December 11, 2018

Meet Bill Berry

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bill Berry.

Bill, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I began as a rock musician and songwriter for numerous Los Angeles bands. The best known was probably Blackberry Jam from 1988-1994.

After a demo deal that went nowhere the band split up, and I moved to New Orleans, LA where I learned the history of jazz, blues, and New Orleans R&B by working as a radio producer and on-air host at 90.7 WWOZ-FM. Katrina hit in 2005, and I moved back to Los Angeles to work as a composer for NBC television on the family comedy Sons & Daughters (2006). The show was roundly beaten in the ratings by American Idol which was pretty much crushing anything in its wake at the time. We were canceled after one season.

I got involved with the Americana/folk songwriting community and started attending the Folk Alliance conferences, particularly FAR-West which focuses on the Western United States. On a whim, I began a songwriter’s showcase called Songwriter’s Square, based on a songwriter show I saw in Nashville. It was performed in-the-round with four singer-songwriters and between the stories and songs was one of the most emotionally satisfying live performances I had ever seen.

Songwriter’s Square was based on this model and was also performed in-the-round. Our first show featured Tracy Newman, Gary Stockdale, and Richard Goldman, three successful Los Angeles songwriters, and we sold out the Lyric-Hyperion Theatre & Café in Silverlake.

From there we held the show every month for over five years. We featured songwriters from every genre including some well-known (Debbie Peterson from the Bangles, Eagles songwriter Jack Tempchin, hit writer Shelly Peiken), and some local up and coming songwriters. The show was a great success.

In order to promote the monthly show I began the Songwriter’s Square Newsletter, now in its seventh year, which promotes the Los Angeles songwriter scene by sharing shows and events, reviewing new releases and concerts, and featuring articles by Emmy, Grammy, and Gold and Platinum award-winning songwriters.

Along with the newsletter, I perform the award-winning, one-man musical, Rose Petals, And Ashes, and have been bringing it to theatres throughout the US and Canada since 2017. Featuring ten original songs, Rose Petals And Ashes received the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore! Producer’s Award and the TVolution Platinum Medal for theatre.

My 2016 album Awkward Stage was critically acclaimed and was in contention for the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. 2018 brings an all-new solo acoustic album called Rose Petals And Ashes, featuring the songs from the stage show. I also work for Los Angeles County at the Ford Theatres in Hollywood running event services.

With a new wife and plans to start a family, my life is full. I feel the most rewarding thing about sharing the Songwriter’s Square Newsletter with people is that it’s a place to get local songwriter news to local songwriters. I’m always astounded at the feedback I receive as well as the “thank you’s” from performers on the local scene. I’m proud to be able to serve the local songwriting community in this way.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Struggles have to include an on again/off again fight with drugs and alcohol. I am now 16 years sober. It took me years to find out that even one drink or one hit off a joint was too much for me. It always struck me as unfair that some can get along just fine with a drink or getting stoned and the next day think nothing of it. I obsessed. I needed to be high to feel right.

Not until I got sober and changed my focus from looking for drugs to writing and performing and loving myself, did I fully understand the joys of life. And not until then did I find someone to really love and be loved by in return. My reward for staying sober is my beautiful wife Jillian, my close relationship with friends and family, and the catalogue of songs, stories, and plays that I have been able to write.

Another challenge has been the ability to find true friends. If you’ve ever been wronged by a trusted friend, lied to or taken advantage of, you know how devastating it feels. For me, it destroyed my ability to trust myself in making good decisions regarding others. I’ve gotten better.

While I thankfully can count the number of close friends who turned out to be fake on one hand, the memories of how I was abused or taken advantage of still resonate and inform my decision making today. Live and learn.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I publish the free monthly Songwriter’s Square Newsletter, now in its seventh year, which promotes the Los Angeles songwriter scene by sharing shows and events, reviewing new releases and concerts, and featuring articles by Emmy, Grammy, and Gold and Platinum award-winning songwriters.

I perform the award-winning, one-man musical, Rose Petals, And Ashes, and have been bringing it to theatres throughout the US and Canada since 2017. The show tells the story of a man who seeks to end the relationship with a ghost from his past, and ends up coming to an understanding he didn’t expect.

The show explores themes from addiction and recovery to the ripple effects of war on generations. Featuring ten original songs, Rose Petals And Ashes received the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore! Producer’s Award and the TVolution Platinum Medal for theatre.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t have been so afraid to put things out there. I would have taken my high school band and performed at Madame Wong’s rather than waiting until I thought I was “ready.” It took me years to decide I was ready.

And the years of getting high? I would have cut those right out. I would have been kinder to people. I would have spent more time with my Grandmother while she was alive. I would have watched less TV and listened to more music. And practiced guitar more. And learned to surf and ice skate when my body was pliable rather than waiting until everything breaks easily.

Contact Info:

Website: www.billberrymusic.com
Phone: 310-947-9019
Email: berry_lives@hotmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.berry.90410
Twitter: twitter.com@realbillberry

Image Credit:
James F. Dean, Jillian Berry, Paul Landry

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