Sherby
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Sherby. I triedgoogling the name and according tourbandictionary.com , it is either a) really cute, sweet doggie or b) something stupid or humiliating; follows a previously embarrassing act. Needless to say, neither definition really describes Sherby’s second album Starfish Lane . Well, maybe the doggie one wasn’t too far off.
Cheryl Childers, aka Sherby, is a classically trained pianist, originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the same Winston-Salem that brought us Ben Folds and John Tesh. She furthered her skills in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee and California State University in Northridge. Her travels are reflected in her music, incorporating elements of classic pop, America, and occasional forays into rock.
Sherby is the type of musician that the industry needs. She writes her own music. She formed her own label. Most impressively, she founded Likwid Joy, a nonprofit devoted to helping underprivileged children by using music as a way to change lives. This career route may never earn a Behind the Music special, but it should earn some well-deserved respect.
Starfish Lane , named for a small stretch of road off picturesque Highway 1, is a delightful half-hour collection of pop. Some comparable names that jump to mind are Jenny Lewis, Natalie Imbruglia, and John Mayer minus the Y chromosome. The album is about evenly split between up tempo songs and slow ballads. Personally, I didn’t find the slow numbers
particularly engaging. They are well crafted, but the emotion behind them didn’t pull me in the same way that an artist like Neko Case or Cat Power does. The best of the bunch, “Seesaw,” is worth a listen for you to decide for yourself.
The uppers on Starfish Lane were immediately uploaded into my iPod in preparation for a sunny day. “Blue” is the type of song you’ll feel comfortable with after the first listen. In “Superhero,” Sherby makes supercalifragilistic sound sexier than Julie Andrews. That’s no easy feat without the British accent. The highlight song has to be “Honey,” the opening track. Think of it as prozac taken sonically. Advice like “My friends say enjoy the ride, and my grandma says it’s going to be fine; While the suns out you might as well smile” is as good as that of any therapist and at a fraction of the cost. A classic California sunshine pop tune made for walking along a boardwalk.
Sherby’s Starfish Lane doesn’t break new ground. No grand experiment. It’s simply ageless singer-songwriter pop by a woman who knows how to create a solid song. For this I give Starfish Lane3 out of 4 stars.
Reviewed by Justin La Mort
