Sheryl Aronson’s Musical Journey: “On the Road to Your Heart”

Sheryl Aronson, a multifaceted psychotherapist, journalist, and photographer, has added yet another dimension to her creative repertoire—songwriting. Her heartfelt composition, “On the Road to Your Heart,” made its debut at her 70th birthday celebration, bringing together the essence of her career as a therapist and her passion for the arts. In this exclusive interview, Sheryl shares the inspiration behind her song, the collaborative efforts that brought it to life, and her plans to develop the piece into a full-fledged musical.  We sat down with Schmooze Jazz’s event editor Sheryl Aronson and learn a whole lot about her new single, her other career(s) and so much more!

Schmooze Jazz: You composed a song that premiered at your birthday party last year. Tell me about the song and what inspired it. What was your role(s) in its creation?

Sheryl Aronson: “On the Road to Your Heart” was inspired by my work with couples as a relationship therapist for 30 plus years. As I wrote the lyrics, I contemplated… what makes relationships challenging, heartbreaking, and yet, we still want to take the chance on love.  We are all walking down the road to each other’s heart when we are in a relationship and sometimes feel lost and detoured on that journey.  We are also journeying down the road to our own hearts as we understand what love means to us.

In 2001, I completed my musical called “On the Road to Your Heart” which I developed in a playwriting seminar at South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa.  I wrote this song as the premiere showstopper of the musical. At the same time, I was taking private piano lessons and a songwriting class at Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo. As our final project for the class, we recorded our song in the studio. I played the piano on the original cut of the song, and my piano teacher’s wife, who had a beautiful voice, sang it.

Schmooze Jazz: Talk about the people involved in making the song? Please talk about their role.

Sheryl Aronson: “On the Road to Your Heart” was a group project created by my most wonderful friends. First, I went to Dr. Gail Jhonson, a brilliant artist, keyboardist, and producer with my original recording. I asked Gail to please produce the song to present at my 70th birthday party. Gail worked with Britt Prentice, (vocalist) and updated the original song to be more contemporary. I also requested Terry Wollman, an outstanding guitarist/producer, Jermone Randall, bassist, (who backs up many of the smooth jazz artists in Southern California) the brilliant Bryan Thompson (aka B. Thompson) who currently tours all over the world with Baby Face as a sax player and backup singer, and Gail also recruited the gorgeous vocals of Castella to do the duet with Britt Prentice.

How do you know Gail Jhonson, and is “On the Road to Your Heart” your first collaboration?

Sheryl Aronson: First, Gail Jhonson is one of my best friends.  I met her 10 years ago, when I began my career as a music journalist, and we have done many projects together. I totally trusted her with my song and knew the final product would be superb. She is a keyboardist, composer, and educator. Her style is a sophisticated blend of smooth jazz, funk, and R&B. She has worked with many illustrious musicians such as Norman Brown (she was his MD for many years), Morris Day, Brenda Russell, and Jermaine Jackson. She also leads the all-female group Jazz in Pink. Gail has a B.A. in composition from Boston’s Berklee College of Music, she earned her master’s degree in music business from Southern New Hampshire University and Berklee College of Music, and recently received her doctorate. In 2020, she signed with Shanachie and released her sixth album and first with Jazz in Pink, “Joy.” I love Gail—she produced “On the Road to Your Heart” with her special golden touch.

Schmooze Jazz: Talk about your career as an entertainment journalist and photographer.

Sheryl Aronson: My career as a music journalist began in Boston. I was 24 years old. I wrote my first article on 13-year-old jazz prodigy Terri Lyne Carrington. It was published in Soul Teen magazine. I then had the opportunity to interview Grammy-nominated Maynard Ferguson for Modern Recording Magazine, and in 1980, I interviewed Herbie Hancock for their cover story. After this article, I gave up writing until 10 years ago.

In 2014, interestingly, I ran into Terri Lyne Carrington again back in Boston.  At that time, she was playing drums for Herbie Hancock! I had gone to Harvard to see Herbie perform and was very surprised to see the [very] grown-up, Grammy-winning Terri Lyne Carrington playing drums. After the concert, I asked Terri if I could write another article on her and she agreed, but this time she would be playing at a jazz festival in Gdansk, Poland with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Esperanza Spalding. I interviewed her in Poland along with Herbie, Wayne, and Marcus Miller.  Terri was my first article again as a music and entertainment journalist in 2014 for the Hollywood Times.

I’ve been writing and photographing for the last 10 years, covering all the arts. I’m on staff as an entertainment journalist for the magazines Agenda, Schmooze Jazz, and Chic Compass. I’ve done interviews with artists such as Melissa Manchester, Keiko Matsui, Jeffrey Osborne, Phil Perry, Rob Morrow, Lisa Lu, Sheila E, and Dave Koz. I’ve been on the red carpet for the Writer’s Guild Awards and the Hollywood Christmas Parade interviewing film/tv producers, writers, directors, and actors. I’ve interviewed director, Kasi Lemons and Oscar winner, Kevin Wilmot. My article on Lea Thompson won a special Writer’s Digest award.

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My love for music, my love for the arts, my love for writing and highlighting artists are my purest pleasures.

I first bought a camera when I was covering Terri’s concert in Poland. I thought to myself – if I’m writing about artists, I might as well be the photographer. From 2014 to present day, I’ve been photographing concerts and special events. In 2020, I created a photography/video company along with my partner, Sherman Alford, called Sasaphotos.

Schmooze Jazz: You are also a psychotherapist.  How does that play a role in your creative pursuits?

Sheryl Aronson: Being a psychotherapist is very creative for me… I became a psychotherapist because of my interest in the journey each human takes to discover their deepest identity. As a writer and lover of literature, I’ve contemplated deeply about the human experience—the psychological and spiritual development of characters. As a psychotherapist, I’ve conducted seminars and talked passionately about how people can improve their self-esteem, and how couples can improve their relationships.  Exploring these themes of human development in real life, touches into my soul and creativity.  I bring this wisdom and passion into my writing, interviewing, and photography.

I’ve been a psychotherapist since 1985, and I’ve never lost my interest, my passion, my curiosity, on human development. I’ve overcome the deepest, darkest, scariest journey of the soul through breast cancer and depression. I broke free and returned gloriously to a place of happiness and contentment.  As I came upon my 70th year, I wanted to have a celebration of my life and a celebration of everything that I have overcome in these past 10 years of being a therapist, mother, music and entertainment journalist. I was fortunate to have many friends who I’ve met along the way – people who have known me since childhood and the various stages of my life, to be there and celebrate this fabulous occasion. What better time to introduce my song, “On the Road to Your Heart.”

Schmooze Jazz: Congratulations on putting out your first release.  It’s a beautiful song.  I understand it’s in iHeart Radio.  How does that feel to have success so soon?

Sheryl Aronson: The success of the song belongs to all my friends that have helped me create this beautiful production of “On the Road to Your Heart.”  This was a group effort. It was a collaboration of what I did originally, with the talented artists – who gave their heart and soul to this project. I have gratitude and appreciation and share whatever success this song brings … with the artists involved with the project.

Schmooze Jazz: What projects are you working on next, musically?

Sheryl Aronson: What I’m working on next is developing the musical play, “On the Road to Your Heart.” I hope to collaborate with artists involved in musical theatre that I’ve met in my career as a journalist, “On the Road to Your Heart” will be a theatrical musical; however, it will also be an experiential interaction for the audience. I wrote the book and the lyrics and will collaborate with a composer to orchestrate the music.

Listen to “On the Road to Your Heart”:

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