Title - The Beauty of This Now
Artist - Marc Douglas Berardo
For those unaware, Marc Douglas Berardo lives on the southwestern coastline of Rhode Island on a river that runs into the ocean.
Berardo’s songs mine the deep feelings and lessons gleaned from real-life characters and situations. It’s his songs combined with an onstage presence that uses humor and deft storytelling to rally an audience and lead them into a deep and sometimes 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.
After thirty years of bars, theaters, house concerts, and festivals as well as a boatload of song awards and national recognition, Berardo has established himself as the real deal. A lifer that No Depression Magazine called: “sincere, fluid, charming and above all gripping.”
“After a successful era of writing songs, touring, and making records,” Marc Douglas Berardo says in introducing his latest album, The Beauty of This Now, “I wasn’t sure if it was worth the Herculean effort of making full-length recordings. In my personal life, I felt overwhelmed and at times directionless. I attempted in 2018 to make a recording in Woodstock, NY that I was unable to finish. I contemplated quitting performing altogether. I wondered if anyone would even notice.”
“In the summer of 2022 after a show in NYC with Texas song hero Walt Wilkins, a clear opportunity arrived. With the power of a preacher, Walt made it known: he valued our friendship and liked my songs and I should come to Austin where we would make a record because there was quite simply no more time to waste or to worry. This was going to be good for the soul, good for the brain, and good for the heart. I was inspired and reborn. It was a Hell of a speech!”
1. I’m Listening Now
2. That Alone Will Set You Free
3. Changing
4. Another Day In July
5. The Beauty of This Now
6. Let Nothing Come Between Us
7. Hearts In Play
8. I’ll Carry You
9. On My Way Home To You
10. Blow A Kiss and Hit the Road
The album opens the dutifully harmonious I’m Listening Now and the acoustically ambient That Alone Will Set You Free and they are followed by the countrified Changing, the impassioned Another Day In July and the beautifully ornate The Beauty of This Now.
Along next is the free flowing, melodious Let Nothing Come Between Us and that is backed with an aching yearn found within Hearts In Play, a low slung I’ll Carry You, the album rounding out on the beautiful On My Way Home To You, closing on the Hammond-imbibed ballad Blow A Kiss and Hit the Road.
www.marcdouglas.com
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