Acoustic Northeast

Ep. 14 – Marc Douglas Berardo

Marc Douglas Berardo is a thought-provoking songwriter whose songs mine the deep feelings and lessons gleaned from real-life characters and situations. Along with slick guitar chops and an onstage presence that uses humor and deft storytelling, he rallies an audience and leads them into a deep and almost spiritual experience. It’s an adventure that brings to mind James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Guy Clark, or Steely Dan with a touch of Mark Twain or Hunter S. Thompson for good measure.   Marc's first music show was in a biker bar in Allston, MA, in 1987. Since that day, he has never stopped performing made-up songs. He has opened for or shared the stage with heavyweights such as The Doobie Brothers, The Pousette-Dart Band, Jimmy Lafave,  Catie Curtis, Martin Sexton, 10,000 Maniacs, John Hiatt, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Buffalo Springfield, Kevin Welch, Lucy Kaplansky, Eric Andersen, Ruthie Foster, Eric Taylor, David Olney, Red Molly, Kim Richey, Will Kimbrough, Walt Wilkins, Ari Hest, Dan Navarro, Kenny White and Livingston Taylor. Berardo has performed at numerous nationally known songwriter festivals.  Most recently, He headlined at the 2025 Tucson Folk Festival, performed at the 2025 Grand Mesa Songwriter Festival, and the 2024 Red Lodge Songwriter Festival.  He has been nationally recognized for his music and performances at the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Song contest, Telluride Troubadour Contest, and the Sisters Folk Festival.  He won the 2013 Rams Head Onstage Rammie for Best Show of the Year.   Berardo was a finalist at the Kerrville New Folk Song Contest and the winner of the Wildflower Art and Music Festival Song Contest. Marc has participated in several well-regarded song workshops and performance excursions in exotic locations, including Costa Rica, the Florida Keys, Bimini (Bahamas), and Belize.

Episode 13 – Cliff Eberhardt

Over 10 albums and a career spanning nearly 5 decades, Cliff Eberhardt has established himself as one of acoustic music's best-known voices. Growing up in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, he and his brothers sang together and their parents played instruments. Cliff and his brother Geoff toured as an acoustic duo for a few years, until Cliff turned twenty-one and moved to Carbondale, Illinois. There he found space to develop his own voice within a vibrant and supportive music scene that included Shawn Colvin. In 1978, Cliff moved to New York City. Because the clubs were great (the Bitter End, the Speakeasy, Kenny's Castaway, Folk City) and the company amazing (John Gorka, Suzanne Vega, Lucy Kaplansky, Julie Gold, Steve Forbert, Christine Lavin, and Shawn Colvin), New York was an ideal musician's boot camp. Cliff worked steadily on his music throughout the 80's, doing solo gigs and studio work, and playing guitar on the road with Richie Havens, Melanie and others. Singing advertising jingles for products like Coke, Miller Beer and Chevrolet ("The Heartbeat of America" campaign) allowed him to devote more time to his songwriting. In 1990, Windham Hill released Cliff's first album, The Long Road (1990), featuring a duet with Richie Havens, to great critical acclaim.  After two more records on Windham Hill, he released 12 Songs of Good and Evil (1997) on Red House Records, which stemmed from a chance meeting with Red House founder Bob Feldman at John Gorka's wedding. Cliff recorded two more albums before his critically acclaimed The High Above and the Down Below. He continued to record, releasing  500 Miles: The Blue Rock Sessions (2009), Shrew Songs (2012) and The Heal (2019) Long one of the most respected songwriters on the club scene, his peers often mine his catalog for themselves. Cliff's song "Memphis" was included on Cry Cry Cry, an album of collaborative covers by the "folk supergroup" of the same name (comprised of Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell). Other performers who have recorded his songs include Richie Havens, Shawn Colvin, Russ Taff, David Broza/Maura O'Connell and Buffy Sainte Marie. A collection of his songs has been published in The Cliff Eberhardt Songbook (Cherry Lane Publishing). Cliff is well-known as a songwriting teacher, both at songwriting camps and in private lessons. He also produces, arranges and advises on other artist's recordings. He tours constantly, and we were fortunate enough to snag him en route for an Acoustic Northeast sit-down.

Episode 12 – Maria DiFabbio

Maria DiFabbio is a musical theater writer and singer/songwriter. She has developed work at the Weston Playhouse Artists Retreat, Legacy Theater, Redhouse Arts Center New Works Festival, NYMF, SheNYC Theater Festival, The Brick, Coho Theatre (Portland, OR), the Guilford Performing Arts Festival (Drama Award commission with Emily Breeze), the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, the Springworks Festival in Stratford, ON, etc.  She produces a seasonal musical theater salon [https://www.instagram.com/p/DBEhW17vrxr/?next=%2F&img_index=1] at Threes Brewing in Brooklyn, where musical writers share work with friends and community.  She sings with the band Bears of Alaska, [https://www.bearsofalaskamusic.com/] and is a member of the BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Writing Workshop [https://www.bmi.com/theatre_workshop], and BMI Bookwriting Workshop.

Episode 11 – Glenn Roth

Today we talk to, and hear from live in studio, fingerstyle maestro Glenn Roth. With his thumb riding the bassline and the melody driving all, his performances suggest multiple guitars, but it’s really just one guy, ten flying fingers, one instrument. All instrumental, Glenn’s songs suggest moods and narratives that compel the listener to fill in the details.  Glenn has released six CDs to date. He has shared bills with Stephen Bennett, Monty Montgomery, Tuck & Patti, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carl Verheyen, Don Ross, Antoine Dufour, and Vicky Genfan, among others. Glenn plays regularly throughout the Northeast and tours nationally and internationally to bring his music to new fans and locales.

Episode 10 – Paul Jensen

Paul Jensen's long and winding songwriting road has taken him from California to Cuba, where he and NYC avant-garde dance troupe Ballet D'Angelo performed his compositions at the International Ballet Festival in Havana. Today, Paul is known for his energetic, engaging live shows, and is the founder and host of the Sound Shore Songwriter Showcase in Rye, NY, a new performance series featuring talented, local singer/songwriters. Paul has headlined at such storied NYC venues as CityWineryNYC, the Cutting Room, The Bitter End and Arlene’s Grocery. You can catch him performing solo acoustic or with his band in and around the greater NYC area.