Goddess of the Blues: Cheryl Renée
Cincinnati native, world-traveled musician, and “Goddess of the Blues,” Cheryl Renée is the kind of gal you’d want to have in your band. Not only is she an incredible pianist and singer, but she’s humble, spunky, and self-sufficient. Cheryl has toured the world and continues to keep herself busy in Cincinnati’s music scene. But she doesn’t need the applause – she can often be seen shooing away the enthusiastic clapping and cheers after every set. No, there isn’t a need to remind her how good she is – she already knows. (But we’ll continue to be fan girls in the audience anyway).
I met Cheryl at the Hearth Room downtown for our interview – she had fashioned her teal hair, had silver rings on most fingers, and was enjoying a stirred vodka martini with a lemon twist. Between each question in the interview, she candidly elaborated on her reputable connections throughout the music industry and explained how past experiences helped shape a piece of her artistry. Every story of how one person led to another gig proved the power of her infectious charm while playing and the influence of community support in an industry that’s always changing.
Interview by Sophia Epitropoulos. Photography by Stacy Wegley.
How did you get started with music?
My mother played music, and I was always jealous of her – she sang, read music, and was always playing at the house. She never played outside the house. She had three kids and a professional career as a librarian, but there was always a piano at home.
My mom was my first exposure to the music scene. Once I got to a certain age, she’d take me to the clubs where we’d see jazz and blues performers. She had several boyfriends in the industry, and we’d go watch their gigs. One of my piano teachers growing up was in a band, and they were playing at some lodge – he saw me there and told me to come up and play, so I said, “Okay, here we go,” and I did. My mom came up to me afterward and told me that they were trying to get me to stop, but I kept on playing – I guess I missed their cues! But that was my first experience playing out.
What made you gravitate toward jazz?
Oh, it's not jazz at all. It's blues.
[Internal panic] What separates blues and jazz?
They’re close, but blues is easier. Jazz is hard.
Me playing blues: [rhythmically recites while pretending to play a piano] dunka dunka dunka dunka dunka dunka.
Me playing jazz: [harmonizes] ohh eweee wee wee ahh woahhh. Plus, you got to read that stuff. I can read dunka dunka dunka… I started out playing a lot of older traditional blues songs from artists like Etta James and John Lee Hooker.
Tell me about your most memorable performance.
Jeez, Louise. I got a lot of them. The first time I ever went out of town to play was in the Black side of Vegas. Out there, we (The Mad Dog Fire Department) got to meet Wilson Pickett and played with his keyboardist. We did a concert on a base in Vegas and got offered a job doing USO shows to entertain the troops – we took that gig and ended up traveling to Germany, Japan, Okinawa, Guam, and the Philippines. When we were in Japan, someone who owned a dance club saw us perform and asked if we’d come back to play for a month or two – we said yes. So once we were done with the USO tour, they flew us to Hawaii, we hung out there for a few weeks, and then they picked us up, and we played in Japan. It was a lot of fun. I had a Japanese boyfriend and stories out the wazoo.
Another time, I got a gig playing on a cruise for famous people. My sets were supposed to be five hours long, but I only had four hours’ worth of material. Then on the second day of the cruise, I lost my voice from drinking the ship's tap water. If I can’t sing, I can’t spit. All because I didn’t drink the fancy bottled water they offered me. I really croaked through that trip. It was a hard lesson to learn.
What group were you traveling with then, and how did you meet them?
The Mad Dog Fire Department. We were named after Mad Dog 2020 – MD 20/20 – and a fire department. This was back in the 70s. I don’t really remember how I met them [laughs], but I used to play with a guy named Kenny Smith, and he introduced me to the rest of the group.
What are the most rewarding parts of being a musician?
The camaraderie. Being in a group instead of being by myself, and at such a young age – I wouldn't have been able to handle that. My head would have exploded. My bandmates were always looking out for me and making sure I wasn’t being too wild.
I'm a solo artist now, so it can get lonely. I'm used to playing in bands, but I'm glad I retained the knowledge to play piano because then, if I'm all by myself, I can at least back myself up. But learning to be a solo artist took me a long time. I had a repertoire of like three songs, maybe, and I can't do a gig with that. So I had to learn and learn and learn.
Aside from that, travel. I’ve traveled with other folks who were not a part of that USO tour. I went back to Germany, went to Morocco by myself about five years ago, and last September, I went to Brazil for 10 days. I would have never seen any of these places if I hadn’t been playing music.
What’s a song that holds sentimental value to your career?
There’s a song I wrote called “Going Home to Get Some Strange.”
Tell me about your creative process. Do you create everything from scratch, or do you usually start with other people?
I'm always listening to other people, but I've also written my own songs. When I want to record, I have other people come along to play other parts, so I don't have to play all of them. I'll bring 'em in and say, "Okay, it goes like this, la la la la la la la," and then they'll get it and play the part. Nobody's really reading anything – nothing that I've written, at least – but you can do that with blues. You gotta trust the people you play with. If they question what they're listening to, you don't hire them.
What’s something you’re still learning to do?
I'm trying to be a writer. I'm trying really hard to be a writer, but I’m pretty slow.
Any fun projects you’ve been working on?
I’ve been working on a new CD for the last 10 years… 10 years! I put out three CDs, and I'm trying to put out my fourth one.
The place I used to record at shut down, and I had to save all my music on a hard drive – it’s been tough to get stuff transferred to a new studio. Thankfully, I have some friends who’ve been helping me out with that, along with helping me record new stuff. Other than that, I’m a slow writer. But once it’s done, I’ll be so relieved. I’m looking forward to pushing that baby out!
What kind of advice would you give to someone who is thinking about making music their full-time career?
Don’t do it [laughs]. It's very hard. If you do, get a day job so you can support yourself.
Outside of music, what kind of things fill your cup? Like, what other things are you interested in?
Food. I really like food. I like cooking. I like to try it all, and if I really like it, I'm going to learn how to make it. My latest focus is Chinese food. I know how to make an egg roll and a Rangoon, but that’s about it so far.
Who is an influential female artist?
Bonnie Raitt. She was the first woman I ever saw playing by herself on a TV program called the Midnight Special – she was up there playing her guitar and singing her tunes. She actually just won a Grammy.
How can we support you?
My website has my schedule on it. I mostly play alone, but I’m also in a group called Easy Tiger.
[Author's note: Immediately after this interview, Stacy (photographer) and I decided a night of the blues would be perfect for a Women of Cincy outing: both of us fell in love with this confident and fascinating woman! A group of us watched Cheryl work her magic at Arnold’s Bar and Grill, and it was everything I was hoping to experience. If you’re looking to broaden your musical horizon, “Blues is it!”.]
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