September 9, 2011

$25 / $28 at door
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Cheryl Wheeler

Eliot Bronson opens

Cheryl Wheeler On Friday, September 9, the me&thee coffeehouse opens its fall season with a favorite performer, Cheryl Wheeler. This prolific musician tells stories that have the audience rolling in the aisles, then switches gears and sings a song that leaves everyone wiping tears away. Cheryl’s songs range from the serious to the wildly outrageous. Her entire concert is an emotional roller coaster. ¶ Opening the show is Eliot Bronson, formerly half of the Brilliant Inventions, who has just released a solo album, Blackbirds, to excellent reviews.

If you’re not already familiar with Cheryl, you have probably heard her music. She is highly respected as a songwriter by her peers, which can be seen by how many of them record her songs. Cheryl’s songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Dan Seals, Peter Paul & Mary, Kenny Loggins, Garth Brooks, Suzy Bogguss, Melanie, Bette Midler, Maura O’Connell, Sylvia, Kathy Mattea, and Holly Near. From her albums you can tell that she is a gifted songwriter with a beautiful voice. From other people’s comments about her you learn that she is a natural storyteller with a fantastic sense of humor. But until you see her in person, you never really believe what you’ve been told about her. Interestingly enough, almost half of the songs she performs during her shows have never been recorded!

Cheryl performed at venues around Baltimore and Washington, DC before moving to New England in 1976, where she now lives. She tours extensively. She had a band for a while, but usually performs solo now, or with Kenny White, who often opens and then accompanies her and sings backup. One astute music journalist from Fame magazine summed up Cheryl by saying: “She is an anomaly on the acoustic music scene. She has a rare gift for writing songs with lush melodies and lyrics with incredible beauty. On the other hand, she is a master of quick wit. Her observational humor has brought us a number of songs describing the utter ridiculousness of the world around us. And then there is the richness of her silky alto telling us what lies in the deepest recesses of her songwriter’s heart.”

. . .

Eliot Bronson

Perhaps best known as half of the acclaimed acoustic duo, The Brilliant Inventions, Eliot Bronson has recently struck out on his own, with the new album, Blackbirds. He was recently chosen to appear as one of the New Folk contenders at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. The Washington Post called The Brilliant Inventions’ music “clever contemporary acoustic pop that invites comparison to Ben Folds Five and Fountains of Wayne — literate story-songs at once amusing and moving, with catchy melodic hooks.” In 2009 the band released their long awaited, first studio album, Have You Changed, to critical indie praise. They were picked as emerging artist to play prestigious Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and were voted the coveted “Most Wanted” act to return as main stage performers in 2010.

The band surprisingly ended their partnership in the fall of last year, as plans for a follow up to HYC were being made. Suddenly a solo act, Eliot returned to the folk, and roots music that first drew him to songwriting and went to work on an album all his own. The result is Blackbirds, an intensely personal, stripped down, rough-edged record that departs from much of TBI’s lighter pop material and showcases Eliot’s unique poetic voice, and his finest writing to date.

  • It has always seemed as if there were two Cheryl Wheelers, with fans of the New England songwriter relishing watching the two tussle for control of the mic. There is poet-Cheryl, writer of some of the prettiest, most alluring and intelligent ballads on the modern folk scene. And there is her evil twin, comic-Cheryl, a militant trend defier and savagely funny social critic. The result is a delightful contrast between poet and comic. Scott Alarik
  • . . .
  • While the Brilliant Inventions’ songwriting was always strong, the yin-yang between Lamkin’s playful sense of humor and Bronson’s more earnest emotionalism didn’t always mesh. Here, the simple-boy-with-simple-needs ballad “Old Car” flows into the infectious country-rock anthem “If You Need To Be Free” seamlessly, with background vocals from Leah Calvert and instrumentalist/producer Will Robertson giving it a richness that seems primed for radio play. From the pastoral loveliness of “This Song” and the heart-on-his-sleeve yearning of “You’re Always Saying Goodbye” to the hauntingly orchestrated “Christmas Song,” Blackbirds proves Bronson a formidable talent in his own right, ready for the big time all by his damn self. Bret Love