Cheryl Wheeler

Cheryl Wheeler

Cheryl Wheeler (born July 10, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter of contemporary folk music, based in New England. To date, she has recorded several folk albums, and has toured extensively throughout the United States.

Wheeler was born in Timonium, Maryland. She performed at clubs in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore area. She moved to Rhode Island in 1976, where she played at various clubs in the New England area. Jonathan Edwards asked her to tour with him when his bass player became unavailable. He has since produced a number of her albums. Since she lives in Massachusetts, she and her partner Cathleen were able to be married in 2004.

Wheeler tours extensively, and her live concerts include comic routines and serious discussions in addition to the songs themselves. About half of the songs she performs in concerts are not available on any of her albums. Many never get recorded, and eventually fade from her set list. Although she mostly tours alone, she has also toured with Kenny White (who produced her first EP album). White generally opens for her, and then plays and sings harmony during Wheeler's set. Wheeler also frequently tours with the Christine Lavin-inspired tour "On a Winter's Night", and has occasionally toured as part of Lavin's consortium Four Bitchin' Babes.

She has released albums on several major labels, the most recent being Rounder Records. She also approved the production of a double disc album No Previous Record that contains songs that never made it onto a commercial recording. Distribution of this album is free, but restricted to members of her e-mail list.

In 1988, Wheeler participated in a "trio" concert with fellow folk singer/songwriters Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. This concert took place the year before Colvin released her debut album. The three performed 2 consecutive nights to critical acclaim, at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. The 2 performances were recorded at the soundboard and although never released officially, have been favorites among fans of the 3 artists.

Her song "If It Were Up to Me" (which was written shortly after the Jonesboro Massacre), with the closing line "If it were up to me, I'd take away the guns" got nationwide attention shortly after the Columbine High School massacre. Wheeler released that recording into the public domain to exempt radio stations from paying royalties (it was being played every hour near the high school), and Rounder Records ran a promotional campaign to donate money to the Brady Campaign each time the song was played on AAA radio stations.

Although primarily classified as a folk singer/songwriter, Wheeler has been covered by a number of country music artists, such as Dan Seals, Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Sylvia, and Garth Brooks, as well as artists as diverse as Peter, Paul, and Mary, Bette Midler, Melanie, Holly Near and cabaret singer D.C. Anderson.

Controversy, Heterophobia and Hate Music

Many of Wheeler's songs purport to broach the subject of social justice, but essentially cross the line into hate literature and heterophobia.

At the 2008 Mariposa Folk Festival, she performed a Christophobic, Islamophobic and somewhat homophobic song titled Your God. In it, she attacks the Pope, then alludes to the controversy stirred by Jerry Falwell over accusations of homosexual propaganda regarding the Tellytubbies character, Tinky Winky. In the same verse, Wheeler reference to Islam, specifically the seventy-two virgins promised Muslim martyrs for sacrificing their lives in the name of Allah.

Callous Remarks on Domestic and Sexual Abuse

She whimsically accuses Christians of being part of a "breeding program," which in her words will continue until, "...one big in-bred family will be an entire state She asks, "Are they his priests who can't keep from buggering little boys."

Wheeler fails to mention incidence rates of sexual abuse in religious institutions compares with or is lower than other social institutions, , or that under the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church has disbursed over two billion dollars to victims, and that the Pope has declared pedophiles would no longer be protected by the Church.

Homophobic Terminology

Wheeler accuses the religious right of, "keep[ing] the grace of marriage from the clutches of fags and dykes." The terms, fag and, dyke are offensive when used to describe homosexual persons. Members of the gay community and sympathetic supporters and activists employ several strategies to combat their general use.

It is noteworthy that during Wheeler's Mariposa perforance, she declared her pride at being allowed to marry her homosexual partner, due to her residence in Massachusetts. The Mariposa performance was also in Canada, a nation which has protected the right of gay people to marry since June 28, 2005.

She calls God a "loser" in regards to whichever Super Bowl team is defeated, changing the lyrics each year to reflect the losing team. She accuses God of forcing women to wear sacks and being responsible fr beheadings of insurgent victims in The War on Terror.

In the final verse Wheeler accuses religious people of "tell[ing] everybody what to do," being unintelligent and murdering anyone who does not think exactly as themselves. She ends the song accusing religious people of spewing, "heinous and hateful shit."

On the song's webpage at Wheeler's websie, she ostensibly claims to be criticising the Religious Right, but takes care to note she is not including a specific, non-polygamous sect for whom she performed a paying gig at Appel Farms.

Discography

The following albums are still in print:

• Cheryl Wheeler (1986)
• Half a Book (1987)
• Circle and Arrows (1990)
• Driving Home (1993)
• Mrs. Pinocci's Guitar (1995)
• Sylvia Hotel (1999)
• Different Stripe (2003)
• No Previous Record (2003)
• Defying Gravity (2005)

External links

• The Cheryl Wheeler Web Site