I don't rightly remember where I first met Pete Berwick…might have been at the car wash, in the rows of one of Nashville's many pawn shops, or maybe during a barfight in some back-alley Music City dive. You know what they say about the '80s…if you can remember the decade, well….
What I do remember is that Berwick was the real deal, singing the truth to a mud-crusted, foggy-thinking Music Row establishment too deaf to hear the honesty in the guy's rough-hewn vocals, too rabbit-scared to face the reality portrayed by Pete's lyrics. Hell, they all but crucified Steve Earle back in the day – there's no way that they'd embrace Berwick's heresies. The country music biz might have preached "traditionalism" back in the day, but when faced with an artist too proud and talented to genuflect at the altar of Garth, they ran like Little Bo Peep and her sheep in the opposite direction.
Fast-forward to 2009 and Just Another Day In Hell. Nashville's star-making machinery routinely crushes the souls and dashes the hopes of country music hopefuls, but in Pete Berwick's case, they couldn't stomp out the man's dreams. Here he is with a new album, his best yet, bringing blood, sweat, and balls back to a country music genre sorely lacking in all three.
In Nashville, conventional wisdom says, it "all begins with a song." Problem is, too many Music Row tunesmiths are pets kept on a short leash by the artists they hope will record their songs. Berwick pens his own reality and, much like Hank, Waylon, Townes or Steve, his songs are inhabited by heartbreak, humor, insight, and emotion.
For instance, consider the Dylanesque remembrance that is "I Fought With Angels." Fraught with regret, the song's bone-chilling weariness is reinforced by searing guitarplay and a high lonesome harp. "Cold Wind (Baby Come Home)," like John Prine's best material, provides a perfect balance between the simplicity of song and the complexity of emotion.
The ribald "Hello Hand" is scatologically funny in its embrace of Onanism, while the title cut, "Just Another Day In Hell," is a wry jail song in the mold of Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard. Berwick deftly illustrates that there's more than one kind of prison cell, and that the bars that keep us in are sometimes of our own making.
That's just a few songs from Just Another Day In Hell – the rest are every bit as good, each and every one delivered with a reckless country spirit that is equal parts juke-joint soul and honky-tonk energy. Berwick still rocks too hard for Nashville, but isn't that why God and Gram Parsons created alt-country music?
No, I don't remember where I met Pete Berwick, but I'm glad that I did. Pete and his music keep getting better with age, and Just Another Day In Hell sounds like a cold beer at the end of 500 miles of broken road…it's just that damn good!
Rev. Keith A. Gordon, ramblin' man & Pete Berwick fan….
Rev. Gordon authors the About.com Blues Guide, and is a regular contributor to Blurt Magazine. In the past, his wriitngs have appeared in
Creem, High Times and Harp Magazine, among many others.
AIN'T NO TRAIN OUTTA NASHVILLE
Pete Berwick has been around the block
a time or two and is very much a throwback
to the 1970s outlaw movement rather than
today's country mainstream. Though recorded
in Nashville, on this album, he's the embodiment
of everything that all those chin-out, tough-guy
country young 'uns on CMT would try to become
if they borrowed a clue from Hank Jr. or any of
the other real dudes.
His songs are dark, sad, funny, spooky, hell-raising,
fascinating and always interesting. The titles give it
away: Rebels And Cadillacs, Only Bleeding, Devil
Knows His Name and Rusted Ball And Chain.
He opens up with "Rebels And Cadillacs" a real
kicker and a great upbeat tune. An out-and-out
rural rocker with a chuck Berry inspired lead guitar
and in-your-face vocal onslaught. "When I'm Gone",
"The Years We Left Behind", and "This Used To
Be A Town" might seem either abrasive or
unconvincing if voiced by someone with a less
muscular and rich delivery. "Can't Hide The Tears"
recalls the hey-day of Jason & The Scorchers---
cowpunk with attitude and soul.
