Eclectic Music and More

David Berkeley
Singer/Songwriter
Concert/Literary Reading

Friday, May 11, 2012 • 8pm
Tickets: $18/advance, $20/door, $10/teens 12-17,
children under 12 are free with paying adult.
Unitarian Fellowship, 4th and C Streets, Ashland

Along with his songs from his 4th CD Some Kind of Cure, David Berkeley will read excerpts from the accompanying book 140 Goats and A Guitar.

David Berkeley is a romantic realist, known for his ability to look at the human condition in all its complexity and give us luminous songs full of sunshine and anguish, melancholy and delight. He brings the people and situations he sings about to vibrant life with a warm, rich tenor that often slips into an aching falsetto to underline the overwhelming emotions that can move us to tears or laughter.

In concert, Berkeley wins crowds over with his low-key charisma and hilarious between song banter. He usually introduces songs with long, intricate anecdotes and branching commentaries, using a manner that's more front porch than show biz, relaxing people without any apparent effort to be funny, a difficult balance to achieve. He weaves together fact, fiction and hyperbole into stories that often leave audiences in hysterics without resorting to obvious punch lines. His on stage narratives rarely repeat themselves and are full of the same astutely observed details that propel his songs.

On Some Kind of Cure, his fourth studio album, Berkeley delivers some of his most heartfelt tunes blending folk, rock, and classic pop to create timeless expressions of love and longing. The majority of songs on Some Kind of Cure were written while Berkeley and his family were living in a remote 35-person village in the mountains of Corsica.

As you might expect from his witty and erudite stage patter, Berkeley is a talented prose writer. He kept a diary of his stay on Corsica, which became the basis of his accompanying book, 140 Goats and A Guitar: The Stories Behind Some Kind of Cure. Like his songs, the stories are well-constructed pieces filled with revealing details and poetic language. Berkeley's concept is a unique one: The book will include a download code for the album, and readers are encouraged to move through the book reading each story and then listening to the corresponding song. Berkeley explains, "The stories give you a look behind all the songs on the record. I often tell stories that explain a song or that led to a song. When I got back from Corsica, I realized that many of the songs were created out of situations and events--some funny, some awkward, some painful." He writes these stories with an openness and honesty that matches his music. "Ultimately, I believe my music conjures an eerie optimism, a mysterious kind of hope," Berkeley says. "I think that sentiment hovers over most of the album and most of the book."

"Often compared to Nick Drake, Tm Buckley and Donovan due to his emotive, airy vocals and pensive qualities, 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." -Hal Horowitz, Creative Loafing

"There's a quiet beauty in David Berkeley's voice that carries a strength with it. He's a storyteller. He's a heart breaker. He's at once a gusting tornado and an elegant whisper." -Tony Shay, San Francisco Gate

"Berkeley's a sixties-esque troubadour with songs to swoon by and a voice sweeter than incense and peppermints. … He's a double fantasy of Nick Drake and Donovan." -Robin Aigner, RollingStone.com