Work samples

  • Something Dull That Must Be Abandoned (Test Video)
    Something Dull That Must Be Abandoned (Test Video). 2:38 Experimental dance/movement video and collage work. I filmed and edited this in Baltimore, in September 2020. Reaching the age of 44 last year, and after decades of expressing myself through song, I realized I wanted to be a dancer. I have found that expressive movement is also a creative way to deal with lingering trauma from a violent car wreck. I was inspired to set up my projector, use a projected image of artwork I had created to accompany this song from my album, “Collage” (released 4/1/2020), and experiment with repetitive movement.
  • Portraits in song by ellen cherry || Promotional video
    This is an early performance of "Portraits in Song" at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore, MD, in March 2016.
  • "Pickett's Charge" by ellen cherry; crankie by Katherine Fahey
    Pickett's Charge is a song I wrote when I was thinking about both of these human endeavors: war and astronomy. The crankie was a commissioned shadow puppet piece created by Katherine Fahey. This video was filmed by Michael Patrick O'Leary.
  • Betty by ellen cherry
    I made this during a big snowstorm in Baltimore, January 2016. The music is from my "Portraits in Song" project and album and features a song about a frustrated home-manager, Betty.

About ellen

Baltimore City

Emmy-nominated ellen cherry (lowercase letters intentional!) is the performing moniker of Kristin Putchinski, an award winning song and story alchemist, musician and performer, based in Baltimore, MD. Mixing equal parts of pathos and humor throughout her songs, ellen cherry’s banter gives audiences a peek into a whimsical, curious mind. A recent project was a touring program (2016-2018) called Portraits in Song that… more

Recovering Eurydice--A Healing Story

I am currently creating a full-length performance piece, entitled "Recovering Eurydice," that explores and describes my (in-progress) recovery from a violent car wreck, through the lens of myth, music, storytelling, shadow play and movement.  In the original Greek myth, Eurydice abruptly descends into the Underworld after being bitten by a viper and must await rescue. I will reimagine her tale as one where Eurydice learns an essential truth: that she must rescue herself.  


There exists an aggressive and damaging narrative that traumatic experiences ought to be overcome and then forgotten.  In my experience, recovery is a chaotic, disjointed and extremely slow process. "Recovering Eurydice" is my disordered healing story and I am well enough to tell it now. I believe it will be valuable to others who may be taking their first tentative steps towards recovery. 


I have been a working musician and songwriter since 1998.  Over the years, I have expanded my practice from creating songs to developing large scale performance works that move my songs and stories into additional modes of expression, such as theater, puppetry, visual arts and movement.  In 2013, I was struck by a criminally intoxicated driver during a tour in Texas. I was physically and psychologically traumatized by this event. At the beginning of my recovery, I had no idea the amount of patience, forgiveness, grief, chaos, change, exuberant joy and cleansing anger that I would feel. My arts practice has been a vital part of my physical recovery and existential recovery from my diagnosis of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.) I have begun to see the event as folded into my creativity, as my creativity then fosters my healing in an amazing feedback loop.  I have created artifacts, including those in my Work Samples: songs, drawings, meditative movement, a podcast and even a ‘zine (a one-sheet, foldable, pocket-sized, DIY magazine)--a documentation my progress. 


Through the persona of Eurydice, I will describe my own Underworld and my passage through and out of it.  Greek mythology offers a structure for this project. There are five rivers in the Underworld, each representing phases of my recovery.  The rivers are: Phlegethon (guilt and shame), Styx (anger), Acheron (pain), Cocytus (sadness), Lethe (forgetting). They are told out of order: 


Chapter 2:  Tornado (Eurydice experiences a chaotic series of events, directly following her trauma)

Chapter 5:  Exit (Eurydice is in recovery and in the light of hope and learning, leaves the Underworld)

Chapter 1:  Oobleeyet (Eurydice is traumatized)

Chapter 4:  Shadow (Eurydice contemplates an early and unnatural exit)

Chapter 3:  Hamamatsu (Eurydice finds grace and gratitude in grief)


I believe that my area of expertise is to gather people into a sacred and empathic space for a period of time, where listening to music and stories is the focus of everyone’s attention.  I believe this is a radical act in today’s culture. I think it’s important to acknowledge that listening to and viewing live performance art is a way to reconnect us to experiences, emotions and are a naturally community-building event.  When we spend time together in rooms, hearing and telling stories, we become closer. (I’ve also explicitly said to audiences: “You aren’t shopping or engaging with your phone right now. This is a radical act because we are actively maintaining your autonomy over your own attention.”)  


My next steps will be to find focused time to structure the narrative, continue to write songs centered around the project, and to find a director. I believe that my public performances will play out the aforementioned “feedback loop,” albeit one between myself and the audience.  Performing will be healing for me to remember and replay through my recovery; it will be healing for members of the audience who may resonate with the story I am telling. "Recovering Eurydice" is an expression of my in-progress recovery and is important to me--every day that I continue it, I am rescuing myself.

