Rising Stars: Meet Herb Merriweather of Panorama City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Herb Merriweather.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My ‘story’ is incredibly lengthy–because I have a full life. I currently work as a voice actor (just beginning a new chapter in my career–stepping out from behind the mic). When I’m not locked in a tiny room producing audio ‘landscapes’, I volunteer (with my wife Cora) at our church, The Place Of Grace in Inglewood. We work in the food outreach ministry–sorting and bagging pallets of food for the local residents and whoever else might need it! Each week we unload 6-10 pallets of fresh vegetables; divide and sort into individual bags (about 300 each week). The need is great. Our church started this at the onset of COVID-19 and has served close to half a million families. This work is balanced by me singing tenor in the choir and helping with facilities.
I am a person who is –simply put–blessed. Yes, there has been adversity (I once lost a VO job when the television station manager found out I was black), but there has also been great blessing . I’ve had a chance to connect with the blind and vision-impaired audience through my work with Audio Eyes–a company that audio describes movies, television shows and live events. With them I was able to be one of the live describers for the Rose Parade (13 years); the Grammy awards; the 2023 Tony Awards and the Oscars (yes–the ‘slap’ Oscars).
I am originally from St. louis, MO and I am STILL a baseball Cardinals fan (nobody’s perfect). Moved with my 3 kids from St. Louis in 1986. Never looked back. Oh, I still have family there and we visit often, but what I was unable to do there professionally, I was able to do here without so much of the bigotry and narrow-mindedness.
My vision for the future is to continue to serve God in excellence–by serving people with love.
I also look to expand our radio station–a praise and worship platform called ‘The Quilt” currently available on the Google Play store. Radio like you’ve never heard…

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As earlier stated, my calling card is ‘voice actor’. I’ve been able to perform in just about every genre: commercials, cartoons, audio books, audio description (of movies, TV shows, documentaries) I have experience in dubbing for foreign films and musicals. I also had the opportunity to narrate and create the soundscapes and audio ambience for the new video game ‘Bronzeville: Between the Wars’ produced by Alchemy Media , LLC. My website currently features samples from that project.

What sets me apart from others is the skill I learned from working with the blind audio producers at Audio Eyes. They trained me to approach audio/sound differently and thereby get a more accurate audio portrayal.

I was commissioned and honored to do the audio book ‘Ever Increasing Faith’ by Smith Wigglesworth. The book itself was not really a book–but a collection of his legendary sermons. The project is still available on several different outlets on YouTube–with almost a million views.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Contact me via email: merriweather8545@gmail.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://herbmerriweathervo.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hmerriweather/?__pwa=1#
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herbmerriweather/
• Twitter: https://x.com/HerbMerriweath1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@herbmerriweather1178