Sandy singer and songwriter Cheri Magill is releasing her first album recording in over 10 years on May 4, and it's all for moms. 

“I felt so excited about writing on the topic of motherhood because the more I searched I just didn’t see anything out there for moms,” said Magill. She was baffled by the lack of what she saw as music that focused on the love between mother and child, despite the obvious population size. 

Magill began by writing a song for each of her three children, ages 4 to 10, and then focused on some of the various aspects of motherhood, like the loneliness that can happen.

“I wanted to be able to create music that would make people feel that ‘me too’ thing where you just don’t feel so alone, like, okay, someone else feels like they’re going crazy, too, and someone else has these feelings, too,” said Magill. To her, the 10 songs in her album “Tour Guide” sound like a documentary of motherhood.  

She began writing the songs in the fall of 2016, starting with the lyrics, topics and concepts, and then by summer 2017 she was ready to record 10 songs. In her past musical life, Magill had recorded in Utah, but this time, she hoped to branch out in order to stretch the limits of the release. 

“This music is for every mom in the world and I want to make sure that I get that out there,” said Magill. 

Magill screwed up her courage and emailed Cason Cooley, a producer from Nashville she had long admired for his work with other artists, and after discussing details, Magill flew to Nashville in September and November 2017 to record. 

With so much time having passed since her last recording, Magill felt that she was a little out of the game. Producing and buying music is so different than it was when she studied media music at Brigham Young University and released albums before, but she’s also grown as a person and no longer feels the need to do everything herself, trusting those who know how to accomplish what needs to be done. 

“I honestly feel like I’m a different person than I was then,” said Magill. “I’m trying to stretch myself a little further and ask for help and not make myself an island.” 

Part of that stretching included hiring a publicist because, she said, she doesn’t like doing self-promotion.

“You have to kind of make yourself more than you are, because if I try to do everything, then I spread myself thin and then I’m cranky mom and not really anyone that the kids want to be around, but if I can make use of their abilities and work together, we can definitely accomplish more and do so in a much happier mood,” said Magill. 

Magill is excited about these changes [AC1] and how easy it is to work through social media to ensure that she can be in everyone's living room without having to constantly tour and leave her kids, which was the reason she initially gave up music. However, she does have hopes for future performances. 

“I feel like kind of a newbie in that way because I’m getting back in to it and I’m not quite as networked as I used to be,” Magill said.

Magill is grateful for the support of her family and glad that her children have enjoyed the part they play in their mom’s new album.

“My husband is fantastic, he’s really supportive,” said Magill, who believes that one of the challenges of motherhood is a loss of one's own individual identity. “He’s been happy to see something that’s mine, and something that's brought a lot of joy to me.” 

Magill has plans for a CD release concert that combines her love of music and blogging do-it-yourself projects. This allows listeners a chance to create something fun while enjoying the music.

“I’m sure there’s more to come and that will be written, but for now I felt like (‘Tour Guide’) was a good representation of the wide spectrum of motherhood,” said Magill.

For information about the upcoming release of “Tour Guide,” visit http://cherimagillmusic.com/.