This is the fifth in our series of 2009 Red Carpet videos. These were filmed immediately prior to the IBMA Award Show.

This particular video features Doug McKelway interviewing Jens Koch and Cia Cherryholmes.

Do we have a new budding fashion icon in our midst? I wonder how many bluegrass fans recognize the popular picker and singer in these striking photos.

Give up? It’s Cia Cherryholmes with a look notably different from her work attire with the family business. Like many young women, Cia enjoys experimenting with fashion and make up, and says that she took these photos just for fun.

I’m sure that her many admirers who know her from her work with Cherryholmes will get a kick out of seeing this talented young lady in a different light. Here are a few others she sent along, along with one that may be more familiar.

When we posted not long ago that audio samples from the upcoming Cherryholmes CD were available online, we teased that an interview would be forthcoming. And so it has come to pass.

Cia, banjo player, lead vocalist, and the senior member of the young Cherryholmes sibs, talked with us about Cherryholmes III – Don’t Believe, and what the family band has on tap in the next little while.

“We feel it is our finest work to date, and we have been told it has something for everyone. Our approach to bluegrass has allowed us reach a wide spectrum of musical tastes and genres. We are now playing all over the world, not just around the country, and are introducing bluegrass music everywhere to enthusiastic audiences.”

I first met the Cherryholmes in 2002 at the IBMA convention, held then in Louisville, KY. Cia was 18 and the band unknown when they performed on an auxiliary stage as part of a family band showcase. In perhaps the most meteoric rise in bluegrass history, they found themselves a big hit on the festival circuit in no time, and were selected as the IBMA Entertainers of the Year in 2005.

Longtime bluegrass fans know well the long-established tradition of family bands in the history of our music, starting with Bill Monroe who performed with his brother Charlie for several years before launching his Blue Grass Boys. These brother teams continued with the Stanleys, Osbornes and McReynolds boys, while The Carter Family notched radio hits with a parents and children format.

The Lewis Family cemented forever the bluegrass family band template, with retiring family members being replaced with children, grandchildren and their spouses over four generations. Now, the sight of two parents with their bluegrass brood on stage is a common one, with dozens of such groups plying their trade. You’d be hard pressed not to see one at most every bluegrass festival in the the US and Canada.

The Cherryholmes got their start in 1999, and have been growing and maturing musically since that time, as each of the four sibs (Cia, B.J., Skip and Molly) have developed into professional players and entertainers over the course of 8 years of constant touring. Perhaps most notable about this family band is the fact that they refuse to be pigeon-holed as such, and aren’t afraid to ruffle feathers in the bluegrass world.

They write the overwhelming bulk of the material they record, both together and alone. As Cia tells it…

“We had been writing songs for the album all year, and as we got closer to actually starting the recording process, we began narrowing our selections down, picking what we felt to be the strongest. (more…)

Episode #42 is a follow up to the recent IBMA press conference announcing this year’s award nominees. John speaks with Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson and Cia Cherryholmes concerning the announcements. Following those clips is a full length interview with David Crow, the president of IBMA, about IBMA itself and this year’s World of Bluegrass and Awards Show.

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