  • Something Dull That Must Be Abandoned (Test Video)
    Something Dull That Must Be Abandoned (Test Video). 2:38 Experimental dance/movement video and collage work. I filmed and edited this in Baltimore, in September 2020. Reaching the age of 44 last year, and after decades of expressing myself through song, I realized I wanted to be a dancer. I have found that expressive movement is also a creative way to deal with lingering trauma from a violent car wreck. I was inspired to set up my projector, use a projected image of artwork I had created to accompany this song from my album, “Collage” (released 4/1/2020), and experiment with repetitive movement.
  • January 1-7
    www.ellencherry.bandcamp.com/subscribe Thank you to my Executive Producers (subscribers) who support this ongoing work. After 23+ years of making my living as a performer, it's time to contemplate what's next. The pandemic brought to the surface a feeling I've long had that performing live is amazing, but the work (ever constant hustle) that is required to bring live performances (even streaming ones, now) holds no appeal for me. I want to transform my relationship with creativity and bring it to the forefront, not just something that I do at the end of the list or "when I have time." On the first day of 2021, I made a promise to myself to document myself every day, specifically to make a piece of visual art of how I am "seeing" things that day. To increase my skill level, I wanted to combine this with digital collage making, animation, and sounds. This would mean every day I could photograph, draw, record music pieces, and edit video.
  • December 10 2020
    Animation experiment. "Eurydice's" voice as she first experiences a Hell that look suspiciously like regular life.
  • Hamamatsu
    Hamamatsu
    Meditative drawing created during my recovery process.
  • Tornado
    Tornado
    Meditative drawing created during my recovery process.
  • Recovering Eurydice--A Healing Story (Podcast June 17, 2019).mp3
    An audio files of my podcast, including live performances and rehearsals of new songs. A documentation of my process during the project’s creation.
  • Recovering Eurydice--A Healing Story (Podcast #2 July-1-2019).mp3
    An audio file of my podcast, including live performances and rehearsals of new songs. A documentation of my process during the project’s creation.
  • Recovering Eurydice Zine (photograph)
    Recovering Eurydice Zine (photograph)
    A photograph depicting the pocket-sized, ‘zine (DIY magazine) artifact depicting chapters from the narrative.
  • Lyrics_Words for ellen cherry + Recovering Eurydice Rubys 2019.pdf
    Lyrics from the songs already composed for Recovering Eurydice, including lyrical poem as intro to performance, titled “Eurydice’s Welcome.”
  • RE-zine1.pdf
    A printable .pdf version of an early version of the "Recovering Eurydice" ‘zine. (DIY magazine)

Portraits in Song

Portraits in Song is:

"..a glimpse into a vast emotional galaxy"  ---Amanda Gunther, TheaterBloom review of live performance, March 2017

A live performance piece
11 original songs
11 magnificent projected portraits of women, woven together with personal stories, songs, and two quilts

A celebration
A dance between melody and lyric and pencil and paper
A rich and pleasurable experience
A space for people to join together in love.

I’m ellen cherry and I’m a song and story alchemist. I created a performance piece for you that springs directly from my love of storytelling and my passion for history. The purpose of this project is to turn our gaze away from imposed beauty standards and instead see women as powerful thinkers and doers.

**Liz Downing is the artist who created the portraits currently in this project.  Her website is:  www.lizdowningart.com

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

Portraits in Song features the live performance of eleven original songs inspired by the stories of powerful women in history. The musical performance is accompanied by large scale projections of commissioned portraits by the artist Liz Downing.  It is intended to be a house concert and salon piece to prompt questions and emotions to increase empathy and connection between all peoples.

I’m ellen cherry. I am a musician, composer, and performer. I have created a performance piece that springs from my love of storytelling and my passion for history. The purpose of the project is to shift our attention away from imposed detrimental beauty standards and instead see women as powerful thinkers and doers.

I want to celebrate women’s stories and highlight the value of their work.

These stories guide us, inform us, educate and embolden all people. An incredible ripple effect will occur when women all over the world are allowed to flourish, and their work given its proper value. We can help to turn women’s ambitions and aspirations into actions that will affect incredible positive environmental and social change.

