On Stage: A Very Cheadle Christmas in Ardmore

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times

If you like Christmas music but are would like to hear something other than the same old traditional songs done the same old traditional way, there is a show for you tonight. If you want to enjoy the traditional songs and rock out at the same time, plan a trip to Ardmore.

On December 20, The Living Room (35 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, https://thelivingroomat35east.com) is hosting a concert billed as “A Very Cheadle Christmas.”

The show features Laura Cheadle and her band. Cheadle has a band that features blues, soul, funk – and a lot of Cheadles.

Her four-piece group features her brother Jim Cheadle on guitar and her father James Cheadle on keyboards along with South Jersey’s Dave Ferebee on drums.

James “Papa Cheadle” has played and recorded with Don Cornell, DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Four Aces, Grover Washington Jr., The Soul Survivors, Jaco Pastorius and Peter Erskine.

“I’ll be touring with them again next year,” said Cheadle, during a phone interview Wednesday morning from her home in South Jersey.

“This weekend’s show – ‘A Very Cheadle Christmas’ – will be my last local show for a while.

“The Living Room is a great venue. I played a Christmas show there last year and it was sold out.

“The show on Friday night will have a good amount of Christmas songs as well as some of my music. It’s going to be a very soulful Christmas.”

Christmas has already arrived for Cheadle this year.

She just landed a major Artist Endorsement Deal with her instrument of choice, Traveler Guitar. Her official Artist Endorsement status with Traveler puts her alongside some well-known stars also playing Traveler guitars including Zac Brown, Melissa Etheridge, and Jeff Daniels.

According to Kenny McGuane, Director of Artist Relations for Traveler, adds, “We’re thrilled to have Laura onboard as a Traveler Guitar Artist. Laura played our gear for years before we ever had direct contact with her and was a Brand Ambassador long before she was featured on our website.

“And ever since we tied the knot and made things official, Laura and her team have gone above and beyond the amazing work they were already doing without even being asked. So happy to be partnered with Laura and her team!”

Cheadle has been playing Traveler guitars for quite a few years now.

“This is a really big deal for me,” said Cheadle. “Getting an endorsement deal from Traveler is great because Traveler is the perfect guitar for me. I have small hands and I’m a rhythm player. Traveler is lightweight, compact and cute.”

Cheadle’s most recent album is “Chill,” which came out last year.

“I wrote the songs from 2013 on,” said Cheadle. “There were a lot of changes in my life. The songs are about relationships and love – about being true to yourself. It’s absolutely introspective. It’s about my life.

“Making this album was definitely a cathartic experience. I worked through a lot of emotions on this record. I still feel the emotion when I perform them. I can’t let go of these feelings.”

Cheadle has played with her family ever since she was a young girl.

“My father has influenced me so much,” said Cheadle. “He’s a seasoned jazz musician who used to be a music professor at Rowan University. So, I’ve always been involved with music

“He has his own recording studio in South Jersey called the Swedesboro Music Studio and he records a lot of different people. He and I are both devoted to music. His influence on me is blues and jazz – but I make it modern.”

Cheadle’s music career began when she was four years old. Her father created the “Appreciation Choir” for the Persian Gulf War troops in the early nineties and created a music video that was aired on VH1 and MTV. Along with her two older twin brothers and various other children, Cheadle toured around the United States singing for audiences.

When she was 11, she enlisted her father to teach her how to play drums. From her “tween” to “mid-teen” years, Cheadle was in a band with her brothers called Sibling – a pop group that played at local restaurants, churches, music venues, private parties and parades.

“I’ve been in the Philadelphia/New Jersey music scene for quite some time,” said Cheadle. “I’ve been doing acoustic stuff since I was 16 and then put my band together later. Sibling was a blend and I morphed into my music. Songwriting comes very naturally for me. Sometimes, I wake up with a melody in my head. It’s just there.

“I’ve always been a super fan of old soul. My biggest influences are Aretha Franklin, Tower of Power, James Brown and Stevie Wonder. I love real drums and all the organic instruments. Some of my songs are rock. Some of them are blues. It’s hard to classify me – maybe pop/rock with soul influence. I just do what I feel.”

The Cheadle Family has built a strong reputation nationally.

“We were on an NBC television show called ‘The Next Great Family Band’ in 2013,” said Cheadle. “That got us a lot of interest in being booked for tours. They actually came to our place in Swedesboro. The exposure was great.”

