Craig Cherry -bio

In 1966, Craig Cherry started playing bass guitar in rock bands. He remembers eating lunch many times with Ron Albert at the North Miami High School cafeteria in Florida. Yes, that is the same Ron Albert, who went on to be a recording pioneer at Criteria Studios in Miami in the 70's. Craig's musical journey begins here and after this he was a professional musician for 20 years. His early bands were the opening acts in South Florida for some major touring headliners, such as The Chambers Brothers at the Hollywood Sportatorium and Brownsville Station at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
One of his best gigs was when he performed on a nationwide tour in 1972 as the bass player for Dion, the singer of such hits as "Abraham, Martin and John," and "The Wanderer". When he played in Philadelphia, with Dion, the opening act was Hall and Oats. In New York City, he played at The Bitter End and met and jammed with Stevie Goodman, the writer of "The City of New Orleans". At My Father's Place in Long Island, the late comedian Andy Kaufman, told Craig he was a big Dion fan, just before he went on stage to perform. The next day, Craig remembers Dion asking him to grab his bass and come with him to Electric Ladyland Studios to re-record "Abraham, Martin and John" with Eddie Kramer, the legendary engineer for Jimi Hendrix. It was disappointing that the song was cut from the session, but the studio time was a musician's dream. Craig also played bass guitar for Dion at an outdoor folk rock festival in Phoenix that included other major acts like Seals and Crofts.
Not all the stories are good, like the time he showed up a band's rehearsal and saw Rudy Sarzo, the heavy metal bass player, there as his replacement. Or the times he had to step into spots where Jaco Pastorius, the fretless bass guitar innovator, left a group and they needed a hot bass guitar. That would be tough for anyone, but Craig did it.

As a working musician, Craig Cherry played many types of music to keep working. The styles of music went from popular music to hard rock, to jazz fusion, to folk rock, to blues, to glam, to disco, to punk, to new wave, to metal, to alternative rock. He did many rock shows, recording sessions, and live FM radio broadcasts. Craig feels his career as a working bass player was great because he was musically compelling on the bass guitar, and he also understood that he was an entertainer as much as a musician. During all this time, Craig was writing songs and doing other creative projects. He finally retired from the road in 1986, and as they say, took a day job. He wanted to concentrate on studio work, writing and starting a family. He became a successful advertising sales manager for a trade publication for creative professionals.
Today, his creative talents still include playing the bass guitar, acoustic guitar, songwriting, poetry, music computer production in his home studio, and digital graphic art. He creates music as art and feels just like he did as a 16-year-old sitting in his bedroom playing the bass guitar for the first time.
After a difficult divorce, he used songwriting as a way to get himself through the hard times. He says, "it was like starting over and was really tough." Then suddenly, with a lifetime of experiences to draw upon, something magical happened. His song writing took a big leap forward. After looking through countless scribbled papers of his work, he pulled out his best ideas, then using real life past experiences, merged them with how he feels today to write great new songs. Craig believes that every song should have a purpose and be unique. He feels that one may be too old to be a pop star, but you are never too old to write songs or sing the blues. As long as Craig Cherry continues to pay his dues, he says, he will let the music inside him play on!