Sherry Cothran is a Chattanooga local Americana singer-songwriter, former lead singer of indie-rock band The Evinrudes, ordained United Methodist minister, author, and founder of the Scenic City-based non-profit, Beloved Woman, which empowers women facing social or economic barriers to carve out a life for themselves through entrepreneurship.
She will bring her uniquely soulful sound and tender storytelling to The Woodshop listening room on Thursday, September 13th. While her music is different now than when she was with The Evinrudes, it still carries a rock influence, now mixed with soulful roots melodies, grit, and acoustic instrumentation that emphasizes story.
As co-founder of The Evinrudes, an indie-rock band that emerged around 1995, putting the scene on the map in Nashville at a time when country was a dominant force, Cothran delivered the No. 1 rock-radio hit, “Drive Me Home,” which resulted in a record deal with Mercury Records in New York, spearheading a tour with Barenaked Ladies and the Spin Doctors.
Since leaving The Evinrudes after about ten years with the band touring, Cothran’s career became more wide-ranging, with her carving out a space for herself in multiple different scenes. Ultimately, she left her career in music to pursue her Master of Divinity at Vanderbilt, going on to become an ordained Methodist Minister.
As a minister, she would work with the homeless in Nashville and eventually write two books and two albums during that period, realizing that, at heart, she wanted to help people reconnect with their stories, and she found she did that best through writing and singing. In 2018, she would move to Chattanooga, where she focused on building her non-profit, while trying hard to connect with the songwriting scene here.
In speaking with Cothran about her life and eclectic career in music, literature, and the non-profit space, she mentioned being drawn to a spiritual vocation and helping people tell their stories, going on to detail how she never left music or songwriting; she just found a way to sing to people’s hearts without performing.
“I was drawn into a spiritual vocation, but later, I realized that my true calling was helping people to live authentically through their stories. And I did that best through writing and singing. Even as a pastor, I just really wanted to help people peel away the barriers that kept them from living as their authentic selves and reconnect with their foundational stories.
I ended up writing two albums worth of songs and two books that explored the world I was in at the time. So I don’t think I ever really left music and songwriting; I just went out of music industry mode and into a vocation that allowed me to walk with people, side by side, through their real world experiences. I’ve always believed that there are many ways to sing in this world; it’s not always as a performer.”
Her time spent as founder of the non-profit Beloved Woman has been critical in the Scenic City, and her work in the space has impacted countless lives.
In speaking about how impactful the non-profit has been for women in the surrounding Chattanooga area, Cothran detailed that she felt drawn to serving others, and that the program now has over 60 graduates, with those women now out in the community growing and developing resources, carving out a space for themselves.
“I was always drawn to microlending as a way of helping people transform their lives. But I felt that more was needed, particularly for women who were single mothers, because I feel they are targets of financial hardship.
We now have 60 graduates, and we run two classes per year in Chattanooga; about 20 to 24 women per year graduate from our program. We also have an entrepreneur community where women continue to develop and gain resources. I’m an entrepreneur myself, and I really believe when you carve out something of your own and take the risk of developing it, it is such a great way to grow and evolve as a human being.
Working with women and helping them carve out their own path in the world is a huge passion of mine. We are all really just helping each other as we all succeed, walking alongside one another. And that type of positive community is contagious. I need that community just as much as anyone else, so I just had to build it.”
When asked about her plans for the future, she detailed wanting to continue playing shows and is currently working on another album with The Evinrudes, suggesting also that she continues to be present in the non-profit and entrepreneur communities, leading with an open heart and love at the forefront of it all.
“I hope to play a series of shows in listening rooms next year, as well as some theaters, and continue the journey. I am working on another album and hope to have that out towards the end of next year, with the band. We might release acoustic versions of some of our older material. I’m vowing to our entrepreneur community to put myself into it, to follow my heart, to be visible. Keep singing, keep writing, keep playing, put it all out there and see where this love leads.”
Sherry Cothran
- Thursday, September 17.
- The Woodshop. 5500 Saint Elmo Ave. Chattanooga.
- 6 p.m. $20.49-$92.52.
- sherrycothran.com
- thewoodshoplisteningroom.com