Cheadle recorded “Chill” at Swedesboro Music Studio with her father as the producer.

Video link for Laura Cheadle – https://youtu.be/K1nvyWzjqkc.

The show at The Living Room will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20.

Another show at The Living Room this weekend will be Rupert Wates and Cassendre Xavier on December 21.

Kelsey Wilson has been a busy person this month – but that’s not unexpected for someone who is involved in three music projects simultaneously.

Wilson is the vocalist and violin player for Wild Child, an indie pop band from Austin, Texas.

She is also a member of Glorietta, a New Mexico-based indie rock sextet.

Wilson also has a music project called Sir Woman.

However, she is not a professional ice hockey player whose most recent team is Banska Bystrica HC 05 from the Slovak Republic. That is another Kelsey Wilson.

This month, Wilson has been extremely busy.

She has toured as Sir Woman with four shows on the West Coast – Oregon, Washington and two in California – and a tour wrap-up concert on December 22 in Austin.

She also has been on the road on the “Wild Child Stripped Down Tour” — a five-show tour that started in Austin and has stops in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

The Philly show is scheduled for December 20 at City Winery (990 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, citywinery.com/philadelphia).

Usually, Wild Child is a seven-piece rock band featuring Kelsey Wilson (lead vocals and violin), Alexander Beggins (lead vocals and baritone ukulele), Sadie Wolfe (cello), Tyler Osmond (bass), Matt Bradshaw (keyboard and trumpet), Cody Ackors (guitar and trombone), and Tom Myers (drums). The show at City Winery has a different incarnation of Wild Child.

“The Wild Child that is on tour now is just a duo with me and Alexander Beggins,” said Wilson, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon as she was travelling from New York to Boston.

“It’s a stripped-down tour. We’re both playing acoustic instruments. It’s definitely bare bones.”

Wild Child was formed in Austin in 2010 and released its debut album, “Pillow Talk,” in 2011. Since then, it has released “The Runaround” in 2013, “Fools” in 2015, and “Expectations” in 2018.

Sir Woman has been around for less than a year.

“I had just been making music with different people for a while,” said Wilson. “There was Wild Child for the last 10 years and then Glorietta with a bunch of friends. I realized I had bene making music my entire life with other people, so I decided to make music of my own.”

Wilson knew that Wild Child would always been the main thing but not an exclusive thing,

According to Wilson, “Sir Woman became an outlet for me to work through my own shit going on while I was touring and making music with all of the insanely talented people I get to create with. I had doubts about my own capabilities, fears about the world and my place in it. I’ve always personally connected most with funk/soul/R&B and gospel, but I’ve never made any music like that before.

“Initially this music wasn’t for anyone but myself, but after the first day in the studio I knew I needed to bring Sir Woman to life. People needed to hear this music just as much as I needed to make it. The tunes made us feel good. I had finally found my voice and I was ready to share the love.”

Sir Woman’s music and recordings came to life in a parallel universe.

“I’ve always really loved soul, funk and R&B,” said Wilson. “But I can’t explore it very much with Wild Child and the ukulele. I had these songs I wanted to get out of my head. It was immediately contagious.

“I had half the album done by working on it when I was working with Wild Child and Glorietta. Then, I finished it up in the studio. I recorded with producer Matt Pence at Echo Lab Studio in Denton, Texas.

“Austin has a lot of songwriters, but Denton has the players. I used about 30 people on the album including Robert Ellis and players from Texas Gentlemen. We did it all live together in the studio.

“It was important for me to let the players have the freedom. It’s more fun in the studio to let people run with it. We were doing a couple songs a day. We recorded 15 songs and I’ll have to pare it down a bit before the album drops in 2020. We going to do another single in February – a song called ‘Bitch.’

“My road band for Sir Woman has seven people. It’s a big funk show with gospel backup singers. It’s a big party. Touring with that many people means we’re not making any money. But we’re having fun.”

Area fans will have to wait until February for the fun and funk when Wilson brings Sir Woman to Philly. In the meantime, they can enjoy a pure and direct show when Wilson and Beggins bring the acoustic version of Wild Child to the City Winery.

Video link for Wild Child – https://youtu.be/nr2AfKjQBqI.

The show at City Winery will start at 8 p.m. Ticket prices range from $24-$30.
Another show at City Winery this weekend will be “Rodriguez: An Intimate Evening of Music & Conversation with Raye Zaragoza” on December 21.