NOTE:  I toured this project from 2016-2019.  Elements of the performance remain in my live performances.
  • ellen_cherry_Portaits_In_Song
    ellen_cherry_Portaits_In_Song
    A still from my performance piece, "Portraits in Song" at the Strand Theater, March 2017.
  • ellen cherry
    ellen cherry
    This is my psyche portrait by Liz Downing.
  • Gynaika
    Gynaika
    Futurewoman
  • Portraits in song by ellen cherry || Promotional video
    This is an early performance of "Portraits in Song" at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore, MD, in March 2016.
  • Betty by ellen cherry
    I made this during a big snowstorm in Baltimore, January 2016. The music is from my "Portraits in Song" project and album and features a song about a frustrated home-manager, Betty.
  • My Mothers Quilt
    My Mothers Quilt
    During the play, I display a quilt my mother made for me. This year, I will make a quilt to match it.
  • Portraits in Song set
    Portraits in Song set
    A still from my performance piece, "Portraits in Song" at the Strand Theater, March 2017
  • Sarah
    Sarah
    A Civil War bride
  • PIS_ec_Jezebel.JPG
    PIS_ec_Jezebel.JPG
    A still from my performance piece, "Portraits in Song" at the Strand Theater, March 2017
  • Florence
    Florence
    Saving herself and her children from starvation.

"Listen In with ellen cherry" SEASONS ONE and TWO

"Listen In with ellen cherry" is a once monthly, live, web-streaming short form broadcast featuring the music and arts scene in Baltimore and hosted by Emmy nominated, Baltimore-based singer, songwriter and producer, ellen cherry.

From the website:

"I created an album of songs in 2012 requesting that my parents not sell my childhood piano, titled, strangely enough "Please Don't Sell the Piano" (I do like to be polite.)

Well...they shipped me the piano! Too big to take on tour, I decided it would be great to do a live, streaming show from the room where the piano lives....featuring an interview and performance with some of my hard working and incredibly talented musician, artist, and performer friends.

Tune into www.ellencherry.tv
ALL EPISODES NOW AVAILABLE AT www.ellencherry.com

Every month, 30-40 minutes of your time (well spent!)"

SEASON TWO:

January 12 @ 2PM--BRYAN YOUNG (of the Poulenc Trio)
www.poulenctrio.org

February 23 @ 2PM--Cris Jacobs
www.crisjacobs.com

March 9 @ 2PM-Ruut DeMeo
www.ruutmusic.com

May 11 @ 2PM-Super City

June --Brooks Long

July -- Peter Minkler (violist of the BSO)

AUGUST -- The 5th L returns!!

September -- The Mole Suit Choir

October -- June Star returns!!

November -- Talking Points

The performance is free to you, all you have to do is listen in.
  • Listen In with ellen cherry featuring Super City
  • TImothy Bracken performing on "Listen In with ellen cherry"  July 2013
    TImothy Bracken performing on "Listen In with ellen cherry" July 2013
  • We're About 9 performing on "Listen In with ellen cherry", August 2013
    We're About 9 performing on "Listen In with ellen cherry", August 2013
  • Ben Keely Frock performing on Listen In with ellen cherry
    Ben Keely Frock performing on Listen In with ellen cherry
  • The 5th L performing on "Listen In with ellen cherry" in April 2013
    The 5th L performing on "Listen In with ellen cherry" in April 2013
  • Listen In with ellen cherry featuring The Mole Suit Choir
  • Listen In with ellen cherry featuring Baker Artist Award winner Peter Minkler
  • Listen In with ellen cherry featuring Mike Beresh
    complete broadcast from my once monthly, short form webcast/interview/performance show featuring Baltimore area musicians and artists, called "Listen In with ellen cherry", featuring Mike Beresh.
  • Trailer for Season One of "Listen In with ellen cherry"
    video snippets from my once monthly, short form webcast/interview/performance show featuring Baltimore area musicians and artists, called "Listen In with ellen cherry"
  • Listen In with ellen cherry featuring The 5th L

"Pickett's Charge" (continuous shot, short film of hand-cranked shadow puppet show)

Pickett's Charge occurred on July 3, 1863, on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War and was considered the high water mark for the Confederacy, from which they never fully recovered. Over 50% of the men that went into this battle died--a huge casualty amount and great psychological cost, as well. On March 19, 2010, the 7th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, I was thinking about the complicated motives of why people war, the consequences of military action, both intended and unintended, and the horrible after-effects that alway follow any conflicts. Around the same time, there was a news report about a supernova star's light that was finally reaching Earth, after exploding several million years ago, and I was fascinated by the dichotomy in these two ideas and that, as a species, plenty of our thinking tends towards the painfully small-minded. (I am not excluding myself from this thinking!) All of these thoughts contributed to the writing of this song and recording it for my 2012 EP "Please Don't Sell the Piano".

I asked Katherine Fahey to create a "crankie" shadow puppet piece to accompany "Pickett's Charge". Kathy is an amazing and accomplished paper-cut artist, who has recently made incredible strides into the shadow puppet theatre world, especially through her crankies, (a hand cranked scrolling story telling device in a box). You can find more about Katherine and her incredible work at www.katherinefahey.com

I hope you'll enjoy seeing Katherine's visual interpretation of my song which was filmed by Michael Patrick O'Leary (www.michaelpatrickoleary.com) in high definition for you, here. This is truly "handmade" music and visual and performance art. Please spread the word about this video and pass the link and always, continue to support independent musicians and artists so they can continue to create! Thank you for listening and watching! Thank you to all the Indiegogo supporters who made this possible!

