St. Clair Productions presents David Berkeley, songwriter and author, in an evening of music and prose, at the Unitarian Fellowship, 87 4th St., Ashland, on Friday, May 11, 8 p.m. 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.
"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 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.
In concert, Berkeley wins crowds over with his low-key charisma and hilarious between song banter. 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 are full of the same astutely observed details that propel his songs.
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. Berkeley 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.
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