The landmarks and the memorials, those are for glory. But true inspiration is the light you leave in the hearts and minds of others. By that count, country rocker Richard Sherfey is a hero, and when you’ve also got close, talented friends to help carry the torch, magic happens.
Sherfey was an Athens musician who went from touring through Orlando to relocating here in the 2000s and becoming a local Americana luminary. At the time of his untimely passing in 2018, he was in the embryonic phase of making a new album. Thankfully, even through the wreckage of loss and dashed creativity, Sherfey’s seasoned collaborator and friend CJ Mask saw the ideas.
In the immediate aftermath, Mask — an erstwhile Orlando music pillar now based in Nashville — corralled everything he could of those ideas that Sherfey shared with him. Demo fragments, texts, anything he could retrieve from Sherfey’s own laptop —Mask cobbled it all onto a hard drive. Then he stepped away, to grieve.
After the shock settled, Mask returned to it. Under his stewardship, the effort swelled to a collective campaign that, naturally, includes some hometown stars like Jeff Irizarry (Gasoline Heart), Mike Dunn and John Fortson (All God’s Children, Squad Five-O, Gasoline Heart). Somehow, through perseverance and duty, he turned those rough threads into a full tapestry. The result is the remarkable No Distance, a new posthumous Richard Sherfey album helmed, arranged and finished by CJ Mask.
For something whose source material was often germinal and lo-fi, this collection is lush and seamless with full rock arrangements replete with keyboards and violin. The recordings pack enough body and texture to aptly accompany Sherfey’s famously full-throated singing, which is just about the ultimate triumph for any posthumous endeavor. Together, Sherfey’s voice and Mask’s arrangements soar in unity to conjure soul that could stir in both late-night bar and church alike. I knew Richard, and I think that’s exactly what he would’ve wanted.
Unquestionably, Sherfey deserves full salute as the voice and mind behind the tunes. But Mask merits rare credit for his significant, personal and executive role in making No Distance happen at all. It’s a feat of not just craftsmanship but of the deepest love and respect for the man and the material.
“I got to spend another year with him in a very creative space,” says Mask. “And I got to work with him again and spend more time with him after he passed. … It’s given me a space to kind of grieve and be with my friend. And I hope now that it’s done, people can take the album and have that same space to grieve and live with Richard again.”
No Distance now streams everywhere and is available on limited-edition gatefold vinyl and CD on Bandcamp.
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This article appears in Dec. 10-16, 2025.
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