As the saying goes “you can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl”. Even if the country the girl goes to is Switzerland! Such is the musical trek of singer/songwriter, Sheri Pedigo. Last summer, on a whim and a need of change, Pedigo packed up her duffel bag and guitar, boarded a plane and headed for the Italian Alps of Switzerland. There she had the fortunate adventure to meet the number one rock the band - Gotthard!
Leo Leoni, the guitar player for the band, was enjoying the grand opening of his new restaurant, Gotthard. Pedigo picked up his guitar and started singing right on the spot! Mesmerized, Leoni joined in and, as fate and change would have it, they formed a fast kinship as musicians….carpe diem. Leoni introduced Pedigo to Gotthard’s lead singer, Steve Lee, and together, they collaborated on the lyrics for “Break Away”. The cut made the long awaited 2009 Gotthard album, “Need to Believe”.
“Things happen for a reason”, smiles Pedigo, “I didn’t know where I would end up or exactly why I needed to go but I went…almost compelled”.
Pedigo is no stranger to entertainment having spent a season as the stand in for Jane Seymour on “Medicine Woman” and followed by a resume of commercials. Stepping into the spotlight as a singer/songwriter was a natural and Pedigo enjoyed early success as the co-writer for a featured track entitled, Two Hearts, on Jodi Benson’s album, the voice of the Disney animated film, Little Mermaid. Pedigo’s career shifted into fourth gear with performances and co-writing work with hit songwriters like Harriet Shock (That Ain’t No Way to Treat A Lady), Narada Michael Walden(Producer/Songwriter for Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Arethea Franklin and others), Leon Patillo (Santana’s former lead singer), Yves Fruela (Celine Dion’s pianist) and actress Dyan Cannon.
Hailing from Kentucky, Pedigo’s second-cousin, Howard Gosser, owned radio and TV stations there, as well as in Nashville, and was involved in the entertainment business, the sports industry, and boxing, and trained with Mohammed Ali. Gosser gave Sheri her first taste of show business by hiring her as a DJ on one of his stations. Pedigo started spinning records, conducted live remotes and interviewed musicians and celebrities passing through town while she was still a minor. He also fired Pedigo when she left the station unattended to go to a concert. All in the family!
“I was always packing my bags and running away from home”, laughs Pedigo. "I’ve always had the bug to move, to change, to create. I specifically came to L.A. after a time in Nashville working in TV and film to “break away” from a suffocating relationship. ...
I actually became a better songwriter in L.A. because of the metamorphosis that followed in the uniquely creative atmosphere of LA and shedding a part of the past. .. Things happen for a reason. I love change, the growth, the creative transition…I am a butterfly!”
Here to make you smile. Here to make you cry.
http://SheriVideo.blogspot.com/
Where I have been. Where I am going.
http://SheriGigs.blogspot.com/
http://SheriPhotos.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
Hi Sheri,
My father is Howard Gosser, the one mentioned in your article. You said that you worked for him at one of his radio stations and I would love to talk to you about that time. I only met him myself 10 years ago and would like to connect with people who new him and can tell me what he was like then.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Rusty
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