SPECIAL NOTE! As part of my residency in the Strathmore Artist-in-Residence program, I was asked to premiere a new work that had not been performed before. As a special treat, Katherine and I premiered "Pickett's Charge", both the crankie and the song, as part of my final performance of my residency and it occurred on February 22, 2012, at the Strathmore Mansion. Special thanks to Strathmore for encouraging collaboration and for giving us the space and time for this unique presentation.

Video Credits:
Song: "Pickett's Charge" from "Please Don't Sell the Piano"
Songwriter/Performer: ellen cherry
Puppet Show: Katherine Fahey
Director of Photography: Michael Patrick O'Leary
Sound: Nick Sjostrom
Crank Box Construction: Neal Golden
Lights: Shaun Wilson and Neal Golden
Editing: Matt Riggieri
  • still image of crankie paper cut
    still image of crankie paper cut
    Created by Katherine Fahey, commissioned for "Pickett's Charge" crankie for ellen cherry's song of the same name.
  • Paper cut artist Katherine Fahey and puppeteer and songwriter, ellen cherry
    Paper cut artist Katherine Fahey and puppeteer and songwriter, ellen cherry
  • test run of crankie
  • Still image of production of paper cut for Pickett's Charge
    Still image of production of paper cut for Pickett's Charge
    by Katherine Fahey.
  • illustration of Please Don't Sell the Piano papercut by Katherine Fahey
    illustration of Please Don't Sell the Piano papercut by Katherine Fahey
  • Still of "Pickett's Charge" film day
    Still of "Pickett's Charge" film day
    director Michael Patrick O'Leary adjusts the lights
  • ellen cherry and Katherine Fahey developing "Pickett's Charge"
    ellen cherry and Katherine Fahey developing "Pickett's Charge"
    paper cut by Katherine Fahey
  • Still of Pickett's Charge
    Still of Pickett's Charge
    photo by Neal Golden
  • Pickett's Charge, song by ellen cherry, crankie by Katherine Fahey
    Pickett's Charge occurred on July 3, 1863, on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War and was considered the high water mark for the Confederacy, from which they never fully recovered. Over 50% of the men that went into this battle died--a huge casualty amount and great psychological cost, as well. On March 19, 2010, the 7th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, I was thinking about the complicated motives of why people war, the consequences of military action, both intended and unintended, and the horrible after-effects that alway follow any conflicts. Around the same time, there was a news report about a supernova star's light that was finally reaching Earth, after exploding several million years ago, and I was fascinated by the dichotomy in these two ideas and that, as a species, plenty of our thinking tends towards the painfully small-minded.

Mobtown Moon (ALBUM/RECORDING)--Classic Pink Floyd, Re-imagined in Baltimore!

Unlike typical Pink Floyd “cover” acts that sound like the original, Mobtown Moon is a new
interpretation with compelling flavors of jazz, rock, bluegrass, gospel, classical, and even hip-hop. An ambitious project that took three years to plan and produce, Mobtown Moon is the brainchild of pianist/vocalist and former CityPaper columnist Sandy Asirvatham with her co-producer, the award-winning singer-songwriter ellen cherry.

The studio CD Mobtown Moon involved 40 local artists and was released in May 2013 to wide acclaim. CityPaper hailed it as “wildly eclectic yet consistently absorbing,” and Baltimore Magazine honored with a “Best of Baltimore” award. Following a series of sneak-peek performances in 2012 and early 2013, the September 28 event was the first time the album will be performed in its entirety. New versions of hits like “Money” and “Us and Them” will delight longtime Floyd fans and attract new listeners. The project highlights the beautiful melodies and lyrics of these well-crafted songs.

ellen cherry acted as Art Director for the cover of the album and commissioned the cover art from Baltimore area painter, Sylvia Ortiz. The album design was directed by ellen cherry and completed by local graphic artist, Scott Dennison. cherry's intention was to use as many Baltimore area artists as possible for the entire scope of the project to bring Baltimore's talents to the world, using the Pink Floyd fan base as a platform, while illustrating a high respect for the source material.

The CD was funded by a grant and donations, and recorded in dozens of sessions between July and December 2012. Together, we recruited over 30 musicians to participate in the recording. We had a couple of simultaneous missions:

1) to honor this influential and inspiring classic rock album
2) to bring together rock, jazz, classical, and other styles of music and diverse performers from across many different Baltimore "scenes"
3) to let the whole world know about the incredible creativity and talent contained here in Charm City's music and arts scene
4) to create a recording that harks back to the days of fully realized "concept albums" that flowed beautifully from beginning to end, and that were meant to be really LISTENED TO, not just used as background music
5) to pair our new arrangements (primarily conceived/created by Sandy, except for "On The Run", which I arranged) with beautiful theatrical elements such as shadow puppetry and film (to be primarily conceived/created by ellen)
6) to develop a template and learn/establish best practices that we and other musicians can use to handle the creative, collaborative, financial, and marketing aspects of this type of ambitious project

