Pete Berwick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2eqoAqWTE

ROADKILL BLUES

BREAKING NEWS:PETE BERWICK WILL BE FEATURED IN A MAJOR NETWORK TELEVISION PROGRAM THIS FALL. STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO. DUE TO CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS THAT'S ALL THE NEWS FOR NOW ON THAT.WORK ON THE THIRD ALBUM IS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY. LOOK FOR AN EARLY 2009 RELEASE.
PETE BERWICK IS CURRENTLY TOURING AS A SOLO ACOUSTIC ACT. FOR BOOKINGS CONTACT ME HERE @ MYSPACE OR [email protected]
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. Christer Davidsson, MUTINYZINE.COM
"Ain't No Train Outta Nashville is the best damned album since "the Hard Way" and I'll stand on Steve Earle's coffee table in my biker boots and say that!"--Torchy Blaine, "Guitar Town" Radio WDVR-FM
* * * Berwick appears to be the genuine article, an urban cowboy from another time or another place. His voice is weathered and rugged. His guitar playing is masterful, and his lyrics are soulful. It’s everything you’d expect to hear from the dusty looking outlaw in the sepia-toned picture on the cover of his disc. He is a man of many talents aside from being one hell of a musician. No matter how you drink your whiskey, you’ll love the soulful country-rock of Pete Berwick. If you can get into rockabilly or Johnny Cash (or good Elvis), then you will enjoy Berwick’s tunes. Check it out. (Peter Terebesi , Verbicide Magazine)
* * *There is so much talent out there that isn’t getting out because the recording industry starts to milk them for money the second that they get any recognition. You can’t make it if you don’t pay. How ridiculous. Artists like Pete Berwick, Papa Satch, and Bill Kelly are where the future of music lies. --Bill Prevost, Riff Radio
THE NEW ALBUM "AIN'T NO TRAIN OUTTA NASHVILLE" 5 ON XM SATELLITE CROSS COUNTRY RADIO CHARTS 2007
Anyone looking for a nostalgic hit of late 80s alt-country? Do you reminisce about the days you and your buddies planned road-trips to Nashville-town to catch Jason & the Scorchers and Steve Earle? Do Hank III and Shooter Jennings strike you as somewhat privileged? Are you wondering if alt-country is dead? "Yes," you say? Then allow me to introduce you to Pete Berwick.
Berwick is the real deal—a Jason & the Scorchers-influenced alt-country rocker continuing to churn out irreverent country-rock that speaks to the painful truths about life—and when the Nashville music industry doesn't want to listen, well hell, that doesn't make life any easier. Berwick writes about that too. Ain't No Train Outta Nashville was recorded in Nashville back in 1993, then shelved due to the record label closing its doors. In 2007, some fourteen years later, Berwick finally released the record on his own label, Shotgun Records. Slightly dated, but gloriously so, Ain't No Train Outta Nashville is a cross between Cowboy Mouth and The Georgia Satellites. With fiery guitars and Berwick's vocals walking the fine line between alt-country and cow-punk, one spin transports the listener to another time and place. But fourteen years has not softened Berwick; rather, Berwick's edge has grown sharper as he's witnessed the music industry sink to all-time lows. Now, with his own record label, Berwick's garnered enough optimism to release Ain't No Train Outta Nashville and head out on the road in support of it—like the days of old.
If any of my readers answered "yes" to the opening line of questions or if you like real shit-kickin' country music, then don't hesitate to get Pete Berwick's records. And don't miss him on his solo Fall 2008 tour of the Southeast. — Vincent Wynne, Listennashville.com, March 15, 2008
VISIT PETE'S WEBSITE
“Better late than never, so they say...” says 48 year old Northern Illinois native Pete Berwick, when asked why he’s decided to release a new album after a self imposed five year sabbatical. Truth be known, Berwick’s been ‘on the verge’ for his entire career and now with the release of “Ain’t No Train Outta Nashville,” he's poised for a hard earned breakthough.
Pete Berwick’s songs are whiskey-soaked, ragged and weathered, with a mix of hardcore heartbreak and rock-edged attitude that dares to go unnoticed. Berwick’s been making music for three decades, and the trials and tribulations bleed through in his latest album which serves as a soundtrack to his life story. He believes that now is the time for his music to finally reach a larger audience. “My goal as a songwriter has always been to reach the listener emotionally" says Berwick.
One reviewer refers to the renegade sound as akin to “Steve Earle on crack” and that isn’t far off the mark. The songs are poignant with the perspective depth that comes only from living the words first. The vocals are raw, edgy with a distinctiveness that’s been missing from radio airwaves for many years. The music is urgent and rebellious, not much unlike the man himself.
