Biography
Born Sheryl Guidreau, accordionist and vocalist Sheryl Cormier ranks among the earliest women to surmount the gender barriers long enforced in Louisiana Cajun music. Earlier she directed an all-female Cajun ensemble; she now leads Cajun Sounds, whose roster includes Isaac Miller, Jr. on steel guitar and vocals, Ben Goodwin on drums, Ivy Dugas on bass, and Travis Matte on fiddle.
The eldest of four siblings, Cormier was immersed in Cajun music from childhood; her father headed the Sunset Playboys, a band in which her mother played drums. She began studying the Cajun accordion at age seven and appeared regularly with her parents’ group through her teenage years. After leaving the band upon marriage, she still sat in occasionally with them and with other comparable outfits.
Stepping forward as a bandleader, Cormier assembled a unit featuring her husband Russell on vocals and their son Russell, Jr. on drums; that collaboration yielded the 1990 album Queen of Cajun Music (La Reine de Musique Cadjine). Two years later she issued Sheryl Cormier and Cajun Sounds, recorded with the musicians who currently perform alongside her.
The eldest of four siblings, Cormier was immersed in Cajun music from childhood; her father headed the Sunset Playboys, a band in which her mother played drums. She began studying the Cajun accordion at age seven and appeared regularly with her parents’ group through her teenage years. After leaving the band upon marriage, she still sat in occasionally with them and with other comparable outfits.
Stepping forward as a bandleader, Cormier assembled a unit featuring her husband Russell on vocals and their son Russell, Jr. on drums; that collaboration yielded the 1990 album Queen of Cajun Music (La Reine de Musique Cadjine). Two years later she issued Sheryl Cormier and Cajun Sounds, recorded with the musicians who currently perform alongside her.