Marc Douglas Berardo

BIOGRAPHIES

VERY SHORT BIO 

Singer-songwriter, performer and keen observer, Marc Douglas Berardo's songs are sharply drawn and cast a net on unusual and beguiling characters and places that bring to mind James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Guy Clark, and Steely Dan with a touch of Mark Twain or Hunter S. Thompson. His songs have been recognized at many prestigious national festivals and events such as The South Florida Folk Festival, The Wildflower Art and Music Festival, and the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival. He has opened for or shared the stage with The Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, John Hiatt, Martin Sexton, Eric Taylor, Kevin Welch, Kim Richey, Will Kimbrough, and David Olney among others.  Berardo's interview and live performance featured on the Sirius/ XM Satellite Radio show The Village was voted one of the best of the year by listeners.  No Depression Magazine called his last CD Whalebone: “sincere, fluid, charming and above all gripping.” 

SHORT BIO

Singer-songwriter, performer, and keen observer, Marc Douglas Berardo composes songs that mine the deep feelings and lessons gleaned from real-life characters and situations along with an onstage presence that uses humor and deft storytelling to rally an audience and lead them into a deep and almost spiritual experience. It’s an adventure that brings to mind James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Guy Clark, or Steely Dan with a touch of Mark Twain or Hunter S. Thompson for good measure.  Attendance at one of his performances is a night of laughter and emotion that works to send an audience home with a renewed sense of possibility.  No Depression Magazine called his last CD Whalebone: “sincere, fluid, charming and above all gripping.” 

Berardo’s first music show was in a biker bar in Allston, MA in 1987 and since that day he has never stopped performing made-up songs. He has opened for the stage with heavyweights such as The Doobie Brothers, The Pousette Dart Band, Jimmy Lafave, Martin Sexton, 10,000 Maniacs, Red Molly, John Hiatt, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Buffalo Springfield, Kevin Welch, Lucy Kaplansky, Eric Taylor, David Olney, Kim Richey, Will Kimbrough, and Livingston Taylor.  As a member of Chris Berardo and The DesBerardo Band with his brother Chris, Marc has been a part of shows with classic rock acts including Little Feat, The Marshall Tucker Band, Foreigner, Badfinger, Reckless Kelly, America, David Allen Coe, Levon Helm, Dickey Betts, and Great Southern and others.

In May of 2014, Berardo won the 2014 Wildflower Art and Music Festival Song Contest in Texas. The following week he performed as a finalist in the legendary Kerrville New Folk Contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival. In early 2015, Berardo's interview and live performance feature on Sirius/ XM Satellite Radio show, The Village was voted one of the best of the year by listeners. Berardo was nominated as Best Americana Vocalist by readers of Motif Magazine in early 2017. He has been nationally recognized for his music and performances (Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Song contest, Telluride Troubadour Contest, Sisters Folk Festival, 2013 Rams Head Onstage Rammie for Best Show of the Year.)

LONG BIO

Singer-songwriter, performer, and keen observer, Marc Douglas Berardo composes songs that mine the deep feelings and lessons gleaned from real-life characters and situations along with an onstage presence that uses humor and deft storytelling to rally an audience and lead them into a deep and almost spiritual experience. It’s an adventure that brings to mind James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Guy Clark, or Steely Dan with a touch of Mark Twain or Hunter S. Thompson for good measure.  Attendance at one of his performances is a night of laughter and emotion that works to send an audience home with a renewed sense of possibility.  No Depression Magazine called his latest CD Whalebone: “sincere, fluid, charming and above all gripping.” 

In what amounts to song-length works of fiction, Berardo’s sharply drawn, award winning song portraits cast a net on unusual and beguiling characters and places. With a painter’s eye for detail, and music firmly rooted in the great American sound, Berardo sings about circus retirees, expatriates in Florida rum bars, union ironworkers, 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…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.” -  MDB

Berardo people settled in Rye, NY. He is listed as a "notable alumni" of The Iona Preparatory, New Rochelle, NY along with some other accomplished and colorful attendees including Don Mclean (American Pie, Vincent), Frank Mara (Co-Owner of The NY Giants), Frank Abagnale (Bank fraud perpetrator and subject of the film Catch Me If You Can) and actor Bud Cort (Harold and Maude). After a failed attempt at college at Boston's Northeastern University (where he learned to play guitar and performed publicly for the first time), Berardo hightailed it to Florida where he eventually earned a BA in English and Creative Writing (pieced together at several schools Flagler College, U of Florida and The U of North Florida).

