Cheri Thurston has played the accordion since she was four years old, making her first public performance at a Rural Electric Association convention at the age of 5. The accordion was a big part of her life in her childhood and teenage years, when she was playing all over Colorado in contests and entertaining at meetings and conventions. "I even survived playing "Bringing in the Sheaves" on the back of a flat bed truck in a parade, as part of an accordion choir," she says.

When Thurston went away to college, she left her accordion at home. It was the late 60s, early 70s, and playing the accordion was no longer "cool." She put her accordion in the closet, where it remained, more or less, until 1992.

In 1992, Thurston had an inspiration. She decided to form a national organization, "Closet Accordion Players of America" (CAPA), and encourage closet accordionists everywhere to play proudly. Almost immediately, her organization received national attention in major newspapers all across the country. Today CAPA is thriving, and Thurston publishes a quarterly newsletter for members.

Thurston now performs regularly with the "Moonlighting Teachers" troupe, a group that performs original songs and song parodies for educational conferences, conventions and other venues. She can also be heard on the Moonlighting Teachers CD, "Music and More" (Cottonwood Press, 1998).