Our CD, Mobtown Moon, was released on April 2013 and we held our world premiere performance at the Kraushaar on September 28, 2013 to an audience of 750 people.
  • Brain Damage
    from the Mobtown Moon full album, featured vocalists: activist and singer, Lea Gilmore. Arranged by Sandy Asirvatham.
  • Any Colour You Like
    from the Mobtown Moon full album. Arranged by Sandy Asirvatham.
  • Dream/Counterfeit
    An original lyric-composition by The 5th L, commissioned by co-producers Sandy Asirvatham and ellen cherry and from the Mobtown Moon full album, featured vocalists: Femi the Dri Fish and David Ross.
  • The cast of the Mobtown Moon recording
    The cast of the Mobtown Moon recording
  • Money
    from the Mobtown Moon full album, featured vocalists: Cris Jacobs. Arranged by Sandy Asirvatham, Cris Jacobs, Mike Gambone, Jake Leckie.
  • Us and Them
    from the Mobtown Moon full album, featured vocalists: ellen cherry. Arranged by Sandy Asirvatham.
  • Mobtown Moon preview show, Creative Alliance September 2012
    Mobtown Moon preview show, Creative Alliance September 2012
    to raise funds and awareness, co-producers Sandy Asirvatham and ellen cherry produced a "preview" show in September 2012 at the Creative Alliance. The show featured a smaller cast from the recording to showcase the new arrangements.
  • On the Run
    from the Mobtown Moon full album, featured vocalists: Sandy Asirvatham and ellen cherry. Arranged by ellen cherry and using "found sounds" from the City of Baltimore.
  • Breathe
    from the Mobtown Moon full album, featured vocalists: Sandy Asirvatham and ellen cherry. Arranged by Sandy Asirvatham.
  • Mobtown Moon, cover art
    Mobtown Moon, cover art
    ellen cherry served as the "visual alchemist" for the Mobtown Moon project and art-directed the cover of the album, working with painter Sylvia Ortiz to create this "new interpretation" of Storm Thorgerson's iconic Dark Side of the Moon album art.

"Please Don't Sell the Piano", a five song EP of intimate songs, (produced by Caleb Stine)

In 15 years of writing, recording and independently producing my own music, I have yet to work with an outside producer. Caleb Stine, a local songwriter in Baltimore and a close personal friend noticed that I was writing more intimate, personal, storytelling songs on piano, over the last year and asked to help produce a collection of songs with me that focus specifically on the craft of great songwriting. We began working on this project as the songs showed up, late in 2009 and early 2010, but took a break for the summer gigging season. We decided to use this Winter--typically not a busy time for traveling songwriters--to really dig into what makes a great song: listening to some of the masters (Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Tom Waits, etc.), reading about songwriting and writing prose, poetry and diary entries. Caleb's influence has been to keep me disciplined about writing every day, even if it is not song lyrics. We are also studying and pulling ourselves through the arduous process of crafting each single line in a song--searching for the most descriptive line or rhyme and really looking for the best way to convey meaning to the listener. This is my most personal work yet and I'm both excited and afraid to be presenting it to the public. Next week, we will begin recording the songs that are closest to completion. We are recording with master recordist and engineer, Nick Sjostrom, who helped me record 2010's "(New) Years."

The second facet of this project is the piano. I have been primarily a guitarist for the last 15 years, returning to the piano for a song or two on each album. These songs have appeared to me as piano songs and I'm excited to improve my technique and skill on the piano through careful practice and learning other people's songs. Already, in a few short weeks of rehearsal, I can feel my body growing stronger. My willingness to experiment on the piano and my curiosity about how chords work and flow together, has also grown by leaps and bounds. It is again a revelation that I will never stop learning!

This EP will be ready to present to audiences in March 2012 and that it will help to inspire, comfort and move people who hear it, the way I have been moved by so many great compositions in the past.

