Biography
The Chenille Sisters have long drawn listeners of every generation with their offbeat country-folk approach, which began as an adult-oriented project yet soon expanded into a series of children’s recordings. The trio—Cheryl Dawdy, Connie Huber, and Grace Morand—came together in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1985, though none of the members are related. Their local reputation grew quickly on the strength of close harmonies, prompting an independent release of their debut album in 1986. The following year brought a live recording captured in Ann Arbor, issued in 1989 under the title At Home with the Chenille Sisters. By 1990 the group pivoted toward younger audiences with 1-2-3 for Kids, only to return to adult material the next year on Mamma, I Wanna Make Rhythm. Their output thereafter alternated between the two markets, as evidenced by the 1992 children’s collection The Big Picture and Other Songs for Kids and the same year’s Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight, which revisited popular songs from before World War II. After establishing Can-Too Records, the Chenilles appeared in 1995 on the Emmy-winning PBS program Makin’ Rhythm; that exposure also led them to host the public-radio series Read to Me, devoted to children’s literature. Younger listeners remained a focus with the 1996 release Teaching Hippopotami to Fly, yet the new century saw several Can-Too projects aimed at adults, including the 2001 holiday set In the Christmas Spirit, Room to Breathe in 2002, and May I Suggest in 2007.
Albums
