We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cheryl B. Engelhardt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cheryl, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful projects for me was collaborating with the brilliant director, writer, and my dearest friend Kevin Archambault on writing a Broadway musical. We spent almost five years researching the topic (a Kennedy tragedy in the late 1960s!) and then developed it into a trial run. We put up “Boiler Room Girls” for about 300 people in the fall of 2019, just before COVID hit. During the pandemic, Kevin was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer, and we made a mad dash to keep editing the musical before he passed away. I know what’s next but am only just starting to be able to go back and open the scores and book.

Cheryl, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My career is a reflection of the fact that I get bored easily. From my beginnings working in hip hop recording studios and jingle companies to my roles as a music director in musical theater and a prominent figure in the Bleeker Street live music scene, including hosting the New York Songwriter’s Circle, I’ve explored a wide range of musical avenues.

My journey started with an internship at a hip hop recording studio in New York City, followed by a position as a messenger at an ad agency. This opportunity eventually led me to an assistant tech role at a jingle house, where I progressed to become an in-house music supervisor and composer, crafting scores for nationally-aired commercials and short films. As my career evolved, I embarked on tours with my pop band, established myself in the Bleeker Street live music scene, and hosted the New York Songwriter’s Circle monthly event for several years.

I also dedicate my talent to composing for social justice choirs, gaining recognition in People, Harper’s Bazaar, and Forbes Magazines for my collaboration with Martin Luther King’s goddaughter, Donzaleigh Abernathy, on our anthemic song “The Listening”. Recently, I traveled to Sri Lanka with the social justice choir Voices 21C to sing with the World Muslim Choral Ensemble.

After relocating from Harlem to the Hudson Valley in New York, I became deeply involved in the regional and community musical theater scene, music directing over a dozen shows and composing the music and lyrics for the new musical, Boiler Room Girls.

In addition to my theatrical pursuits, I toured the USA and Europe with my band, releasing four piano-pop albums before transitioning into New Age music. My focus shifted to creating albums tailored to the heart rates and biometric patterns of anxious individuals, providing a sonic accompaniment to help listeners navigate panic. My third New Age album, “The Passenger”, was nominated for a GRAMMY® award and was written on a cross-USA train, a trip inspired by the passing of my best friend and collaborator on Boiler Room Girls, Kevin Archambault.

I’ve always valued engaging my fans in my creative journey, from bringing a superfan as my guest to the GRAMMYs to incorporating their signatures into my red carpet look, which was featured in Vogue.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve embarked on my own personal development journey and am now a certified trauma-informed master coach. I offer resources to empower musicians to set and achieve goals while streamlining their careers and lives. I facilitate the musician mastermind, Amplify, and am a live speaker, moderating panels at events such as SXSW, ASCAP Expo, TAXI Road Rally, and various universities, including my alma mater, Cornell University.

Beyond my musical pursuits, I briefly explored marine biology after graduating from Cornell University, SCUBA diving for the United States Geological Survey before fully committing to my music career. I also studied orchestration at Juilliard and serve as the Chair of Research and Repertoire for Contemporary and Commercial Music for the East Division of the American Choral Directors Association.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I had the pleasure of partnering with Discmakers to explore the entire process of learning about, creating, minting, and selling NFTs. My view: it’s an entirely different job. There is a steep learning curve and unless you really wrap your head around it and have a clear idea on what you’re creating and for whom, and you have the time to invest in the techy Discord groups talking about your NFT, it absolutely can be a huge waste of time. (For now.) Like anything else, before going down a rabbit hole, make sure you’re not getting sucked into a good ole case of shiny-object-syndrome.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I had never focused on social media; rather, I valued and nurtured my email list above all. When I was touring extensively, it was my only means of maintaining connections with people who had attended shows. I utilized my email list to crowdfund two records, each raising over $20k, to identify my superfans, to conduct polls about album covers, and even to gather input on my GRAMMY outfit.

That being said, I am pleased to have grown organically on social media to the point where I can now redirect people from social platforms to email and vice versa. However, social media can be an incredibly overwhelming time sink, particularly with changing algorithm patterns and the uncertainty of what will capture not only the attention of your current audience but also potential future fans. Finally, I hired a content manager, and things changed dramatically! Together, we developed a monthly subscription for musicians called The Content Drop, featuring a manageable shortlist of trending audios, music promotion prompts, and even ready-to-send email templates for engaging with your fans. Having this resource for myself has been a game-changer, significantly reducing the amount of time I spend spinning my social media wheels.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.cbemusic.com/
• Instagram: @cbemusic / @musiccareercoach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cbemusic
• Other: My music projects: www.cbemusic.com The Content Drop: www.inthekey.co/drop Amplify: www.inthekey.co/amplify

Image Credits
Angelique Hanseworth (studio shots)