I am collaborating with Katherine Fahey (www.2hawks2fishes.com) on both a special edition cd that will have papercut and interactivity, as well as a "crankie" shadow puppet piece based on one of the songs "Pickett's Charge."
  • The Day Before We Met by ellen cherry
    Live performance of "The Day Before We Met" at An Die Musik, April 2012.
  • Piano papercut by Katherine Fahey
    Piano papercut by Katherine Fahey
    included in album artwork.
  • photo by Rich Riggins
    photo by Rich Riggins
  • SacBe
    Sac be Written in Mexico Feb. 2008 Even the blue water turns black When the sun falls into the past. Even my watery heart makes a fist When the sun dogs call and a ghost has me right by the wrist. Here is a list of all that I need: A Mayan road that shines in the heat, Some dust from an asteroid belt just to hold, And the promise my voice won’t grow old. My life is a small one. I have just begun To read the stories And to learn all my lines. Everything’s allright Yes, everything’s fine. My life is a small one. I have just begun To read the stories To learn all my lines. Everything’s allright Yes, everything’s fine. Everything’s allright Everything’s fine. But I’m the fool because I think I’ve got time. The sun dogs call; the dark water goes red The ghost, she swims where bad dreams have bled. With all that I’ve thought and I’ve bought and I’ve owned Is it enough to have learned to let go?
  • Please Don't Sell the Piano
  • Pickett's Charge studio recording from "Please Don't Sell the Piano"
  • Pickett's Charge, song by ellen cherry, crankie by Katherine Fahey
    Pickett's Charge occurred on July 3, 1863, on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War and was considered the high water mark for the Confederacy, from which they never fully recovered. Over 50% of the men that went into this battle died--a huge casualty amount and great psychological cost, as well. On March 19, 2010, the 7th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, I was thinking about the complicated motives of why people war, the consequences of military action, both intended and unintended, and the horrible after-effects that alway follow any conflicts. Around the same time, there was a news report about a supernova star's light that was finally reaching Earth, after exploding several million years ago, and I was fascinated by the dichotomy in these two ideas and that, as a species, plenty of our thinking tends towards the painfully small-minded.
  • ellen cherry at the piano
    ellen cherry at the piano
    Photo by Michael Patrick O'Leary
  • Please Don't Sell the Piano
    Please Don't Sell the Piano
    Songs by ellen cherry. Album produced by Caleb Stine and recorded by Nick Sjostrom. Cover art is a paper-cut created by Katherine Fahey. Type design is by Scott Dennison.
  • Please Don't Sell the Piano

ellen cherry and Nana Projects: "Alzonzo's Lullaby", "Eureka!" and "Opal Whitely"

My first project with Nana Projects was the score for a shadow puppet piece entitled "Alonzo's Lullaby", which was about a circus train wreck that occurred south of Chicago in 1918. My co-composer and performer on this show is Nicholas Sjostrom. The show was awarded the highest national Puppetry Award, the USA-UNIMA Citation of Excellence in 2010.

Nana Projects has asked me to create another or their shadow puppet pieces, "Eureka!" (inspired by Edgar Allan Poe.) We debuted this piece at the 2011 New Orleans Fringe Festival, and the official world premiere was in January 2012 at Joe's Emporium in Washington, DC.

I reunite with Nana Projects in 2013 to compose the score for our next piece "Opal" which will be about the diary and life of Opal Whitely.
  • img_1388.JPG
    img_1388.JPG
  • img_1383.JPG
    img_1383.JPG
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    dsc_1797.jpg
  • dsc_1796.jpg
    dsc_1796.jpg
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    dsc_1791-2.jpg
  • Alonzo's Lullaby
  • ellen cherry and Nick Sjostrom perform "Gus and Lola" from "Alonzo's Lullaby" with Nana Projects
  • Alonzo's Lullaby by Nana Projects
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    img_3511.JPG

(New) Years

In 2005, I recorded an EP project of 6 songs called "Years" that was heavily inspired by Women's History. I casually explored a few women's stories, taking facts and details and embellishing them into a sort of fictional-truth mish mash. The songs were a result of my participation in February Album Writing Month (www.fawm.org), an online gathering where songwriters meet every year to attempt to write 14 songs in 28 days. The pressure pushed me to source something very dear to my heart: History. For example, "1933: To California" was inspired by Dorothea Lange's iconic photograph "Migrant Mother" that documented Florence Thompson's struggle to survive. "1912: Violet Swims but the Ship Sinks" takes its title from Violet Jessup's survival of the Titanic sinking, but is also about the musicians who drowned with the ship. "1864: A Civil War Bride" is the sad, but hopeful imaginary conversation of a woman with her husband, who has felt the call of patriotic duty.

Fast forward to 2009; the songs, now 4 years old have blossomed and changed in structure and sound and so I wanted to re-visit many of them in another recording. I also had new songs that needed to be presented in recorded form, so I added another 6 songs and I made the full length "(New) Years". I released this project in February 2010 and have had a great year of touring and playing the songs from the album. I have decided to re-press this disc, but with different artwork and am currently working with a photographer to capture a picture that really represents the music that I am presenting.
  • ellen_cherry_newyears_coverlores
    ellen_cherry_newyears_coverlores
  • 011864acivilwarbride
  • 031912violetswimbuttheshipsin
  • 041933tocalifornia1
  • 081998thethingsilongforand1
  • 1933--To California.mov
  • 1864--A_Civil_War_Bride.mov
  • 1976: Buffalo Gals Don't Worry About Fashion
  • 1950: Inside the Music Box
    Live performance of the song "1950: Inside the Music Box" at An Die Musik, April 2012.
  • ellen_cherry_ny2011_cover.jpg
    ellen_cherry_ny2011_cover.jpg

Mobtown Moon: Classic Pink Floyd, Re-Imagined in Baltimore--LIVE PERFORMANCE SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Mobtown Moon is a new interpretation of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon in honor of it's upcoming 40th anniversary. Our genre-defying version of this classic album highlights the lyrical and melodic beauty of the original, by taking the songs out of their stadium-rock context and reconsidering them from a grown-up, singer-focused perspective.

