Do you know Cheryl Wheeler? It depends on what circles you run in. If you're a fan, and there are many, you'll be excited to know that she has a fresh collection out that includes 17 of her best-loved love songs and two new ones. If you don't know Cheryl Wheeler from Cheryl Tiegs, well, you'll be surprised to know that she has a fresh collection out that includes 19 songs that you really should hear. Some were even hits for other artists. But that's beside the point.

Seriously, Cheryl is one of the most skilled and admired songwriters in all of acoustic music. She can write with the sublime tenderness of a poet and the funny-bone humor of a great stand-up. Her live performances are exhausting -- see-saw experiences that veer from laughing tears to crying tears, sore-stomach laughs to heartbreaking chills. "I write funny songs and I write ballads," she says from her cell phone while driving to a gig in northern New England. "I guess it's the way I see the world."

Different Stripe (Rounder), the new offering, illustrates Cheryl's growth as a songwriter, ranging from her early 1986 gems through new songs like "Walk Around Downtown" and "Gandhi/Buddah." Throughout the record, you'll encounter revealing, revelatory lines like "You can't deal me the aces and think I wouldn't play," from "Aces" and "Wish I could feel my heartbeat rise/And gaze into some gentle warm excited eyes/And give myself as truly as an arrow flies/In windless skies," from "Arrow."

"My songwriting evolves in the way that a person evolves," she says. "In my 20s I was angsty; the world was cold and hard. But now I look back and think, `What was so cold and hard about it?' At 51 now, all that angst seems to be ridiculous. I'm most often now writing songs where I feel grateful about how beautiful the world is, how lovely the night is, how moving life can be."

Another thing that Wheeler does well, and that helps elevate her songwriting to a higher level, is play guitar. It's something she's been doing for 41 years. "I love playing guitar. To me, there's nothing I love more than playing guitar. I still cannot believe what a feeling of freedom and what a thrill it is to play guitar. It can't get any better."

Then again, it's not like she allows her exuberance on guitar to get in the way of the song. "When I write, everything is in service to the song. It's never about my voice or the guitar. It's about the guitar part and the vocal part that will best present the song."

She's seen it all too often: inferior guitar players allowing their instruments to do too much of the talking. "If you can't go for your lovely instrumental break cleanly and nail it, then don't do it at all. If you can't do it, then all of a sudden you're throwing a big black mark on what could be a great song. I'm a competent joyful player." She adds that she plays Martins (HD-28, D1220, 0018), an Olson Cedar Top, and a Collings C10. "But best of all my playing is suited to my writing. I love it when people notice it. It's subtle stuff that's not right out there. I've gotten to be around people that are astonishing guitar players. Why should I try to put myself and my playing in front of them?"

In this day and age of image and marketing and sex appeal and focus groups, Cheryl is a complete and utter anomaly. She cares little about going to the hairdresser or the gym, and she doesn't spend much money on clothes. Rather she's a true and dedicated artist, focusing her time and attention on her songs, lyrics, melodies, and guitar playing. Ferociously independent, she hates being handled. Except in the studio, where she's smart enough to let the experts do their work.

"The longer I do this, the more I realize I'm into songs. I don't have ideas about producing. Not interested in it. I do chorus and bridge, and have opinions about what I like and don't like, but my investment is in the writing of the song and playing good sounds on my guitar. There are millions of buttons in the studio! Good god! I don't even wear shirts with buttons!"

V FOR VENDETTA. V4V has been busy indeed as of late. Their first full-length, Beneath This Mask, Another Mask, came out last February on Mr. Lady Records and it's been interesting ever since. First came a six-week national tour, some of it with Le Tigre which, according the girls, was fun-filled! Then came weekend shows, benefits, and other festivals through the summer, including a gig for the Hive Archive, a Providence community feminist arts collective. Then there was one to benefit breast cancer awareness organization called Tin Can Full of Dreams. And, of course, there was Ladyfest D.C. They will be playing Ladyfest Philly coming up next month. (See www.ladyfestphilly.org for the scoop on Ladyfests.)

This weekend, Cara and Michelle will be playing with Sleater-Kinney at Lupo's, which should be a fab show. Red-hot up-and-comers the Black Keys are also on the bill. Not only is V4V playing with drums consistently now, they'll also be incorporating samples and electronic elements in between and within the songs. This is kind of new for the duo, which is known for its angular guitar exercises and difficult time changes. Should make for a compelling performance. And new stuff is also on the set list. "We are finishing an arrangement of a Charles Mingus song and hope to perform it at Lupo's for the first time," Michelle says in an e-mail. "The new songs are still in the early stages, but so far they are tricky and rocky and geeky and deal with finding your voice in our society and in a government that doesn't represent you, the joy of growing up, the challenges of trying to be a good person, how fun it is to be queer, and of course, Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise. Oh! And we can't forget the Rush cover!" How could we forget the Rush cover? Head to www.vforvendettarocks.org for more input.

BEAN HERNDON FUNDRAISER, V. 6. The 6th Annual Fundraiser for James "Bean" Herndon Scholarship Fund takes place this Sunday at the Jovan's Multiplex on Portland Street in Providence. Talent includes Spiritually Sound, Twyce, Chops Turner, John Allmark, the Eastside Horns (with Mac Odom on lead vocals), and many, many more acts. There will be a ton of great music, all beginning at 6 p.m. and ending in the wee hours. The show could sell out, so get there early. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Call 421-8060 for details. For info about the scholarship itself, call Gloria at 467-8477 or Ralph at 454-5312.

WANDERING EYE. The Stagecoach Tavern in Chepachet presents a Valentine's Day Concert featuring the Greg Abate Quartet, including Abate on saxophones and flute, Greg Wardson on piano, Paul Del Nero on bass, and Artie Cabral on drums. The show is on Friday (the 14th) at 9 p.m. Admission is $8; for reservations, call 568-2275. Not a bad date for Valentine's Day. It might save the cost of some chocolates, too.

There's a seriously stomping metal show at Lupo's on Saturday (the 15th) that you might wanna check out to get your fill of double kick and throttling riffs. Armageddon Shop Presents Incantation and Pungent Stench from Austria, both of which don't come around that often. This is actually the first Pungent Stench tour of the States in like eight years. Rune and Beyond the Embrace also play. Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m. Entry is $15.

E-mail me your music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.

Issue Date: February 14 - 20, 2003