Daily Discovery: Cherokee Red, “Vaya Con Dios”

Cherokee Red cabin-600

Videos by American Songwriter

ARTIST: Cherokee Red

SONG: “Vaya Con Dios”

BIRTHDATE: Late winter 2011

BIRTHPLACE: Wilkes Barre, PA

AMBITIONS: Spreading our music as far and as wide as it can reach while inspiring people during the process

TURN-OFFS: Pompousness, close-mindedness, dishonesty, disrespectfulness, pessimism, laziness, selfishness

TURN-ONS: Honesty, open minds, genuineness, respectfulness, optimism, motivation, kindness, selflessness

DREAM GIG: Playing the main stage at a historic festival

TV ADDICTIONS: My Strange Addiction (ha ha, full circle), anything Anthony Bourdain, Catfish, Arrested Development, It’s Always Sunny, 30 Rock

CELEBRITY CRUSH: Annie Clark

MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: So many different ones. The one that stands out the most right now is Bradford Cox playing solo as Atlas Sound in a church sanctuary in Philadelphia. Words cannot describe the magic he produced with just one acoustic guitar and a few pedals.

THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: Ralph Waldo Emerson: Self Reliance

5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Annie Clark, Ellen DeGeneres, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Sagan, Jeff Buckley

I NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT: Water

WE WROTE THIS SONG: From band member Charles Davis: “‘Vaya Con Dios’ — “go with god” — a since-past Spanish farewell, written with regard to one’s inevitable death. Our lives are our surroundings. In our hometown, Wilkes-Barre, PA, the many years of sadness have moved through like glaciers, and we have formed as beautiful mountains on the landscape. With regard, saying ‘goodbye’ is a redefinition of reality, regardless of time, space, or moral compass.”