Co produced by myself and my friend and musician, Sandy Asirvatham. Our first "deliverables" are a full-length CD, that was released in spring 2013 and a world premiere performance at the Kraushaar (Goucher auditorium) on September 28, 2013.

Sandy has served as chief arranger of 10 of the eleven tracks and I took on arranging the instrumental "On The Run" (re-imagining it with banjo instead of the famous arpeggiator.)

As Art Director for this project, at our live performance this fall, I determined the look and feel and Sandy created expansions/elaborations of our music in order to create a full-length show with intermission. (Our studio album itself is only 49 minutes long.) The project was created in part to highlight the eclectic music and arts scene in Baltimore by giving the stage over to 50+ Baltimore area musicians (Sandy and I also performed), ranging in genres from hip-hop to jazz, bluegrass to opera. Our band consisted of 24 musicians and we additionally welcomed 27 members of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. We promoted the performance for 10 months, garnering an audience of 750 people.

In 2014, I and Sandy will continue to push Mobtown Moon to other audiences in other cities and have plans to book a smaller version of the show (only 20 musicians) in Philadelphia, Washington DC and Rockville.

In 2015, we will produce a second Baltimore area show to welcome back fans from the first performance and gain an even wider audience for both the album and a rotating roster of Baltimore's finest and hardest working musicians!

More information is contained in this press release that we issued NATIONALLY at the end of 2012:

Baltimore Musicians Take on Pink Floyd:
Cross Genre Artists Revisit Dark Side of the Moon on Album’s 40th Anniversary

Baltimore musicians are reimagining classic Pink Floyd with an ambitious project called Mobtown Moon. This immense collaboration enlists more than thirty Baltimore musicians from different genres to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of the Dark Side of the Moon with a recording and concerts.

Unlike a typical note-for-note replay of the original album, Mobtown Moon features fresh new arrangements, infusing these classic rock songs with elements of jazz, hip-hop, choral music, and other styles. It pulls the material out of a stadium-rock context to focus on its compelling lyrics and beautiful melodies. Longtime Floyd fans and new listeners alike will hear much that intrigues and pleases.

Mobtown Moon is the brainchild of pianist/vocalist and former CityPaper columnist Sandy Asirvatham, and is being co-produced by award-winning singer-songwriter ellen cherry.

Asirvatham’s original music and trenchant arrangements are known for exploring dark emotional themes with a light touch. Emmy-nominated cherry has built a national folllowing with unique indie-pop songs often inspired by historical events. Their memorable duet on “Breathe” includes jazz rhythms, electric guitar licks, and wispy accordion fills, illustrating the eclectic approach of the whole project. cherry says that Baltimore “has a unique petri dish quality that naturally allows cross-collaboration.”

The co-creators publicly introduced the project at a spring 2012 fundraiser in an apt setting: a downtown Baltimore rowhouse. Additional preview concerts drew heavy audiences. A six-week crowdfunding campaign at IndieGoGo raised nearly $6,000 before a local foundation gifted a significant grant. The project still offers opportunities for major donors to “claim a track” as a special executive producer (until December 10) or receive other VIP benefits.

The album Mobtown Moon will be released digitally in March. Physical copies go on sale in April. In September 28, 2013, the full album will be performed at Kraushaar Auditiorium, a popular cultural destination on the campus of Goucher College in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Participating artists span the diversity of Baltimore’s incredibly rich music scene. Featured artists include jam-band guitarist/vocalist Cris Jacobs, gospel singer Lea Gilmore, folk-rock trio We’re About 9, rap duo The 5th L, and jazz heavyweights Russell Kirk (alto sax) and Todd Marcus (bass clarinet).The city’s classical tradition is represented by Baltimore Choral Arts Society (venerated conductor Tom Hall), Poulenc Trio bassoonist Bryan Young, and Morgan State University’s opera director Vincent Dion Stringer.

