Cheryl Wheeler Concert in Wrentham

Cheryl Wheeler will be performing on Saturday, May 19, 7:30 p.m., at the Original Congregational Church in the center of Wrentham. Cheryl Wheeler has to be seen to be appreciated. Nothing you read and nothing you hear from her album prepares you for how good a performer she is. From her albums you can tell that she is a gifted songwriter with a beautiful voice. From other people's comments about her you can learn that she is a natural story teller with a fantastic sense of humor. But until you see her in person, you never really believe what you've been told about her. Besides, almost half of the songs she does during her shows haven't been recorded!

It has always seemed as if there were two Cheryl Wheelers, with fans of the New England songwriter relishing watching the two tussle for control of the mic. There is poet-Cheryl, writer of some of the prettiest, most alluring and intelligent ballads on the modern folk scene. And there is her evil twin, comic-Cheryl, a militant trend defier and savagely funny social critic. The result is a delightful contrast between poet and comic.

Poet-Cheryl writes achingly honest songs of love and loss. Contrasting the prosaic landscapes of her native small-town America with the hopelessly rootless life of the traveling performer, she touches the common chords with any who feel the tug between our busy, noisome times and the timeless longing for simplicity and silence. Her deceptively plain-spun songs have been hits for such mainstream stars as Suzy Bogguss (Aces) and Dan Seals (Addicted), and have been recorded by Bette Midler, Maura O’Connell, Peter Paul and Mary, Juice Newton, Garth Brooks, and many others. Comic-Cheryl comes on like Groucho-in-a-housecoat; a fiercely everyday woman with a barbed-wire tongue. Shredding the mores of our gossipy, greedy, trend-obsessed culture, Wheeler always aims enough darts at herself to never seem sanctimonious. (Comments are by Scott Alarik and Bill Pringle on Cheryl's website.)

Tickets for the concert are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, available at the church office, 508-384-3110, or at www.musicatocc.org. The event will be in the sanctuary of the church with entry from Route 1A. Parking is available behind the church and in the lot across the street. For more information and to be added to the mailing list, visit the website or contact Ken Graves, 508-384-8084, [email protected].

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