ALMA
— Cindy Boehler believes a “superior hand”
guided her last Christmas as she thumbed through music CDs
at Kearney’s Wal-Mart store.
While
wondering if she’d ever return to the music industry
as a professional, her hand landed on a gospel-bluegrass CD
from independent producer Steve Ivey. She purchased it and
was so impressed with the clean studio sounds of the music
that she sent Ivey an e-mail.
Boehler was surprised to get a reply, and truly shocked by
Ivey’s invitations to send him a tape of her music and
come to Nashville. It took another nudge by the “superior
hand” to convince her to go to Nashville last spring.
“I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing, except
my husband, JJ,” she said. “I just didn’t
want anyone else along in case it all turned out to be a bad
decision. There are so many music producers that aren’t
legitimate. I could have wound up being taken.”
She didn’t know at the time that Ivey produces music
for Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and The Jordanaires, and has
been nominated for Grammy and Emmy awards.
Boehler was a little concerned to find Ivey’s IMI Music
studios in a Nashville alley. She opened the door, walked
inside and decided, “This is going to be OK.”
It turned out to be more than OK.
Boehler started recording her own CD during that first visit.
It took several other trips to Nashville to finish her “Set
It Free” CD.
Her next big step is a Nov. 4 concert with The Jordanaires
at The Tassel in Holdrege.
The first part of her career in music started in 1977 when
she and her brother, Stan Huffman, formed a band after being
asked by their mother’s friend to play a few songs at
a birthday party. They recruited a drummer and learned about
10 songs for their debut at the Axtell VFW club.
The group, eventually named Moonshine Music Company, continued
to perform.
Boehler took a break about 14 years ago. “I finally
stopped because it just became too hard to be performing until
4 a.m. and then get home to the kids,” she said.
Her calling to perform remained, so she began volunteering
to sing at an assisted living facility and the Harlan County
Senior Center in Alma.
“I credit Stan for a lot of what has happened in my
musical life,” Boehler said, “and now it’s
really important for me to give something back to my mother
and my kids.”
That “something” started when her planned one-day
session with Ivey in Nashville last spring extended to three
days.When her parents, Iola and Lawrence Huffman of Axtell,
were told about her trip to Nashville, meeting with Ivey,
the recording session and soon-to-be-released CD, Boehler
said their reaction was, “Oh, good grief, what has she
done?”
“I’m so conservative, nobody could believe what
I’d done,” she said, “but they are very
proud of me.”
Ivey was impressed by her composing skills and used five of
her songs on the CD. Boehler told Ivey that one of her mother’s
favorite songs is the late Patsy Cline’s “Life’s
Railway to Heaven” with The Jordanaires, so she wanted
to include the song on her CD.
That’s when Ivey asked if she’d like to have The
Jordanaires sing on her CD. Boehler said her children were
impressed only after they discovered how big The Jordanaires
are in country and gospel music circles.
“I can’t believe these guys are coming up here
to The Tassel to do this with me,” she said, “but
they are.”
The Boys From Kentucky Band also is on the program and the
“Set It Free” CD.
Boehler said The Tassel program will be a laid-back, easy
evening of songs and some reminiscing by The Jordanaires about
singing with Pasty Cline, Elvis Presley, Tennessee Ernie Ford
and others.
She plans a step-back approach to marketing. She’ll
hand-deliver her CDs to area radio stations, “the way
it was done in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”
Boehler will return to Nashville for a Dec. 15 performance
with the James King Band at The Station Inn, and then go on
the road to North Carolina.
“Because of the sequence of events this past year, I’m
convinced that God had a plan for me and that this is what
I’m supposed to be doing,” she said.
“I’ll never get rich as a bluegrass singer. I
just want to be able to perform more, and now is a good time
in my life to do it.”