Cutting edge electric lead guitars, sawing fiddles,
haunting harmonicas, a solid bass-and-drum rhythm
section and rough' n' ready vocals that spit out real
life experiences. There's nothing pretty or ordinary
about this. Pity there ain't no train outta Nashville,
it could have taken all those country wimps to Vegas
or Branson and left Music Row to the likes of Pete
Berwick and instilled some much needed guts, soul and
reality into today's country.----
AC (MAVERICK MAGAZINE. The new voice of country music)
ONLY BLEEDING
Here's a guy who's been writing, performing, and recording for over thirty years, and you can hear the battle scars. This is authentic Americana rock with occasional forays into punk. Imagine Bruce Springsteen performing songs by the Ramones." -- Jennifer Layton, Indie-Music.com
Berwick's Jack Daniels soaked vocals are raw and rough-edged, as he sings songs from a discerning and familiar point of view. Berwick weaves his early cowpunk influences with contemporary and traditional styles to create a musical mosaic, which is diverse, yet comprehensive and extremely individual, and deeply rooted in American music.--Tony Engelhart, Crud Magazine
A veteran of both the Nashville and Chicago music scenes, Pete Berwick's 2002 album Only Bleeding showcases all of his various influences and incarnations, the songs mixing rock, country and blues in the creation of a heady musical elixir.-- The Rev. Keith A, Gordon, Creem Magazine
I think this was the soundtrack to a barfight the other night. Cool roadhouse rock. You can feel the bottles breaking and cigarettes burning behind these songs. Cool acoustic storytelling, but rebuilt for the bar with some electrified twang and gravel-throated delivery. Rating: 10 -- Black Bart, cdstreet.com
Sounds Like
Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Drive By Truckers, Jason And The Scorchers, Georgia Satellites, Tom Petty, Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams jr, Rolling Stones, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Lee Lewis
"Pete Berwick is worthy to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Dylan,
Springsteen and Mellencamp. A tall statement but the music tells a story of
a man who has poured his guts, his soul and his passion into his songs."---
Lucas Campbell, Rock Of Ages Radio Show, Uk
"Berwick rocks to hard for Nashville, but isn't that why God and Gram Parsons
created alt-country music?" ---
Rev. Keith A Gordon, All Music Blues Guide, Creem Magazine
"Methinks Hank woulda done it this way." ---
Fred Mills, Blurt Magazine
If you think that rock and roll is dead, think again. Pete Berwick brings it crashing home time and time again. I have been a fan or Pete's since I heard his first screaming release and I have to say that whenever I grow cynical of the industry, I put a Berwick CD on and dance myself into a born again rock frenzy. What I most love about Pete's work is his sense of sick humor. He can sell road kill as easily as he sells heartache. His vox sounds like he was born gargling with whisky and rock pebbles. He plays his well worn ax like a well played woman. Pete Berwick is and never has been a flash-in-the pan musician. Those of us that have discovered him wish lovers of real rock could all discover him. Nobody would ever say again that rock is dead. "Ain't no Train Outta Nashville" is still my favorite but all of his CDs are terrific. As a musician and critic myself, I give Pete the highest rating I can. Maybe it's because I been there, done that and wear the T but he's the real deal.---
Fly Williams
BUY THE NEW ALBUM "JUST ANOTHER DAY IN HELL"
"Imagine a run-down bar somewhere along the road packed
with truckers shooting pool, smoking and drinking beer.
Someone is passed out in the men's room, a couple of guys
are fighting out front while others are playing stud or dancing
with the local girls. The sound from the jukebox is more than
likely to sound something like Pete Berwick." So wrote Christopher
Davidson of Mutinyzine Magazine.
"Hard edged and whiskey infused" is how one radio DJ described
Pete Berwick's music, and music critic Rev. Keith Gordon, former
contributor to Creem Magazine wrote, "Berwick pens his own reality and,
much like Hank, Waylon, Towness Van Zandt and Steve Earle, his songs
are inhabited by heartbreak, humor, insight and emotion."
The UK's Maverick Magazine mirrored that sentiment, writing,
"Berwick's songs are dark, sad, funny, spooky, hell raising, facinating
and always interesting, and Chuck Eddy, senior editor for
Billboard magazine and former writer for Rolling Stone wrote,
"Pete Berwick, an Illinois roughneck who has somehow fallen through
the cracks, writes songs that rock right through their platitudes.
Berwick's journey began in Illinois in the mid seventies, hammering
out irreverant country, roots rock and reckless honky tonk rave ups
night after night to anyone in the midwest who cared to listen. Then after
after almost fifteen years of non stop performing he headed to Nashville with
a fistful of songs and the clothes on his back.
By the time Berwick arrived in the music city, Steve Earle was on his
way to jail and Jason & the Scorchers had broken up.
Signed by an up and coming independent record label in the heart
of music row, Berwick was heralded by many in town as the one to
run with the cowpunk gauntlet left at the roadside. After years of
belting it out in biker bars and nowhere dives, Pete now found himself
opening shows for Charlie Daniels, Doug Kershaw, and other musical
legends. He was invited to make cameo appearances in music videos
by The Kentucky Headhunters and Travis Tritt, and also appeared on a
commercial for Monday night Football.
But as fast as luck goes up in Nashville, it comes down even faster.
The promising record deal went bust, but not before the recording of the
critically acclaimed "Ain't No Train Outta Nashville." Recorded in Waylon
Jennings old studio, The album was shelved in 1991 due to contractual
disputes and economic hardships. Disgusted with the politics of the music
industry, Pete bought several acres of land fourty miles east of Nashville
and resigned to shooting his guns, writing some of the songs that would
become his third album "Just Another Day In Hell" and working at the local
factory.
Berwick later moved back to his hometown in northern Illinois, and free
from the publishing and other legal disputes tying up the album, he released
"Ain't No Train Outta Nashville" on his own label in 2007.
From there it shot to 5 on Cross Country Satellite Radio and 20 on
The Roots Music Report Charts, and the title song appeared in Paramount
Pictures "The Thing Called Love" starring River Phoenix.
Prior to releasing "Ain't No Train Outta Nashville" Berwick recorded
and released also on his own label "Only Bleeding" with Brian Wilson bassist
Bob Lizic, and as the critical acclaim started pouring in, he hit the road once more
in support of both albums.
