Album Notes

“**** - Brilliant stuff” – The Globe and Mail

“This is the album of the year.” --Sam Parton, The Be Good Tanyas

“His mighty pen can tug heartstrings, as well as write witty, biting satire” – Now Magazine

“A truly gifted songwriter” –The Georgia Straight

“Genius.” --Penguin Eggs Magazine

Geoff Berner writes peculiar, witty, sometimes heartbreaking songs with way too much insight into human nature. When he sings them, he stands alone on stage, playing his accordion, Estella. The music is a unique mix of folk, punk, and klezmer. The effect can be at times haunting, confrontational, or just absurd. Sometimes all three at the same time.

“I play accordion.” The Vancouver native says, point blank. “I make no apologies for it. It’s part of my heritage as a Jew of Eastern European descent. I choose to present my songs this way.”

In spite (or perhaps because) of his unorthodox approach, he’s earning a living as a traveling, recording musician. Following the release of his debut EP, “Light Enough to Travel” on punk rock label Sudden Death Records, he’s toured Europe 5 times, played at over a dozen Canadian folk and jazz festivals and performed throughout the U.S. Radio and television appearances have included features on Canadian, Norwegian, Northern Ireland, Czech, and Slovenian National Radio.

He’s shared bills with such luminaries as Corb Lund, Alberta Slim, D.O.A., Billy Bragg, Chuck Brodsky, Carolyn Mark, the Show Business Giants and the Be Good Tanyas, who cover Berner’s song “Light Enough to Travel. The list of other artists covering his songs has reached 20 and climbing.