Maui News - Sunday, January 12, 2003 - Entertainment Section

Sheryl and Michael will be performing for Mayor Arakawa on Jan 25, 2003 for his "Dine With Our Mayor", a fund raiser for the Mayor's Community Kokua Fund. Virgie Cantorna will be the emcee. Among the many noteable performers attending this event will be Sheryl's fellow cast members in this year's MACC production of PHANTOM... including Debra Lynn, Jerry Eiting, Richard Cray and Cody Gillette.

"That was the lovely Sheryl Preston, backed by her husband, Michael Beachwood on guitar, who did a masterful job of singing the National Anthem at Mayor Alan Arakawa's Inauguration. That's got to be the hardest song in the universe to sing..."

Liz Janes-Brown - Maui News - Sunday, January 12, 2003

October 28, 2002 - Sheryl poses for a quick photo with a big smile during a sound check at Maui's Center for Performing Arts. In what is to be Linda Lingle's last rally before becoming Hawaii's first woman Governor, Sheryl performs the Star Spangled Banner before a full house. Governor Linda Lingle has created history... she is the first woman Governor of the state of Hawaii and the first Republican to sit in the Governor's chair in over four decades! Many thanks to one of Preston&Beachwood's sponsors, Evelyn White, of Rainbow Music Productions, who was instrumental in placing Sheryl to open the ceremonies! - Photos Courtesy: Michael Beachwood - PrestonBeachwood Music.

This is not the first event at which Sheryl and Michael have had the pleasure to sing for Linda Lingle. They also performed at a luncheon for Linda while she was Mayor of Maui County.

Right... Sheryl sings acapella, the STAR SPANGLED BANNER to a full house at Maui Arts & Cultural Center, (MACC). The MACC is home to Maui's world famous symphony hall, considered one of the top sound stages in the world for its acoustics and caliber of artists who perform there.

As Sheryl takes the stage and is introduced, a hush falls over the audience. Sheryl's alto voice penetrates the warm evening air. One could literally hear the crowd hold their breath as Sheryl came to the very high range of the song, hits the note solidly, then surprising the audience by raising the note up to an octive higher! The audience was delighted by the pure, sweet note.

"One great thing about singing the National Anthem, besides the incredible rush of patriotism and pride that we all feel..." says Sheryl, "is the fact that one does get a standing ovation at the end!" :)

Above, left... Governor-Elect Linda Lingle takes the stage to rally the audience and get out the vote. The election here in Hawaii, as around our country, was a definite wake-up call to all politicians who hold office and are being of service. Sheryl takes pride in being a part of a little piece of history here on Maui!

Right - The Maui Arts and Cultural Center's Ampitheater Stage. This is the stage that is home to many talented local Maui artists, such as Willie Nelson, a local Maui resident. Recent visiting national performers include Journey... (Sheryl and Michael were fortunate enough to have front row center seats)... and BB King!

The Hawaii Institute for Human Rights presented an evening of art, music and dance at the Maui Community College. Preston-Beachwood was honored when asked by their good friends, Faye Hovey and Chanti Mullen, to perform their music at this event.

By request, Sheryl sang a classic favorite, "Wind Beneath My Wings". Michael performed his original song, "Hold On".

The event was a wonderful mix of local talent including Amy Chang, Ave Diaz, Faye Hovey, Chanti Mullen and many more. All forms of entertainment was provided, including music, dance and live theatrical presentations.

After a full year of composing and producing their latest CD, Sheryl and Michael released, "Island Romance" on CD and cassette, available in many of the finest stores on Maui, and on their website, PrestonBeachwood.com.

This wonderful disc has six new original Hawaiian songs, sung in english and produced in a pop-Hawaiian style... and four classic covers.

"Island Romance" is having great reviews, and once again demonstrates the diverse writing styles of Preston-Beachwood. Sheryl and Michael can write and compose almost all kinds of music, including pop, rock, hip hop, country, Hawaiian, classical and more.

