Hi Folks,

Welcome to my website.  I am a Singer-Songwriter from Alberta Canada.  My musical style ranges from straight up Acoustic Roots / Folk  and Canadiana / Americana,  to what might be called  "Blues-grass".  No I did not say Bluegrass....I respect the genre of Bluegrass far too much to categorize my music there in the pure sense. However, within the contemporary world of less defined genre guidelines, some of my music has been referred to as Bluegrass or Newgrass in nature. 

 A friend once described my singing as what she could envision  the voice of a "love- child" between the voices of Joni Mitchell and Rosanne Cash to sound like. Others have said I sound a bit like Kate Wolf, Kathy Mattea or Jennifer Warnes.   I am very  honoured to have been defined in reference to each of   these iconic and amazing artists in any way, however,  I cannot say that I have my own notion of who I sound like or where to clearly place my music.   Essentially a self taught musician and songwriter, I have been fond of many artists over the years,  so there surely must have been influences along the way.  When asked directly though,  I guess the most accurate description I can offer of my songwriting, guitar playing and singing is..........un-molded.

Story wise,  I typically write about what I observe in the world around me; from the person just trying to make a living anyway they can, to songs about my concern for the Natural World.  So some songs might be considered to be "Working Man Blues"  and  others perhaps as modern day " Protest" songs.  It is certainly not my intent, however,  to preach about current issues...either through my musical essence or within my lyrics.  In truth,  my songwriting is not even motivated by trying to make people listen. I just write about what I think about when I look at the world around me and if what I say somehow "speaks" to people,  I think it is because we are all in this together.  If  my songs engage people in any way, then I admit  I will be glad to have initiated  some kind of dialogue with others.  I believe that music and other art forms are much better arsenals than any other "weapon",  if what you are hoping to do is affect people's views or practices in this complex geo-political time. 

I have been singing, playing guitar and making up songs since I was a kid, but for the most part only began performing in public within the last few years.  Recently, I have had the good fortune of hooking up with a couple of very talented musicians who I perform with in a band called "Wheelhouse".  Jack Loree on Lead Guitar, Dobro, Banjo and Harmony Vocals and Norm Rooke on the Upright Bass and Harmony Vocals.  The Wheelhouse fellas also recently joined me to produce and play on my first  CD "Fledgling" - which was released on April 8th, 2010.  

I look forward to hearing from you or meeting you at our concerts.  For now and always, very good wishes to all.

Berna-Dean