Cheryl Wheeler at Middle Earth

Cheryl Wheeler at Middle Earth

Folk and country artist Cheryl Wheeler will be joined by singer Annie Clark at the Middle Earth Music Hall in Bradford, Friday, Nov. 1. As a songwriter, Wheeler has penned numerous country hits, while winning the respect and admiration of performers ranging from Bette Midler to Maura O’Connell. She also has a marvelously expressive voice and while her songs can certainly touch the heart, she possesses a wickedly funny sense of humor.

Wheeler grew up in Timonium, Maryland, where she first learned ukulele and guitar from a neighbor. She became a regular at folk venues around the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area, before relocating to the Newport, Rhode Island scene in the early 1970s, where she appeared with musicians like Tom Rush, Gordon Lightfoot, and the man who would become her producer, Jonathan Edwards.

She released her first EP, "Newport Songs," in 1983. 1986 brought her first full-length LP, "Cheryl Wheeler," which included the original versions of her most requested song, "Arrow," as well as "Aces," which became a top-ten country hit for Suzy Bogguss, and "Addicted," which went to #1 for Dan Seals. Both it and its follow-up, "Half a Book," are available on North Star Records.

In 1990, Wheeler was signed by Capitol Records, who recorded her third album, "Circles & Arrows," in Nashville. Although it featured the irreverent CMT hit "Estate Sale," the defiantly independent Wheeler proved to be impossible to force into the Nashville mold, and she was quickly dropped. "Driving Home," her Philo debut, was released in 1993, and the tracks "Almost," "Silver Lining," and "75 Septembers" each garnered significant airplay.

Her most recent release was 1995’s "Mrs. Pinocchi’s Guitar," the recording which perhaps best encapsulates her range: from gut-busting humor ("Is It Peace or is it Prozac"), and vitriolic satire ("Makes Good Sense to Me"), to seamless adult pop ("Does the Future Look Black?"), and heart-breaking emotion ("Further and Further Away.")

Tickets for Wheeler’s show will be sold at the door. For more information call 222-4748.

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