Cherry Thomas
With a set of stunning, curly blonde locks, a colorful pastel sweater and a Fender Starcaster in hand, Cherry Thomas has opened a dialogue in Salt Lake around R&B, soul and what that looks like for a modern-day woman. Thomas’ beautiful aesthetic is a whole story in and of itself, but when she opens her mouth to sing, it’s a new ballgame. With a hometown of Ogden, Utah, and both parents involved in music, she says “It was inevitable that I would have such a strong bond and love for music, and I feel grateful and lucky that I was given that kind of exposure to singing.”
Thomas had worked up a arsenal of cover songs and eventually her original music on her SoundCloud page through a period where she struggled with the pressure of being an artist. Like many new artists, the anxiety of exposure is sometimes crippling. “I hadn’t really shown too much of myself yet because I was nervous and didn’t think I was ready to show it,” she says.
When I ask if she had any surreal or special experiences while performing, she describes a time in 2017 where she was encouraged by her partner, Josh, to play at an open mic night at [Ogden’s] Grounds for Coffee. “He knew I was ready before I did, and has always been so supportive and encourages me to challenge myself when I don’t have the guts! After I finally agreed— which I was very skeptical [about]—we went to that open mic night. I sang a couple songs that I had never shown publicly before; my hands were literally shaking and I felt like I was going to puke.”