"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 from 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.   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 that I wanted to belong to. I have never stopped since then. In truth, it has felt like one long day since that time. " - MDB quote from a Boston Voyager Interview

Berardo's first steady music gig was in a biker bar in Butler Beach, Florida in 1988 and since that day he has never stopped singing made-up songs, performing an average of 150 nights a year everywhere from bars and coffeehouses to theaters and national festivals and venues such as The legendary Towne Crier Cafe (NY), Narrows Center for the Arts (MA), The Fairfield Performing Arts Center (CT), Tupelo Music Hall (NH), The Bluebird Café (TN), Snapple Sunset Concert Series (RI), The Emelin Theater (NY), The Hamilton (DC), Mile High Concerts (CO), The Opening Bell (TX), Caffe Lena (NY), The Mansion on O St (DC), Zelda's (CA), The Freight and Salvage (CA), The Ramshead Onstage (MD), The Katherine Hepburn Theater (CT), Jonathan's (ME), The Evening Muse (NC), The Wildflower Art and Music Festival (TX), The Historic Cooper House (MD), The Living Room (NY), Hard Rock Cafe (MA), Anderson Fair (TX), Fiddler's Dream (AZ), Smokin’ Tuna (FL), St Anne's Chapel in Vatican City, Italy.

Along the way he has shared the stage with a variety of national acts including  The Doobie Brothers, Peter Rowan, NRBQ, Guy Clark, Vassar Clements, Ralph Stanley, blues legend Chris Smither, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members The Buffalo Springfield, Brooks Williams, Martin Sexton, Kim Richey, Amy Speace, Buddy Mondlock, Norman Blake (Oh Brother Soundtrack), Steve Forbert, Mustard's Retreat, Justin Townes Earle, Eric Anderson, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Red Molly, Garnet Rogers, Eilen Jewell Band, Greg Trooper, Cliff Eberhardt, Ruthie Foster, Cheryl Wheeler, Lucy Kaplansky, Livingston Taylor, Catie Curtis, Kate Taylor, The Pousette-Dart Band, Kevin Welch, Eric Taylor, Will Kimbrough, Kenny White, David Olney, The Kennedys, Eric Taylor, Jimmy LaFave, and John Hiatt among others.

As a member of The DesBerardo Band with his brother Chris, Marc has been a part of shows with classic rock acts including Little Feat, America, Foreigner, The Marshall Tucker Band, Badfinger, David Allen Coe, Levon Helm, Dickey Betts, and Great Southern, Reckless Kelly, and others. In recent years Marc has participated in several well-regarded song workshops and performance excursions in exotic locations including Costa Rica, Islamorada, and Bimini, Bahamas.

Berardo's fifth CD entitled WHALEBONE was released in Sept 2013. Recorded in NYC, Woodstock, NY, and rural Connecticut and produced by Brother Chris Berardo, Whalebone is a supremely crafted collection of songs about change, reemergence, strength, and survival. Guests include the legendary Jon Pousette-Dart (The Pousette-Dart Band), Abbie Gardner (Red Molly), Lincoln Schleifer (Rosanne Cash, Richard Shindell, and The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule, Donald Fagen).  No Depression Magazine called Whalebone: "a highly polished personal collection with songs that are on the delicate trapeze of poignancy.”

In May of 2014, Berardo won the coveted Michael Terry’s People’s Choice Award at the 2014 Wildflower Art and Music Festival Song Contest in Texas.  The following week he performed as a finalist in the legendary Kerrville New Folk Contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival. In early 2015, Berardo's feature appearance on Sirius/ XM Satellite Radio show was voted one of the best of the year by listeners. Berardo was nominated as "Best Americana Vocalist" by the readers of Motif Magazine in early 2017. He has been nationally recognized for his music and performances (Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Song contest, Telluride Troubadour Contest, Sisters Folk Festival, 2013 Rams Head Onstage Rammie for Show of the Year).