Bio
“Berkeley crafts his songs like watercolor paintings. Intimate and introspective, his gentle yet colorful melodies are graceful and resonate long after the last note fades.” – Creative Loafing
David Berkeley’s gift as a songwriter and storyteller is that he sees the tragedy and comedy in life, writing songs capable of both breaking and healing the heart. Berkeley has been called a “musical poet,” by the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times praises his “lustrous, melancholy voice with shades of Tim Buckley and Nick Drake.” That voice and his gift with words is what first sets Berkeley apart from all other guitar-slinging songwriters. But it is his onstage charisma and unparalleled between-song repartee that truly puts him in a class by himself. Each show is completely unique, and David’s humanity shines through every note he sings and every word he speaks. Berkeley has released nine studio albums, one live album, and authored two books, each of which pairs with one of his albums. He was a guest on This American Life, telling an outrageous story of a private serenade he was once hired to perform, and he has won many songwriting awards and honors including ASCAPs Johnny Mercer Songwriting Award. His latest book, The Free Brontosaurus, was a never-before tried concept: a novella comprising ten intertwining stories and an album of ten accompanying songs (one for each story). His latest release is A Pail Full of Fire, produced by Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Hadestown, Andrew Bird). It's a an incredibly intimate, confessional album about the arc of a long love and children getting older. In an increasingly superficial, digital, and photoshopped world, Berkeley's album stands as an analog counterpoise reminding us what really matters in this life.
Prior to A Pail Full of Fire, Berkeley released a Covid album that everyone should hear. Oh Quiet World was written during quarantine after Berkeley and his family left Madrid, where they had been living for the year, on one of the last commercial flights out. David set up a makeshift studio in the attic of an empty house in Rhode Island friends loaned him and began writing and recording. “I wrote a song a day that first week back,” Berkeley explains. “Songwriting gave me a way to process my fears, to comfort my kids, my friends, my parents. It gave me something small I could contribute.” The songs are his most stripped back, supported by his wife and children singing, and touches of horns, accordion, and banjo. Despite the hard topic, Oh Quiet World manages to find hope through it all, and it’s an incredible timestamp on a profound moment in our collective histories.
In addition to his solo career, Berkeley is also one half of the wildly creative transatlantic costumed duo Sons of Town Hall. The pair is in the midst of releasing a radio theater podcast series along with their new album. Each hilarious episode tells of one of the duo's adventures that led to the new song the story reveals. Their stage show is unlike any other, part theater, part concert, part comedy performance art. Berkeley’s music has also been remixed by many of the world’s top EDM DJs. He tours all over the country and world and has opened/toured with Dido, Don McLean, Ben Folds, Billy Bragg, Ray Lamontagne, Nickel Creek and many more. He was a Kerrville New Folk winner, a New Song and Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Finalist. He’s performed on World Café, Mountain Stage, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, XM Loft Sessions, Acoustic Café, and many more. David lives with his wife and two boys in Santa Fe, New Mexico at 7,200 feet elevation.
“If you're into literate soulful singer songwriters, David Berkeley is the Gabriel García Márquez of beautiful-voiced troubadours.” – KRUU
All photos by Nicole Moulton