In her hometown, she played the local Steak and Ale, taught music, and before moving to New England in 1976 she performed in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area.
Starting in 1983, she self-produced an EP called “Newport Songs” and her next two albums in 1986 and 1991, “Cheryl Wheeler” and “Half a Book,” were released on the North Star label. Capital Records worked with her on her third recording, “Circles and Arrows,” but it was dropped due to promoter changes at Capitol. “Driving Home,” her fourth volume of work on Philo was in 1993 and produced three singles, “Almost,” Silver Lining,” and “75 September,” which was a song that Peter, Paul & Mary covered on their album, “Life Lines.”
By the time 2005 rolled around, she’d released four more albums, and in 2003, a two-disc collection of songs that were never released on a commercial label, “No Previous Record” was put out.
In 2009, on her own label, Dias Music, Wheeler released “Pointing at the Sun.” Today, she tours extensively and even had a band for a while, but mostly performs shows solo.
She continues to write songs and says she doesn’t choose the songs to write; that they just come to her. “You feel a feeling just wash over you,” she says. “Oh, I’ve written songs I had to work on and sometimes you work on a song because you haven’t done it in a while, but mostly they just come to me.”
Her material is diverse, and can make people laugh and wax introspective.
Her song, “GhandiBuddha” journies into the experiences she with her about her wife Cathleen, and their initial attempts at navigating the legal marriage waters in Massachusetts.
“We kept expecting, at every turn, that there would some kind of problem, because of the negative television coverage,” she recalls. “But instead, the day came and [we just] went over to Fall River City Hall.”
It’s a song about her feelings regarding her relationship: it’s honest and folksy, like a lot of her work. It’s also available for viewing on youtube.
“Pop Tarts and Spam” is one of her more comedic tunes. Written about the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Splendor, which was stranded in the Pacific Ocean in November of 2010, the song explores Carnival and the U.S. Navy’s ridiculous notion that sending 4,500 stranded passengers Pop Tarts and Spam was the best dietary decision.
Many of her recordings feature live audiences laughing at her comic material and lyrics, and it is hard not to get caught up in the skill of her storytelling.
Although Wheeler is clearly comfortable with her sexual orientation, she’s quick to point out that she is first and foremost a musician.
“What I have to bring to the table is my talent; not my being gay, and I never felt compelled to address it. I am a singer who is gay, not a gay singer.”
Same-sex marriage, however, has compelled her to speak out in a much more political stance.
“The marriage issue changes everything and I have never heard one good argument against gay marriage,” Wheeler says. “I can’t even wrap my head around folks who are against gay people. I’m very happy I’m gay.”
Wheeler married to her long-time partner Cathleen in 2004. “We live in Massachusetts, so we could get married,” she says.
She and Cathleen live in the southeastern part of the state with their three dogs: a Jack Russell and two Chinooks, about ten miles outside Providence, Rhode Island. Their home is nestled in a 40-acre wooded area, surrounded by trees and vast fields.
Cathleen chops firewood there, which she sells to raise money for a local dance company, Everett: Company, Stage & School in Providence. It’s clear they love their lives, surrounded by wildlife, including deer, turkeys, bears and foxes.
“We watched a fox standing on its hind legs, batting peaches out of our peach tree,” Wheeler says. “At first I was mad, but a friend told me, ‘We get to go buy peaches, they don’t!’ and, she was right.”
She and Cathleen will celebrate 24 years together in 2014. “We got together in 1990, made it permanent in 1997 and got married in 2004,” Wheeler says.
Now 63, she says she spends most of her time playing, singing and writing songs. She continues to enjoy touring, and looks forward to returning to the Atlanta area when she performs at Red Clay Theatre in Duluth on November 10.
Obviously, she has soft spot in her heart for the region, as evidenced in her song “Rainy Road Into Atlanta.”
I don’t know where the winter went, but summertime is closing in
If bloom and shoot is what they meant, I’d say the south just rose again
How beautiful these roads I wonder, all these towns I’m passing through
Oh blessed is this weary traveler, finally coming home to you
More info:
Cheryl Wheeler in concert
Nov. 10, 7 p.m.
Red Clay Theatre
3116 Main Street, Duluth, GA 30096
www.cherylwheeler.com