Today we’d like to introduce you to Marc Douglas Berardo.
Marc Douglas, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I came to performing and writing songs later than most. I was already a college freshman at Northeastern University, Boston in 1987 when I got a cheap acoustic guitar and started to play. Playing the guitar came easy to me and I immersed myself in it. It was comforting as well as challenging. I was immediately and singularly focused on it. Northeastern University and I both came to the conclusion that, after one year, I was not as interested in going to class, so, after contemplating a Hertz Rent a Car map of Florida that was hanging on my wall in my cold apartment in Allston, I took off south in search of a place that I could sing, play and lay in the sun. I ended up in the ocean town of St Augustine, Florida and on my first day there I wandered up the long stairs to a very special music venue named the Milltop Tavern and Listening Room. The first music I heard was songwriter and Florida legend, Don Oja Dunaway. I hung around the Milltop for months listening to songwriters and trying to figure out how to make up my own songs. When I finally worked up the nerve, I played my earliest attempts for Don Dunaway and he gave me a job singing twice a week in the club. It was a big deal and a real break. The great songwriters that passed through town were fascinating and inspiring characters. From my point of view, it looked like songwriting and performing as a profession was a noble pursuit and a club I that wanted to belong to. I have never stopped since then. In truth, it has felt like one long day since that time.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I mostly play my made up songs on wooden guitars for an audience that will have me. I have done this in some form for the last 31 years. (In addition, when not performing my own shows, I have performed with my Brother Chris Berardo as a duo and a member of his band.) In that time, I have made seven records and toured much of the US as well as performing in Europe, Central America, and some other exotic locations. I have played everywhere from large theaters and festivals to bars and house concerts. I have been the opening act for my heroes in front of a huge audience and played the local bar in my hometown the next day for 12 people. Both gigs were amazing experiences.
I do it because I still love it. I am immersed in music and song every day. I am also always working on the next place to play and the next idea. It is a full-time job. As for my songwriting: 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… to make me feel a certain way. The words have to sing and the music has to work. The kind of song that does those things is my idea of fun. It is my hope that the listener is entertained, engaged and hopefully moved to feel something. That is the goal.
How can artists connect with other artists?
It can be lonely. That is an occupational hazard. In my corner of the world, you really must embrace that feeling and hopefully find a place for it in the songs. However, it is in the community and friendship of all kinds of artist that I am comfortable. To that end, I try to play shows with other songwriters I admire. I also make it part of my job to see others perform at festivals, shows, bars, and music conferences. When I am home in Westerly, RI, I make myself available. I love to talk to musicians, songwriters, painters and storytellers about the process. We all have stories. In sharing those stories, the singular pursuit is less lonely.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Well, for starters I am always performing somewhere. It averages out to about 140 shows a year.
All future dates can be found on my website. I have recordings for sale in all the normal places, iTunes, Amazon, CDBABY.com as well as a Pandora Station, YouTube and Bandcamp page. I am very active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In addition, I try to perform once a month at my hometown venue, Perks and Corks, Westerly, RI with some local musicians playing my songs as well as great songs I admire. It is always a spirited and fun night. I am currently working on my eighth recording tentatively titled “Temporary Things” that should be ready for early 2019.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.MarcDouglas.com
- Email: MdbMusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcdouglasberardo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MDBMusicpage/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mdberardo
- Other: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/marc-douglas-berardo/id4383965
Image Credit:
Terry Georgia, Neale Eckstein, J Daley, Jim Nicols, Kim Mitchell
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