Today we’d like to introduce you to Caden Berry.
Hi Caden, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I lived in and grew up in quite a few different places throughout St. Louis County, but consistently, I was raised in Chesterfield Valley, Missouri, where I spent and still spend most of my free time. It’s where my faith grew, where my good friends and I convene, where I go to church, and where my love for folk music blossomed. Music may be the only thing in my life that I can think of that avoids “phases” of high interest or low interest. Like most people, I’ve dipped into just about every genre out there, but folk/country is what really hits my soul; it’s what speaks to me and helps me to speak through my music. I think one day, all the music surrounding me finally got to my head, and I just started playin’. I had a parlor-sized 6-string my dad had given me in hopes that I would learn to play as he did (it sat dormant for years). I played that Gretsch parlor till I got another and gave that one to my brother.
I only like to have one of each instrument. I’m trying to understand why. It makes it feel personal. Now I’m playing a Martin acoustic and a handmade classical, and I can only see another guitar in my foreseeable future if these explode. I love folk music; it’s what I play, it surrounds me, and it fits the atmosphere I’m around. I like spending time in big ol’ foresty parks, you know. So it feels natural to play folk and country, haha. Anyway, folk/country/singer-songwriter has been my musical life for the past few years, and I’m sure it’ll dip into other genres just like my listening does, but It’s where I am most at home. I’m getting into the open mic circuit here in St. Louis, and next year, I’m going on a tour of Missouri’s smaller towns, playing folk all around the whole state. I’d like to have other people with me and get the locals to play songs they like or have written during the performance. I find nature, Jesus, and the music I’m surrounded by incredibly inspiring. Only through an accumulation of those are songs like “Poem for Sofia” and “Together as We Go Runaway” allowed to exist.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
It’s been smooth. I’ve gotten distracted by other projects, but art is free. Even when a record is halted because I ran out of money for studio time, or I’m frustrated scratching out lyrics trying to think of a rhyme, I find it effortless to sit back and appreciate how amazing it is I get to do this at all.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a writer. Well, I am a musician, but the lines blur easily. After all, most of my time is spent scribbling poems down in notebooks, and a much smaller portion is spent figuring out chord progressions and putting words to the song. I proudly wear the badge “Folk Musician,” and while I gravitate towards that, I would do any genre, any day. I’d be in if a mariachi band approached me about doing an album together. Same with a rock band. I love it all, man!
What do you think about luck?
No luck here! Just blessings, and I get plenty of those. I have plenty of challenges and issues, as everyone does, but I am incredibly blessed! I don’t mean to say everything has been easy; it certainly hasn’t. But I get taken care of really well. I get doors opened, networking opportunities, and things I don’t necessarily deserve or have earned. Just recently, I got a free photoshoot through a friend.
Pricing:
- Just talk to me about performing at your venue/resturaunt!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cadeneberry/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/56wifVOSI2IQELZfvchBm6?si=afPfP924QAOJnD_Tl8hWUw
Image Credits
All photos were taken by Clair Sollenberger
