RI singer-songwriter Marc Douglas Berardo and local fav Tom Prasada- Rao

1226 n pegram st,Alexandria VA 22304

19 June, 2021

Description

Rhode Island Singer-Songwriter Marc Douglas Berardo and local favorite Tom Prasada-Rao in the backyard at The Sevareid House Another great evening of music is coming your way with an exciting and unique co-bill combining great songs and performances from two world-class songwriters. Both of these performers have graced some of the most iconic stages around and we are thrilled to welcome Marc and Tom to the Sevareid House series. Rhode Island based Marc Douglas Berardo's songs have been recognized at many prestigious national festivals and events such as the The South Florida Folk Festival and The Wildflower Art and Music Festival Song Contest where he won The Michael Terry People's Choice Award in 2014. He was a finalist in the legendary Kerrville New Folk Contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival. In early 2015, Berardo's interview and live performance featured on Sirius/ XM Satellite Radio's, The Village was voted one of the best of the year by listeners. No Depression Magazine called his last CD Whalebone: “sincere, fluid, charming and above all gripping.” Berardo's 2016 interview and performance on Sirius/ XM's The Village was voted one of the best of the year by listeners. Berardo was nominated as Best Americana Vocalist by readers of Motif Magazine in early 2017. Marc’s current record project, “Temporary Things” is planned for release in 2021 The most moving, pointed and memorable songs reflect Prasada-Rao's indebtedness to Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan, and Richard Thompson, and other singer songwriters who have something to say, and a distinctive way of saying it. —Mike Joyce, The Washington Post Tom Prasada-Rao has been a quiet giant on the folk scene since the early 1990s. His new song, "$20 Bill (for George Floyd)" reflects the same sort of gentle power. It's a quiet song, neither too simple nor overwrought, recorded under a desk lamp in an otherwise dark room, intermittently lit by the flashing screen of his television. There's a kind of honesty in his presentation: he is not putting on a show for us. "$20 Bill" truly is a song for George Floyd. We just happen to be listening to it. It's not a protest song, shot through with calls to action and indictments of a system. It's a lament. Reflecting quietly through song on the unfairness of Floyd's death, Prasada-Rao conjures up images of better ends he could have met. In the climax of the song, he speaks to Floyd directly: "Brother, I never knew you/And now I never will/But I make this promise to you/I'll remember you still." "$20 Bill" is an affecting piece that will secure George Floyd's memory in the minds of more people than just Prasada-Rao. This is a powerful song derived from classic folk sounds, and it's easy to imagine it becoming part of the genre's canon in the years to come. - Jake Blount, NPR MUSIC Tom Prasada-Rao is a musician's musician - an unassuming presence on the folk scene since the early nineties. His voice belies his musicianship and his extraordinary songs. From Rishi’s Garden with it’s homage to Ravi Shankar to the groove of Sleeping Beauty , Tom’s music is melodic, ambitious, and reverent.