Sheryl Wiser

Contact: sherylwiser@sherylwiser.com. Please note: My Bandcamp page is currently under construction. If you’re interested in hearing tracks from the new album or additional music, please contact me.

BIO

Seattle singer-songwriter and guitarist Sheryl Wiser has a sound that refuses to stay in one lane, working in the space where Americana, roots, folk, blues, and rock overlap, anchored by a voice that commands attention. Her signature red Parker Fly guitar is part of the visual signature, but it's the storytelling that sticks. The Seattle Times put it plainly: "She writes emotional, rhythmically stirring songs and delivers them with genuine passion."

Wiser came up through the folk coffeehouse scene in Boston and Denver before landing in Seattle, where her band Somebody's Daughter drew attention for their alt-folk/alt-country approach at a moment when the city was consumed by grunge. Musician Magazine named them a finalist in their "Best Unsigned Band" contest in 1994. Her solo career took her through New York venues like The Bitter End and Sin-é, and Northwest stages, opening for headlining artists including Tori Amos, Luka Bloom, Crash Test Dummies, Dan Fogelberg, Peter Himmelman, Patty Larkin, Ellis Paul, and Jill Sobule. In addition, she was selected to audition for Cirque du Soleil as a vocalist.

After a period of dormancy that stretched nearly a decade, it was the community around Seattle's Cafe Racer that brought her back. A 2012 mass shooting at her beloved neighborhood cafe, where she was slowly carving a path back to music, deepened her resolve and belief in the power of community, rather than breaking it. She returned to performing, formed The Beautiful Strangers, a folk-roots duo, and kept building.

The 2016 election marked another shift. Now a solo performer, a single house concert performance of "This Land is Your Land" made the stakes of a live room viscerally clear, and Wiser launched the Pie + Persistence house concert series the following year. Since 2017, the series has raised over $125,000 for more than 34 nonprofits around the country.

Nominated for a 2026 Sonic Guild Seattle Artists Grant and finalizing work on her first album in 30 years with noted Seattle songwriter and composer Tomo Nakayama, Wiser is in one of the more productive stretches of a long career, returning in the past few years to play many of the region’s most iconic venues and festivals, including The Tractor Tavern, The Royal Room, The Rabbit Box and Northwest Folklife Festival. She is set to release her new album in early 2027.

PRESS

Wiser's music is sharp and clean, featuring her sweet, powerful voice tempered by rich, stunning melody. Her music compels you to listen, and as you're drawn in to the web she weaves of thoughts and feelings and ideas, you find yourself walking on edge of a quick wit sharpened with water-deep emotions. Wiser writes emotional, rhythmically stirring songs and delivers them with genuine passion. She is a gifted singer and songwriter. -- The Seattle Times

…well-constructed, melodic material right in step with what is apparently becoming the post-grunge Seattle sound: a richer, more melodic mix that doesn't ignore the city's serrated sensibilities. -- Billboard

Wiser writes beautifully crafted songs that she delivers in a voice possessed of enormous range and sensibility. Along with her sharp twists of the pen as a lyricist, Wiser has the savvy confidence of a vocalist one usually only hears from jazz singers. When Alanis Morissette grows up, she probably will sound as confident and emotionally rich as Wiser. -- Willamette Week

Excellent. Swinging, soulful rootsy rock with powerful vocals and razor-sharp lyrics. The songs are emotional and compelling, well-constructed melodic material that is delivered with genuine passion. A collection of goodies; roots-rocky, iffy relationship sketches that frame Wiser's voice and could soothe hypertensives right off their medication. -- Seattle Weekly

Sheryl’s heartfelt lyrics, creative arrangements, and intense singing combine to put her at the forefront of Northwest original music. A terrific album and a very moving performer. -- Mike Meyer, KRVM FM, Eugene, OR

If you like Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLaughlin, or Susan Vega, you’ll really like Sheryl Wiser. She’s an outstanding addition to this collection of artists with her soulful, intelligent songwriting, rhythmic stories, and glorious voice. -- Robin Rillette, New Vistas, NW Public Radio

Sheryl Wiser is not just another pretty voice. She has depth and feeling to her music that makes a connection with the listener as soon as we hear the first verse. Her lyrics speak of relationships and life and how we all connect, whether we share a big open night sky or the kitchen table. She helps us to remember that all we really have to do is keep talking about the love, the fear, and the hope for a connection that runs deep and true. Month of Saints is a gorgeous album and an important one. Wiser is definitely a new voice worth listening to. -- Laney Goodman, Host/Producer, Women in Music

Interviews

Bold Journey: https://boldjourney.com/meet-sheryl-wiser

Vinyl Apothecary: https://www.vinylapothecary.net/sheryl-wiser-is-leaning-into-the-light

KUOW FM: https://www.kuow.org/stories/soundside-crying-in-h-mart

Photo credits: Top row, left to right: Ernie Sapiro (first four), Will Giovacchini
Photo credits: Bottom row, left to right: Will Giovacchini, Becky Shaw, Jeffrey Martin, The Royal Room