When we ran our IBMA video interview with Cherryholmes in October, they mentioned that a country remix of one of the songs from their current CD would be in the offing early in ‘09.

And so it has come to pass…

Skaggs Family Records has released a new mix of This Is My Son today (1/20), which has already been distributed as a single to both country and military radio. The song is in the form of a prayer, offered by a parent asking for protection and a safe return of a son off to war.

The remix is available for download purchase in iTunes, and the full track can be heard on the band’s MySpace page. We also have an extended audio sample below.

Jere Cherryholmes, patriarch of this popular bluegrass brood, gave us some details on this new release…

 “This song has a great message, and it’s neat to get to play something that connects with a lot of parents who have children off serving in the military. We feel like it’s a gift to the military families, and are hoping to get to play more military shows. We feel that its important to show them our support.

The remix didn’t really change the feel of the original track; everything we did was non-intrusive. We added country style piano – very light, though – some subtle percussion, and brought in a Hammond B3 organ.

Ricky Skaggs and Sandy [Cherryholmes] did the remix in one day. I wasn’t able to be there.”

Listen now:      

Jere also mentioned that based on pre-release airplay, the single will appear on the Billboard country singles chart this week.

I asked the folks at Skaggs Family about the possibility of a music video, and Brad Fields responded with a no… but:

“A full budget video isn’t in the foreseeable  future. However, we are taking fan submitted photos of their loved ones in the military to possibly be used in a slide show that will be set to the single and posted on the Skaggs Family Records YouTube page.

Fans can help us get airplay by calling their local country  station and requesting the single. If they aren’t sure about what station to  contact they can visit radio-locator.com and bring up their local country radio stations.”

During that October ‘08 interview, Cherryholmes also talked about their upcoming string of dates performing their music with a symphony orchestra. Jere also shared a few thoughts about this new experience for the family.

“The first symphony show was a week ago this past Thursday. It really went great. When we did the first rehearsal, the orchestra had never heard our music before. We were set up on the front of the stage, with only one mic and all the instruments were on wireless remotes.

We put them through their paces! We did Nine Yards, Sumatra and a few others – the audience really loved it.

Playing in front of an 85 piece orchestra…  it was cool, and the show got a great review in the Portland paper.”

After an appearance this Friday (1/23) on The Grand Ole Opry, Cherryholmes heads off for a three-day visit to the UK with concerts in London and Glasgow. They follow that with some dates in Switzerland, and then a Caribbean cruise.

Tough duty…

You can keep up to date with the Cherryholmes tour schedule on their official web site.