Cheryl Wheeler at the Narrows

As part of our long-on-going 25th anniversary, Sue arranged to get tickets to see my favorite folk singer - Cheryl Wheeler - at a place in Fall River called "The Narrows Center For Arts". It was a secret (and I'm so wonderful that I never attempted to guess - although when pressed to guess, I got it on my first attempt) that she had managed to keep since earlier in the summer - no small feat considering the amount of people who knew about it. Her primary co-conspirators were Auntie Maria and Maria's best friend Joanne Clemons, who's daughter (older daughter - I used to coach younger daughter Barbie in softball) Debbie's husband Steve is best friends with Kathleen who happens to be Cheryl's partner, whom they are building a house next door to, on the property they bought off of them (got all that?). Joanne (maybe with some help from Maria who is also claiming some credit!!!) got 5 tickets and reserved seating at a table 10 feet from the stage (thankfully NOT on the 200 year old wooden church pews that some people got to sit on) - so Maria, Joanne and Joanne's husband Allan joined us for the show.

The warmup act was respectably good, and Cheryl was in fine form with her unconventional wit, crystal clear voice and beautiful fingerpicking guitar playing. Julie has been babysitting a lot - including this night - and having recently discovered and become a fan of Cheryl's, she requested us to get her some "swag" (J & M didn't know what "swag" was until Sue explained - concert gear/CD's/T-shirts/etc.. - but Allan knew it as a pirate term, and coincidentally Friday was "talk like a pirate day"). We got a CD with JuBee's favorite song "When fall Comes To New England" on it, and after the show, Cheryl stopped by our table to say "Hi" and she signed the CD for Julie.
So all in all, a lovely evening with great company, music, and lots of humor - a bit of a microcosm of our past 25 years! That you, Aunt Maria & Joanne (and Allan too).

ABSOLUTELY check out Cheryl in concert if you get the chance. Her pre-song stories of how the song came to be will have you roaring in laughter, while the songs themselves might continue the laugh-fest or might bring a tear to your eyes with the eloquent beauty of the music and lyrics.

this was Sue's favorite number
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfni_ZMhx5o&feature=related


here is Cheryl's song about how she must have done something terrific in a prior life to deserve a partner like hers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6j5HOuIpeo&feature=related

here is the counter-song that her partner might have written
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6j5HOuIpeo&feature=related

Here is the link for "The Narrows" website
(easy to get to and free parking!)
http://www.ncfta.org/