ALBUM:
Wreck 'N Sow
TAYLOR USED:
812c
SONG CLIPS:
Wake Up Charlie
28k | 56K
High School Town
28k | 56K
CONTACT INFO:
E-mail:
berkley hart @songs .com
Web:
www. berkley hart .com
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San Diego duo Berkley Hart blends the talents of award-winning singer-songwriters Jeff Berkley and Calman Hart - each a seasoned vet of the San
Diego coffeehouse scene and folk circuit throughout much of the '90s. Berkley started as a rock drummer, but after discovering the African djembe
drum, developed a bare-handed style of percussion that lends itself to all shades of acoustic music. He helped color San Diego's vital coffeehouse
culture, along with performers like Jewel, Steve Poltz and the Rugburns, and Gregory Page; and added his rhythm and voice to such folk performers
as the Joel Rafael Band, Tom Prasada-Rao, John Smith, and Don Conoscenti. Berkley also plays guitar, and while playing others' material, had
been writing his own music as well. In '98, he and fellow singer-songwriters Dani Carroll, John Katchur, and future cohort Calman Hart teamed up and
performed some of his songs, showcasing not only his tunesmithing, but his emotive, husky-honey vocals. In the spring of '99, Berkley won the
New Folk Songwriter Competition in Kerrville, Texas (past winners include Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hal Ketchum, and Nancy Griffith).
Calman Hart laid his songwriting/performing foundation in clubs across his native Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho, eventually settling in San Diego.
His 1992 debut, Red-Eyed and Blue, earned the Best New Artist award at the annual San Diego Music Awards. His follow-up, Train in the Distance,
was recorded with Bil Vorndick (producer of Alison Krauss' Grammy-winning I've Got That Old Feeling) and Nashville pros Jerry Douglas, Stuart
Duncan, David Grier, and Roy Husky Jr. Hart and Berkley met through the coffeehouse circuit, and Berkley's djembe percussion was a prominent
element of Hart's third album, The John Boy Drum, in 1998. Hart encouraged Berkeley's songwriting, and before long, the two were gigging together.
Wreck 'N Sow, the duo's first record as Berkley Hart, makes the perfect soundtrack for driving America's blue highways. Recorded "as live as
possible, with no reverb or digital effects", the album's 13 tracks amble sweetly through acoustic folk-country-rock terrain, fusing vividly
poignant narrative lyrical strokes, beautifully intuitive vocal harmonies, and spare but rich instrumental accompaniment. It's a gorgeous effort
that beats in time with the heart, mixing the good and bad aches of love and loss, harsh realities and hope, and both the freedom and emptiness
of the open road.
Hart's storytelling shines on tunes like "Wake Up Charlie", a boy's hard-knock tale of going to visit his mother, who's in jail for killing an
abusive boyfriend to protect the boy and his brother; "Elvis Einstein", a whimsical look at the name game as an orphan passes through differently-minded
guardians; and "Barrel of Rain", a heartbreaking tale of heartland love during the drought of the mid-'30s. "Blue Morning Moon" is a tender, softly
shimmering ballad of two star-crossed lovers, in which Hart invokes the imagery of pre-dawn stars fading into morning blue, above a fluid fretless bassline.
Berkley and Hart sing straight from the heart, and their arrangements allow the natural nuances of their vocal phrasing and acoustic instrumentation to shine.
Ace San Diego multi-instrumentalist Dennis Caplinger adds many sonorous touches to Wreck 'N Sow, including fiddle, mandolin, dobro, six-string banjo, and
high-strung guitar, helping to create a relaxed groove made silky smooth with Berkley and Hart's soaring harmonies. It's an album with rich voices and voicings.
"Emerging from behind the scenes of some of San Diego's greatest acts, Jeff Berkley has found his own voice, and everyone who hears him sing agrees that it is an exceptionally beautiful one."
— Scott Virtes, SpinRecords.com
"Hart is deft at folding concise, engaging melodies and inventive chordal shadings into his songs without threatening their traditional flavor."
— John D'Agostino,
Editor, Wood&Steel,
former music critic, Los Angeles Times
"Warm, sweetly sung tributes to marriage, family and impossible dreams."
— Karla Peterson,
San Diego Union-Tribune about Jeff Berkley
"He snatches his characters straight from the talk show couch, and then has the nerve to turn them into real people."
— Karla Peterson,
San Diego Union-Tribune about Calman Hart
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