Cherryholmes, the Blue Grass Band from California that has been named Entertainer of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association will appear at the Chandler on March 27. RANDOLPH - A bluegrass group featuring twin fiddles, Irish step-dancing, classic country yodeling, old-time clawhammer banjo will appear at the Chandler on March 27.

The family bluegrass band Cherryholmes is a family operation.

As little as 10 years ago, the band itself didn't exist, and half of its youthful members hadn't even picked up instruments yet.

Now, it's hard to imagine bluegrass music without them. Their commitment to family in the face of tragedy inspired the birth of a band that has taken the bluegrass music world by storm said a Chandler spokes person.

Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes met in their church, married, and began raising a family of six children in Bell, California, just outside of Los Angeles.

Jere was a carpenter for the L.A. County school system and Sandy home-schooled the children.

In 1999, their eldest daughter, Shelly (20), died in her sleep from respiratory failure, due to chronic heart problems. When the family heard about a nearby bluegrass festival, they decided to go to lift their spirits.

"We saw Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys and it changed our entire lives, going to that bluegrass festival and spending that day with them," 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."

Cia (banjo), B.J. (fiddle), Skip (guitar), and Molly (fiddle) were assigned instruments. "Well, if you asked them, they would have all picked drums," Sandy laughs. "Cia was playing guitar in church and singing, the little kids weren't playing anything, and I was a piano player. So, I decided that I would play whatever was left, and so would Jere. That left him with the bass and me with the mandolin."

When the kids were little and just starting out, Sandy and Jere orchestrated the music so that listeners weren't aware of their musical limitations. Sandy explains, "I divided the parts up and they only played one note each so it sounded like double stops. Then, I played mandolin with them, and they played on pitch. We taught Skip to play a few banjo licks on the mandolin, and then we just played really loud and fast," she laughs. "Within four months, we started getting invitations from people wanting us to come and play."

By year's end, the family had taken a weekly gig in the San Bernardino Mountains, and once again, necessity was the mother of invention.

"We started dancing out of a desperate need for songs," Sandy confides. "We only had about 15 songs and we had to play for six hours! I had been teaching the kids Irish stepdancing in the P.E. classes anyway, so we put together some dance routines."

What started out as a desire to draw the family closer together during their time of sorrow had developed into a legitimate parttime band.

Cherryholmes won a few local contests and the promoters kept calling as their skills improved and their reputation spread.

After a 32-hour round trip to play a show in Colorado, Jere realized they had reached their weekend driving limit. "People advised us that if we were going to do this with our kids, we needed to do it while they were young," he said.

"So we talked about it and prayed about it, and decided that we were going to sell the house and I would quit my job and we would just go - and whatever happened, happened. I left my job in July of 2002."

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. In 2004, the band self-released their third album, Bluegrass Vagabonds, and kicked off their own festival, 'The Best in Tradition with Cherryholmes', at Hoofer's Gospel Barn in LaGrange, Georgia.

The band'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 #3, even gaining status on the Top Country Albums chart, unheard of for a bluegrass act making their 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; but also for the most coveted award of the night, Entertainer of the Year, making them the first act in IBMA's 20-year history to be nominated in both categories.

When Cherryholmes were named Entertainer of the Year, the entire audience leaped to its feet.

Jere concluded, "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."

Cherryholmes' performance at Chandler has received generous sponsorship support from Dandelion Acres and The Herald, with media sponsorship provided by The Point. Reserved tickets may be conveniently ordered online, www.chandler-arts.org or by calling the Chandler Box Office at 802-728-6464. Chandler Music Hall is wheelchair accessible.