Page 12 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • May 2, 2012 Ridgewood Sherma Andrews performs at public library by John Koster Sherma Andrews was once asked to cover for her role model and heroine, Whitney Houston, when Houston was going through the changes that ultimately led to her death. The choice was an inspired one, and when Andrews sang “I believe….” in tribute to Houston, there were warm hearts and misty eyes at the Ridgewood Library. “Whitney Houston was my mentor,” Andrews said at her Ridgewood Library concert on April 22. “She left an amazing legacy. I was fortunate to be the person to fill in for her when she was having troubles, and I dedicated one of my songs to her.” The song closed to huge applause from the audience, who enjoyed Andrews and her backup musicians, guitarist Chris Amelar and drummer Michael Tali. “They’re really awesome,” Andrews acknowledged. Andrews played the keyboard as she danced and sang a repertoire of blues, soul, pop, and Broadway standards. Her vast vocal range, from a mellow growl to a pure high coloratura soprano, and the emotion she poured into her original songs and the covers from other artists touched the audience and won many rounds of applause. Andrews was born in Trinidad. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and has lived in Ridgewood for the last three years. Her songs have been featured on TV shows including “The Sopranos,” “All My Children,” and The “Young and the Restless.” She has appeared with Enrique Inglesias and Britney Spears, and has worked with Donna Summer and Branford Marsalis. Andrews’ daughter Taylor stole a couple of the scenes with improvised dancing to the enjoyment of the audience. “Sometimes you have personal experiences, and sometimes you just write it because it sounds good,” Andrews explained of some of the lyrics about tormented and obsessive love, loss, and despondency. Andrews blew people away with her renditions of Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson songs. “My mom loves Michael Jackson,” Taylor told the audience, who loved both mother and daughter. “This has been so much fun. I hope you had fun too,” Andrews said. They did. Her new CD, “Guilty,” sold well at the door. On May 12 at 2 p.m., the library will host Bridget Kibbey, a classical harpist and Avery Fisher Career Grant winner. Sherma Andrews Flagpole rehabilitation (continued from page 11) skate boarders who use the side as a skateboard ramp. He urged that some sort of restriction be invoked to protect the names of the Ridgewood veterans from being abused and obscured. “It’s really a disgrace,” said Riche, whose father was a veteran. “That monument is getting destroyed, and it’s getting desecrated.” The veterans’ initiative to honor the 14 Ridgewood residents who were killed or died as a result of their service in World War I was rated a success by the village council and other residents when the ceremony took place on Nov. 11, 2011. Each serviceman had originally been honored with a plaque on a shade tree, but as time went by, some of the bronze plaques were broken or looted. The shade trees swallowed up other plaques as the trees expanded. The new single plaque with the names of all the veterans was a focus of a gathering of veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq on Veterans Day last year.