They have scored another success by stylistically creating an album of romantic Hawaiian/Pop sounds.

Preston-Beachwood's fans have overwhelmingly agreed that Sheryl and Michael's writing style has really captured the Hawaiian island spirit.

The only pop styling is, "My Heart Will Go On" on which Sheryl solos what most are calling a "better rendition than Celine's version!" Sheryl spent over a five studio days perfecting just the vocal part alone on that one cut.

The three other classic songs, "Hawaiian Wedding Song", "Blue Hawaii" and "Unchained Melody" are produced in a romantic Hawaiian-Pop style.

"We have many of our fans telling us that this album is their most cherished and most listened to CD!" says Michael, "We are very proud of this disc!"

Although many have been calling for a sequel, Sheryl and Michael are now focusing their time on writing more music on, again, a diverse level, their latest songs coming soon to their MP3 page, are hip hop, patriotic rock, yes, more Hawaiian, and more pop!

It's time to party... P... A... R... T... WHY? Because we gotta!!!

PrestonBeachwood threw their CD release party at Border's Books, in Kahului, on Sunday August 20th, to celebrate the release of their new CD, "Island Romance"! Playing to a "standing-room-only" crowd, Sheryl and Michael performed all of their songs from their new disc. They also included door prizes and free CDs. "Most of our friends are here," said Sheryl, "It's really wonderful to share our CD party with everyone!"

Sheryl and Michael started the evening with their new single release, "You And Me, Island Style", a light-hearted, fun song about playing hooky from work and going to the beach for a romantic get-a-way. This song can be heard on local Maui radio, especially on KPOA - Maui's Hawaiian music station. KPOA is home to two local radio personalities who had a guest appearance on the song, Alaka'i Paleka and Allen Pokipala. PrestonBeachwood continued their concert with their Hawaiian/Pop selections, and finishing up with their beautiful, "Moon Over Maui" - sure to be a Maui standard in years to come!

"This was a great evening," said Michael at the end of the concert, "a wonderful reward for a year of work our studio!" The audience certainly agreed!

April 23, 2000 - Sheryl Preston appears in Martha Stewart Weddings - Winter 2000

Sheryl Preston models for Maui Wedding Association's wedding ad for Martha Stewart Weddings.

A funny things happened on the way to the photo shoot....

Sheryl Preston and Michael Beachwood were board officers of the Maui Wedding Association and at the last moment, the leading model for the upcoming Martha Stewart Ad began making unreasonable demands, such as, double my pay, and the letter "r" stricken from the english language!

Well, perhaps not the latter... anyway, the board quickly decided that Sheryl would be a great substitute for the model, and the price was right - Free!

However, a funny thing happened on the way to the photo shoot! The only road leading to a beautiful tropical location was closed due to a drunk driver mistaking a telephone pole for the open road. As such, the group of photographers and models could not lose time in waiting the one hour to get the road open, so everyone got out on the side of the road and set up their make up chairs.

Everyone was seated in their chairs, getting their hair done, and makeup applied. You can imagine the surprise of those passing by! Just as all the makeup artists were finishing up, the road was re-opened and everyone proceeded to the site of the photoshoot, ready to go!

"We had a perfect day for doing photos," remarked Bettina Christine Antle, one of the two principle photographers, "the colors and the light were awesome - but of course, this is Maui - it's always gorgeous here!"

The colors that day just seemed to pop. The idea of the ad is to show how irresistable Maui is, and the lighting and hues were just right. Sheryl was delighted and honored to be a model that would go into a national publication such as Martha Stewart Weddings.

Bettina took quite a few photos, one of which can be seen on our photo tour page... Click Here!

Overall, the ad campaign was a big success, attracting many wedding couples to Maui to be married. Sheryl and Michael's marketing experience and participation in the MWA's board that year increased the membership from 60 to 240 members.