearances from Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks.

You know, when I made this list, I was trying to put a broad spectrum of things on here, because this music can fit so many different things. I’m sure there’s something on here that people enjoy.

Cherryholmes plays Saturday, April 16 with Dr. Ralph Stanley at the Chicago Symphony Center.