Cherry Lee Mewis

Cherry Lee Mewis

Cherry Lee Mewis is a blues and acoustic singer from Central Bedfordshire. She develops a roots and blues sound that combines classic elements with a more modern feel, and she performs as a solo artist with a band in live settings.

Background

She starts making music in Bedford from the age of 17 and spends her early years gigging in clubs and bars, building her voice, stage presence and performance style. Her musical interests begin earlier, from around the age of 9, and she grows up hearing a mix of styles at home, including Motown, retro soul, rock and roll, psychedelic rock, and the music of artists such as Jeff Buckley, Edith Piaf and Janis Joplin. She later becomes immersed in blues and jazz.

She leaves her village home in North Wales in 2008 and settles in Bedford, where she has already been active musically for several years.

Recordings and style

Her debut blues release, Little Girl Blue, introduces her to a wider audience and establishes her as part of the UK blues scene. Her second blues album, Southbound Train, appears in January 2010 and brings together upbeat blues numbers, slower rock-oriented songs and jazz-influenced shuffle. She describes her approach as focused on a raw, stripped-back sound and on putting strong emotion into the songs.

On Southbound Train, she works with Max Milligan on acoustic guitar, Nicky Slater on acoustic guitar and dobro, Robbie Mathews on bass and backing vocals, and Flow on drums, a group she calls her Blues Gems.

Live work

Mewis tours across the UK and Europe and appears at festivals including Tropea Blues Festival in Italy, Shetland Blues Festival, The Barbican International Jazz & Blues Festival and Cambridge Rock Festival. She also supports Walter Trout on tour. Her live performances are described as an important part of her work.