Mobtown Moon has partnered with several Baltimore nonprofits, including Hearing and Speech Agency of Baltimore (HASA). HASA and Mobtown Moon asked local citizens to record interesting sounds from city streets and neighborhoods. The resulting “found sounds” are being layered into the recording as another genuine Baltimore stamp on the project.
  • "Money"
    Andrew Grimm (of June Star) takes the lead at the Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
  • "Time"
    Brian Simms (of Speakers of the House) takes the lead at the Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
  • Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
    Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
    Patrick Harnett's video visual is viewable in the background.
  • "Brain Damage"
    Jonathan Gilmore takes the lead at the Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
  • Us and Them
    ellen cherry takes the lead vocal on "Us and Them" at the Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
  • The 5th L perform "Dream/Counterfeit"
    The 5th L perform "Dream/Counterfeit"
    Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
  • "Breathe"
    Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013 at Kraushaar Auditorium
  • ellen cherry on stage Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013
    ellen cherry on stage Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013
    ellen cherry performs "Wish You Were Here" on stage at the Mobtown Moon performance.
  • Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013
    Mobtown Moon premiere performance September 28, 2013
    Mobtown Moon musicians (24) with 27 members of the Choral Arts Society
  • Mobtown Moon || Baltimore re-imagines The Dark Side of the Moon

Short Films and Video work

"The Holey Land: An Allegory" (2016)

Fertile land, abundant shellfish and proximity to waterways afforded good living to native peoples, and later to early settlers and prospectors along the southeast coastline of present day Baltimore. On 'fair meadows' near the Patapsco River and Curtis Bay, in an area now known as Baybrook, orchards and farms, canneries and company towns sprang up, and with them, vibrant, tight-knit communities. The pastoral isolation of the sparsely populated peninsula drew Sunday visitors from Baltimore, and later - quarantine hospitals, fertilizer factories, oil refineries, power plants and brown fields. This story is inspired by "An Environmental History of Fairfield/Wagner Point" and Free Your Voice's current campaign to stop the building of the nation's largest incinerator in Curtis Bay.

I have composed the score for “The Holey Land: A Fable” -- a “crankie” (hand-cranked shadow puppet piece) created by visual artist, Valeska Populoh, that addresses the environmental damages inflicted by industry upon a vulnerable landscape and community called Curtis Bay, located in Baltimore, MD.

I am creating a short film that features the crankie and my original score, supported by funds from a Rubys Grant and the Puffin Foundation. This film will be screened in the Spring 2016.

"Pickett's Charge" (2012)

In 2012, I commisioned Katherine Fahey to create a "crankie" shadow puppet piece to accompany "Pickett's Charge". Kathy is an amazing and accomplished paper-cut artist, who has recently made incredible strides into the shadow puppet theatre world, especially through her crankies, (a hand cranked scrolling story telling device in a box). You can find more about Katherine and her incredible work at www.katherinefahey.com I hope you'll enjoy seeing Katherine's visual interpretation of my song which was filmed by Michael Patrick O'Leary (www.michaelpatrickoleary.com) and produced by ellen cherry. This is truly "handmade" music and visual and performance art.

"Whipoorwill Lodge" (2014)

Paul Loyd (he's Just This Guy) ran a song contest a few years back and the rules were to write a song about a family vacation that contained these words: family, vacation, travel, relax, and souvenir. Extra points were awarded if the word "monkey" made it in there somehow. I have distinct memories of this particular vacation with my family and I hope that it provides you with a little peek into a wonderful time in the past. I created a video to accompany the song

"Since You Left Me" by Naked Blue (2014)

A pop song written by acoustic duo Naked Blue. I created this "titles only" video for the song. My first creation on Adobe premiere.

"Please Don't Sell the Piano" (2012)

A video I created about the move my piano made from Texas to Maryland. The song was inspired by this piano and is featured on my 2012 album of the same name

"Can't Count" (2009)

My very first "titles only" video for my song "Can't Count" from my 2008 album, "Heart Like a Lion."

"Passing Season [Isolated Vocals]" (2013)

Song by ellen cherry and Naked Blue. Filmed by Naked Blue and ellen cherry, titles by ellen cherry.
  • The Holey Land:  A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    The Holey Land: A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    image from crankie, created by Valeska Populoh
  • The Holey Land:  A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    The Holey Land: A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    image from crankie, created by Valeska Populoh
  • The Holey Land:  A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    The Holey Land: A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    image from crankie, created by Valeska Populoh
  • Passing Season (isolated vocals)
  • Can't Count
  • SinceYouLeftMe#7
  • Please Don't Sell the Piano
  • Whippoorwill Lodge by ellen cherry
  • The Holey Land:  A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    The Holey Land: A Fable (crankie by Valeska Populoh, score by ellen cherry)
    image from crankie, created by Valeska Populoh
  • Pickett's Charge, song by ellen cherry, crankie by Katherine Fahey
    Pickett's Charge occurred on July 3, 1863, on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War and was considered the high water mark for the Confederacy, from which they never fully recovered. Over 50% of the men that went into this battle died--a huge casualty amount and great psychological cost, as well. On March 19, 2010, the 7th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, I was thinking about the complicated motives of why people war, the consequences of military action, both intended and unintended, and the horrible after-effects that alway follow any conflicts. Around the same time, there was a news report about a supernova star's light that was finally reaching Earth, after exploding several million years ago, and I was fascinated by the dichotomy in these two ideas and that, as a species, plenty of our thinking tends towards the painfully small-minded.