It's been over thirty years since Pete Berwick stepped on a stage for the first time,
and thousands of shows and two albums later he has delivered his third recording,
"Just another Day In Hell". An eighteen song epic of non fictional tales which colorfully
and often brutally describes the trials and hardships left behind on the long hard trail,
"Just Another Day In Hell" is Pete Berwick's biography and heart and soul worn on
his tattered sleeve. From shattered relationships, broken dreams and drug abuse,
to prison walls and battles with angels and demons, this is as real as it gets. Pete's
rough and ready vocals spit out stark tales of heartache, pain and redemption, and
just like life, the endings aren't always pretty.
Unlike the country music hacks of Nashville today who are judged more on their poster
appeal than the merits of their music, Berwick is not afraid to take the listener
to that dark side, that desolate and heartbreaking place where dreams die hard.
Performing on the album are Berwick's former band mates, guitarist Rick Devries,
bassist Nick Verbic, and drummer Rob Sury. "The last thing I wanted was the
slick Nashville sound'' said Berwick."I wanted to capture what it really sounded
and smelled like on the road and in the trenches of life, and I knew no better way
then with my old band. "These guys stood behind me for years as we played dump
after dump for half a dozen drunks and an occasional dog, and this album tells
some of those stories in all their beer drenched glory."
Though well below the radar throughout most of his career, Berwick's die-hard
spirit and gritty songs have earned him due respect from critcs and fans weary
of the cookie cutter fluff churned out by the country music industry, and his albums
have earned several top ten album of the year awards, and americana artist of the
year awards.
Like the country outlaws before him, Berwick lives the songs and then writes about
them, and from the titles on his new album it's obvious the living hasn't always
been easy. The only things that ever did come easy for this fifty one year old veteran
are the hard breaks, yet Pete Berwick carries on down the road less travelled regardless
of the potholes and roadblocks.
Call it roots rock, call it americana, call it alternative country or call it cowpunk.
In the end, it's "Just Another Day In Hell."
Pete Berwick & The Nashville Underground 1992
Performing "Ain't No Train Outta Nashville"
Chicago Bands and Entainers we are looking to fill some spots in upcoming event show. If you are looking to get in some clubs and festivals please email us.
Pete, thanks for letting me play your “Standing At The Gates” video on the show. Everyone loved it! You’ve been getting a lot of great comments in the chat room!
Have you ever wondered what the wearechange.org group is all about? HELP OUT WITH THE TV SHOW! Many patriotic citizens across the GLOBE have united together,in a WORLDWIDE EFFORT OF, WE THE PEOPLE, to expose, confront, and ask the questions most are too scared to ask!Where do our tax dollars really go?Who calls the shots BESIDES OBAMA?Wonder why we are in a bankrupt economy? What is The AMERO or NWO or NAU?WHO is BARRY SOETORO and why is he using the name BARACK OBAMA?We Won't sit around and watch this world, and this GREAT COUNTRY crumble,Veterans against the war,200,000Architects andEngineers that have FACTS about 9/11 Lies,the 1st responder firefighters,and OATHKEEPERS families that we send OUR donations to,the mothers,the fathers, the brothers, the healers, the Lightworkers,Native Americans,the Rainbow Warriors, The Pro Se Personal Sovereignty Proffesors, the Liberatarians,the Musicians that unite us,the donating actors and actresses, the freedom fighters,the Patriots,The MOLON LABE militia that protect the people and our 2nd amendment, the ProBono LAWYERS THE Healers and the REALcongressman and woman that stand forTRUTH, ALL ARE COMING FORWARD TO SAVE THE COUNTRY!! When will WE ALL put down our ego's and realize that we need to work together.... before we ALL have NOTHING TO LOSE?!?!?!? www.wearechange.org Find OR START a CHAPTER NEAR YOU!!Are you IN ILLinois?Meet us! Join up!DO SOMETHING!! Sovereign Citizenship Project Memberships http://www.myspace.com/title4flag www.meetup.com/wearechangechicago http://www.youtube.com/user/WeAreChangeChicago
Something funny I wanted to share with you... My son just said the Charlie Daniels cd I'm listening to sounds like... Pete Berwicks "Pebbles N Cadillacs"!!! He likes it & of course your cd's!!! Oh, and just now he said to tell you YOU ROCK!!!
I thought you'd like the comment. If you were living/playing in Texas, I'd probably come out of retirement just to play with you. It would be a helluva fun gig.
Pete, it's always so great to hear from you! Thanks for being on Indie Spotlight. Those guys all love your music and they really enjoyed having the opportunity to chat with you! We always have a great time when you're on the show!
Hey Pete! I am so glad Deb turned me onto your music! I wished you would play here on the Outer Banks of Carolina sometime! Just wonderful songs buddy! *smiles* Jane
Hey Dude you like some great stuff. So please check us out. We have a song call Forgot to Forget and we are CGP. I chose you because you are fucking cool and i'm sure you wouldn't dislike a little New Wave garage Rock n Roll Punk song, Would ya
Pat yourself on the back for being cool MF and check us out