1st song from 'Bleak Is Beautiful', the debut album from bitterwind.  Written, recorded and played by San Francisco songwriter Dana Berry.

Waiting For The Rain

Bitterwind is the side project of Dana Berry, an Oakland musician who also sings and plays drums for local band Night Herons. 

On Cry Craven, the fourth Bitterwind album, the music wanders further along the rootsy, shadowy path undertaken on previous recording, Delta Road. The ghostly simplicity of the past is filtered through the fractured lens of contemporary chaos and bewilderment. These are eight songs that yearn for a more authentic experience.

Cry Craven is a collaboration between Dana Berry and former bandmate Larry Huene. Dana writes the songs, sings and plays acoustic while Larry plays drums, some lead and mixes the record. Enlisted in the virtual band are Night Herons bandmates, Mike Assenzio and Dave Leonard, as well as Richard Shirk and former Forrest Lawn bandmates Rich Jones and Shea Breaux Wells. Dana's friend Brandon Conner contributed the magnificent artwork.

A Bitterwind band was recently assembled with Dana and Mike on guitars, Larry on drums and Richard on bass to play the first Bitterwind show ever with Night Herons at The Fireside Lounge in Alameda on Friday, March 13th, 2020.

Delta Road, which came out in 2017, was a set of songs written by Dana and loosely based on a screenplay idea he was developing. The album featured Mike Assenzio and Larry Huene from Night Herons on several songs. Similar to Cry Craven, the songs were more stripped down than previous releases, roots rock with a little country and hard rock blended in. Time Without Light was the second Bitterwind recording following up 2013’s debut, Bleak Is Beautiful.  Basic tracks for both of those albums were recorded in the same secluded house in the mountains of Southern Oregon on Dana’s mobile/home studio. 

Dana originally put together a band to perform Bitterwind songs, but quickly found that he and his new band mates were writing so well together it warranted starting a new band.  Night Herons was created in 2013 and the band immediately went into the studio and has since put out three albums.  Dana has been a drummer in many bands, including high school rock & punk band, Eugene and the Poseurs, which had a short resuscitation in 2007 & 2008; Los Angeles heavy alt-rock band Forrest Lawn in the nineties where his first attempts at songwriting appeared and the San Francisco indie folk-pop band Pancho-San in 2006 & 2007.

All of these “releases” are completely independent and as such basically unknown by the general public. They are labors of love for all the musicians involved and give us fulfillment rather than compensation. If you can, share and support indie artists, not so they can live on what they would make anyway, but it’s a real boost to get a “like” or a “cha-ching” on Bandcamp. Thanks!