June 8: Sweet Cherie at Stuart Hobson

Cherie “Sweet Cherie” Mitchell-Agurs visited the classroom of music teacher James Edwards at Stuart Hobson Middle School (DCPS). The class was composed of students familiar with a variety of instruments from the tuba to the violin. The class started with Cherie explaining the history of go-go and how she started playing. She explained that her stage name was given to her by the godfather of go-go, Chuck Brown.

Once Cherie took the podium, she asked the drummers to began playing a beat to begin. As they began, she explained that a drummer is the heartbeat and they must always play with emotion and confidence. The students responded with strong, deliberate sounds emerging from their drum sets.

Some students were not sure if they could play go-go with their instruments, such as the clarinets and violin. Cherie quickly picked up on their hesitation and motioned what and how to play. Once the students realized they had a role in the music that was being made, they wanted to play non-stop. At one point, Cherie began to play popular songs and the students sang along. As the end of class approached, students asked their teacher if Cherie could stay all day.