Dick Neal-Banjo, Mandolin, Dobro
Pete Szymanski-Bass
Steve Combs-Bass
Liam Bailey-Dobro, Mandolin, Piano
Influences
Jackson Browne, Benny Goodman,The Band, Joni Mitchell, Hunter S. Thompson, Don Henley, Darell Scott, The Beatles, James Taylor, Don Oja Dunaway, JD Souther, The Neville Brothers, Michael Branden, Warren Zevon, The Grateful Dead, The Staple Singers, POCO, Richard Shindell, John Steinbeck, Nanci Griffith, The Beatles, Guy Clark, F Scott Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Joseph Spence, Kenny Loggins, John Gorka, The Allman Brothers Band, Derek Jeter, Bob Dylan, Steely Dan, Ry Cooder, Ernest Hemingway, Michael Branden, David Crosby, Larry McMurtry, David Sedaris,The Beach Boys, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Robert Duval, Jimmy Webb, Stevie Wonder, Mark Twain.
Sounds Like
"Berardo's lonesome, clear voice easily carries an aching beauty."
- Steve Klingaman- Minor 7th Magazine.
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"Another indie gem. This is why I write these reviews. I feel like Ive made a special discovery. Imagine Bruce Springsteen stories as Glen Frey of The Eagles would tell them. Jackson Browne would kill to cover some of these songs. This is beautiful work. A gorgeous CD. A perfect soundtrack for the upcoming summer months." Jennifer Layton-Indie-Music.com
Biography 2007 TriCentric Showcase Artist Northeast Regional Folk Alliance 2007 Finalist Plowshares Song Contest, Pheonixville PA 2006 Finalist Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, CO 2006 Honoree Telluride Troubadour Competition, CO 2006 Finalist Wildflower Arts and Music Festival, Texas 2006 Finalist Suwannee Springfest Song Contest 2005 Mid Atlantic Song Association Award 2005 Finalist -Plowshares Song Contest, Pheonixville, PA 2004-2005-ASCAP Song Award 2004 Just Plain Folks Music Award Nominee, Los Angelos,CA 2004 Finalist -Plowshares Song Contest, Pheonixville, PA 2003 Finalist- Rose Garden Song Contest , Mansfield, Mass 2002 New Artist Showcase- Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Hillsdale, NY 2000 Winner- Suwannee Springfest Song Contest , Live Oak, FL 1989 Employeee of the Month-Crab Shanty, Mamaroneck, NY
Marc Douglas Berardo is a different kind of singer/songwriter. In what amounts to song length works of fiction, Berardos sharply drawn portraits cast a net on unusual and interesting characters and places. With a painters eye for detail, and music firmly rooted in the great American sound, Berardo sings about circus retirees, expatriates in Florida rum bars, union iron workers, old poets, aimless New York City debutantes, near death car crashes, hard nosed fishermen and of course, the changes that experience brings to everyone. He does this simply and well with what Rambles Cultural Magazine calls: "careful images and great tunes."
"I try to write about people and situations that interest and entertain me. Subjects and places that I feel a connection with and that are unique in a quiet way. Real people and places caught in the moment, almost like a documentary film or a novel. At the same time, I need the music itself to take me somewhere and to make me feel something. The words have to sing and the music has to work. The kind of song that does those things is my idea of a good time."
Based in the port town of Westerly, Rhode Island, Berardo performs an average of 150 nights a year everywhere from bars and coffeehouses to theaters and national festivals. Places such as the legendary Town Crier Cafe and Postcrypt Coffeehouse in New York to the world famous Trade Winds Cantina in North Florida and even St Anne's Chapel in Vatican City, Italy. Along the way he has shared the stage with a variety of national acts including, Peter Rowan, The Marshall Tucker Band, Little Feat, NRBQ, Guy Clark, Vassar Clements, Ralph Stanley, blues legend Chris Smither, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members The Buffalo Springfield, Brooks Williams, Norman Blake (Oh Brother Soundtrack), Steve Forbert, and Eric Anderson among others.
In April of 2006, Munga Music will release Berardos fourth CD (his first for the CT based label), entitled HARBOR. The highly anticipated collection produced by Prof. Dick Neal (Plexigrass, Larry Deming, Mockingbirds) is musically adventurous, oozing with integrity and just plain good for your soul. The thirteen new songs are framed by emotional string arrangements, exhilarating front porch clap a-longs and fine grooves that ease in like a quiet fog and leave a lasting impression.
Accolades for the new CD and songs therein are already mounting, including an ASCAP PLUS AWARD, Finalist honors in the Suwannee Springfest Song Contest (FL), Wildflower Arts Festival (TX), Just Plain Folks Awards (CA), Mid Atlantic Song Contest (D.C) and The Plowshares Song Contest (PA). The February 2006 National Folk DJ Radio Survey listed HARBOR at ..35, tied with a trio of legendary names: Jackson Browne, Pete Seeger, Rodney Crowell.
"Every little recognition for a song, every chance to play at a large festival or showcase feels great. I love to play and want to do it a lot. The validation that you feel when you know that you and the tunes that you made up are getting out there is a big part of what makes me want to write more songs. Besides, it is too late in my life to find another job so I am happy to have the work. I am glad to be out there among the people."
Plans for 2006 include live shows and radio appearances anywhere with some neon in the window and room to play with what Minor Seventh Magazine called: "Berardo's lonesome and clear voice."
Discography Harbor ( 2006-Munga Music) As You Make Your Way (2003-Hayloft Records) Second Chance (2000-Hayloft Records) Further On Tomorrow (1999-Hayloft Records)