Berwick’s been in it long enough to know that the only thing that comes easy in this business are the hard knocks and tough breaks. He’s battled through and survived more than his fair share of them.
Beginning in 1981 as the founder and frontman of the Chicago cult favorites “The Generics” he found his way to college radio with the band’s two year, high octane run, playing hundreds of dates throughout the Midwest. In 1983 - 1986 he found himself as a guitarist for the punk/metal band “The End” and then in 1986 he took a solid mix of all of his roots based musical influences, from rock and blues to punk and country and the result was “Pete Berwick and Interstate”. The resulting cowpunk sound sizzled and caught fire quickly as the band toured heavily. During this timeframe Pete released two self produced records. One of the projects, “Decisions” was an accumulation of ten years of songwriting and ranked second of all 1987 indie releases by Illinois Entertainer magazine.
With momentum and hope on his side he followed his dreams on a road that took him to Nashville in 1990 where he wasted no time in securing a record and songwriting deal with Bitter Creek Records. While churning out songs during the day, Berwick was soon heating up stages at night in Nashville and throughout the south, opening up shows for legendary artists such as Charlie Daniels, Joe Sun, Doug Kershaw and Red Steagall.
In 1993 Berwick went back into the studio and recorded what would eventually be “Ain’t No Train Outta Nashville." Bankrupcy with the record company forced the album to be shelved and Berwick moved on to other projects, including an EP with Steve Earle/Billy Joe Shaver drummer Craig Wright. Berwick also made cameo appearances in several country music videos with Travis Tritt, The Kentucky Headhunters, Patty Loveless, and appeared on a commercial for Monday Night football with Hank Williams Junior.
In 1996, after over 15 years of non-stop performing, recording and writing, Berwick made the decision to relocate back to his hometown of Chicago. There he started an entertainment and publishing company and record label and in 2002 he recorded and released "Only Bleeding" on his label Shotgun Records. Performing on the critically acclaimed album are Brian Wilson Bass player Bob Lizik and Lonnie Brooks drummer Pat Doody. The album is a hard rocking yet haunting collection of real life tales of hard living, addiction, self destructive renegades and salvation,which received rave reviews.
Berwick gathered local music veterans Rick Devries, Nick Verbic and Rob Surrey and assembled the roadhouse rockin' band “Pete Berwick and the Renegades” in 2002 and has since put hundreds of live performances under his belt touring the Midwest ceaselessly in support of "Only Bleeding." The album was and remains a critic’s favorite, garnering a top ten of best indie releases in 2002 by renowned music critic Reverend Keith A Gordon, and the album also received top ten indie release honors by Tom Lounges of The Northwest Indiana Herald and Midwest Beat Magazine. The title track which also appears on his new album currently maintains in the top ten on the Americana charts for over a year on garageband.com, while the album’s opening track “Must Think She Loves Me” was featured in the cult movie ‘Townies’.
Fast forward to 2007. Pete Berwick's Nashville recording “Ain’t No Train Outta Nashville” is being released to Americana and Roots-Rock radio, and charted at 5 on Xmsatellite Cross Country Radio and at 32 on The Roots Music Report charts. The album is a rollicking and sauntering country-rock/Americana collection of hard lived songs, which includes the title track which was featured in Paramount Picture's “A Thing Called Love”. The project is an Americana snapshot of dusty roads, outlaws, small towns and late night honky-tonks. First recorded in 1993 and shelved after his record deal turned sour, Berwick’s faith in the album never faded nor faltered. "I took the thing off the damn shelf and listened" said Berwick. "After thirteen years the songs still sounded good. I realised it was senseless to bury the album with the ill fated record deal, so releasing it on my own label seemed the obvious thing to do."
Berwick most recently appeared at Nashville's Spirit Of The Outlaws Show, performing with Willie Nelson Bassist Bee Spears and Former Waylon Jennings drummer Richie Albright.
REVIEW OF "AIN'T NO TRAIN OUTTA NASHVILLE" BY JOHN MURPHY, SHITE 'N' ONIONS RADIO (www.shitenonions.com)
Chicago born Pete Berwick started out his career in the early eighties fronting various Chicago punk bands before moving south and absorbing the sounds of his adopted new home town of Nashville. Combining both the big city punk influence and the country sounds of Nashville, Berwick has made one of the best pieces of American rock'n'roll with attitude I've ever heard. Think Steve Earle, meets The Georgia Satellites meets Chuck Berry while the lyrics bring small town Midwest America alive very much in the way Springsteen brought working class Jersey to life. If your looking for a perfect piece of Americana then this is it.--Shite 'N' Onions