Photo Curtesy of Eddie Berman Bandcamp
LA has long been home to the fabled singer-songwriter, back in the early 70’s, Laurel Canyon provided shelter for such luminaries as James Taylor (my personal hero), Carole King, Jackson Browne, and tons of others. In an effort to avoid coming off like an obnoxious history teacher, I’ll sum it up with, some really unbelievably genuine music has come out of that city. Well in the year 2015 the LA singer-songwriter may find him or herself in a revival, and one of the people who I predict will end up spearheading that movement is Eddie Berman.
I discovered this guy down in Nashville during Americanfest and I was blown away. His show Friday night in The Listening Room was one of my personal highlights for the entire week. Berman and his band have achieved a sound with a sort of beautiful melancholy to it. That is not to say all of their songs are sad but there is a sense of longing infused with much of what they play. They found it with a unique mix of classic singer-songwriter inspirations like Dylan or Leonard Cohen and blended it with Berman’s own personal brand of story telling and singing. The musicality to the group added an intensity to the sound that immediately hushed the crowd as we sat and listened to what they had to say.
Berman did not rely solely on his own stories. The group bravely tackled Dylan as well as found some notoriety for their cover of Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark. They put a spell on the audience, none of us could say a word or look away from the show going on in front of us. They didn’t need flashing lights or a set, all they needed to do was play, and they had us hooked from the start.
Berman has found himself skyrocketing to the top of my personal charts (not that that means much to most). His first two records Polyhymnia and Blood and Rust are both haunting and addictive, I haven’t stopped listening since I bought them last week. I would very strongly suggest keeping an eye on this guy cause I have a feeling big things are ahead of him, and look out for his next album which is currently in the works.
His soundcloud is linked above but just for fun, here is Berman along with The Bluegrass Situation playing “The Good We’ve Done”
-Ryan Schmitz
