The Sultry Sherry Vine

(The Sensational Sherry Vine and Daphne Ruth Jenkins)

Dolly Wood's boy toy, Jeffrey, celebrated a birthday this week. To mark the momentous occasion, DJ, Dolly and I took Jeffrey over to Mary's in East Atlanta to see a performance by NYC singing sensation Sherry Vine.

Apparently word got out that some big city talent was appearing that evening because the bar was hopping for a Wednesday night. Besides myself, we bumped into other Atlanta celebutantes, Miss Patricia Lopez and the Queen of Diamonds herself, Miss Diamond Lil.

Well, the rowdy crowd was certainly not disappointed. Not only is Sherry stunningly gorgeous, but she also has a voice like a mythical siren. She sings all her songs live instead of lip-synching. And unlike when Pinkie sings, "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" it doesn't cause all the dogs in the neighborhood to start howling.

In honor of the Wednesday night show tune theme at Mary's, Sherry treated the reverential crowd to a set of Broadway classics and sexy standards. From Chicago's "If You're Good To Mama" to "I Will Survive", Sherry demonstrated a mastery over a wide-range of material. One of my favorite numbers was a particularly rousing rendering from "Kiss of The Spider Woman".

However, Sherry really brought the house down with "Corn", which Sherry revealed is based on a true experience she had crouched behind a bush in Central Park after eating some questionable Mexican take-out. Set to the tune of Natalie Embryo's execrable "Torn", this lovely ballad tells the timeless tale of finding those delightful yellow kernels flying from your nether regions when, "I know I did not eat corn!"

Mary's is not an easy venue to work, with it's long narrow corridor. However, Sherry is a consummate professional and managed to play to the cheap seats. During the final number of her set, she even pulled a Coyote Ugly and stood on the bar; much to the delight of the young lads standing below her with a tasty view of Sherry's candy.

Thursday night, Sherry was scheduled to return for a rock and roll theme performance. If anyone attended, I'd love to hear what it was like. She promised to deliver everything from punk, to glam to a little Gwen Stefani. Sounds like my kinda show!

Hopefully, Sherry will return to Atlanta and grace us with her talents again soon. She confided that her favorite thing about the South, hands-down, is the sweet tea. She also seemed pretty sweet on Dana as well, staring lovingly into his eyes during several of the more torchy ballads. That boy is a total babe magnet!

At the close of her set, Sherry announced that she did not have to get up early in the morning and would therefore be partying like the rock star she is for the rest of the night. There was also mention of a BJ sign-up list, which perked DJ right up. Being the star-f#!ker that I am, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to rub elbows with the drag-elite. As a result of trying to keep up with Sherry and the voracious boys over at Mary's, I awoke on Thursday in a Whitneyesque condition.

Due to my ongoing state of projectile-purge, I was forced to miss this week's Atlanta Drag Idol. However, Momma Dale reported in that it was another stellar night of entertainment. Alexandria Martin received a standing ovation from the crowd for her spot-on impersonation of Miss Piggy. Unfortunately, the sweet and lovely Angelica Diamante was sent packing this week. I promise to be a good girl next Wednesday so that I don't miss another nail-biting week of competition at Charlie Brown's.

The moral of this story is summed up best in the immortal words of Frank Sinatra, "I feel sorry for people who do not drink. When they wake up in the morning, it is as good as they are going to feel all day."

Smooches,
Daphne Ruth Jenkins