The unexpected passing of local musician Craig Berry on May 12, 2012 left his close friend and fellow musician Johnny Davidson reeling. After more than 20 years of friendship and musicianship, Davidson found himself in Berry’s basement a week after his passing recalling memories and feeling melancholy. It was there in Berry’s basement that fate stepped in.
“I’m looking at all the stuff and reflecting, feeling sad, and everything was the way Craig had left it,” Davidson remembered. “I happened to look on Craig’s keyboard and he always had a digital voice recorder so all of his music he’d hit record and play on that. I listened to it and was listening to a lot of the songs and thought man, people need to hear this.”
It was at that moment Davidson decided to launch the “Memories In Music” project, a collaboration of 24 local musicians to record Craig Berry’s original songs he left behind. After more than two years of work recording and mastering the tracks, Davidson has put together an album of 10 songs written by Craig Berry as a musical tribute to a man who was a friend to so many.
“I was standing there in the basement listening to Craig’s tracks, and I thought, I’ve got to do it,” said Davidson. “I didn’t feel like I had a choice, to be honest with you. I just felt like it was the right thing to do. And I was praying everybody else was on board with me.”
Two of Davidson’s first phone calls were to Mike Kehl and Shawn Smith, former band mates of Berry’s in the local 1990s band StoneFace. Their willingness to join the project was instant; as Kehl puts it, he “didn’t even hesitate.”
“I think during (Craig’s) funeral, even then when his music was playing in the background it was a little bit of an idea, just thinking wow, he wrote so much and it would’ve been cool to hear all this,” Smith remembered. “I heard stuff that I’d never heard before.”
The reaction of other local musicians was the same, they wanted to help. Ranging from old friends to musicians who had never met Berry before, two-dozen local musicians agreed to lend their talents to “Memories In Music.” One of those musicians was Tom Shields, who played keyboards for a number of songs on the album.
“Musicians like to play music, you don’t really have to entice us all that much” said Shields with a laugh. “I never met (Craig). But through talking to Johnny I can tell the kind of impact a man like Craig has left on his life and what a friend he was to Johnny and to everybody that knew him. If I can be a part of the process like that and a little bit of a friend back to Johnny and other folks and have that kind of impact, even on a small scale, sign me up. I was happy to do it.”
The process began with Davidson dissecting Berry’s songs into chord sheets and finishing the lyrics to many of his songs using “song maps.” Once the songs were structured with complete lyrics it was time to organize and schedule the 24 musicians to record their parts on Davidson’s own computer. Using a simple Excel spreadsheet, Davidson began the painstaking process of traveling to meet each musician and record vocals, guitar parts and even a cello. Davidson said this was the longest part of the project, traveling sometimes more than an hour to meet musicians.
“When I decided to do it, I knew I couldn’t do it halfway and just give up,” said Davidson. “That’s why it took two years, there were times I was just overwhelmed when some of the songs weren’t coming together like I thought and I didn’t see what they could be. But it was very well worth it; the response I get from friends is very inspirational to me. I think it’s a blessing in both directions, for sure.”
Of the 24 musicians on the album, there was never a time where any musicians were in the same room at the same time to record their music. In fact, some of the musicians still have never met each other.
“I think it’s a testament to the collaborative process; I haven’t been in the same room with this group of guys in my life, this is the first time I’ve met these guys,” said Shields, gesturing to Smith and Kehl. “But I’ve heard some of the finished tracks, and it’s like we were all in the studio together. I don’t know if it’s technology or the talent of the musicians or Craig’s inspiration.”
If you ask Davidson, the magic of the music is all about Craig Berry.
“(Craig) is exactly why I did it,” said Davidson. “We need positive influence, and Craig was a positive influence on my life. It’s a ripple effect; I want to keep that going.”
After mastering the entire album, Davidson is finally ready to release “Memories In Music.” Nearly two years after taking on the challenge, the album went to post production at Discmakers.com on Sept. 11 with an estimated completion date of Sept. 23. The album will be marketed online at www.cdbaby.com, iTunes and Amazon, and physical copies will also be sold in the Columbus record store Broken Records and Beehives and at Metronome Music.
However, Davidson and other musicians noted it was never the goal to sell Berry’s music – it was merely something he wanted to memorialize and give to close friends.
“When we were in the band together we always kind of wondered oh, would this ever make the radio? Oh who cares, we like the song,” said Smith. “It wasn’t about whether or not we were going to please everyone else, we wrote music that we liked and had fun with it. I know this is going to be good because I know where (Johnny’s) heart is in it. I think people need to hear this kind of stuff.”
“What I like about the album too is while it’s a tribute album, a celebration of somebody’s life, they’re not all positive and upbeat songs,” added Shields. “Some of them are really dark and reflective of a real human. All of us have dark places or dark times in our lives, and I can tell Craig is one of those who dealt with everything in life through his music. Every aspect of his personality I think is reflected in those songs.”
More than a tribute to the life of Craig Berry, the “Memories In Music” album also serves as a testament to friendship – friendships that have lasted throughout the years, bound in music.
“I’ve got to thank Johnny for doing this,” said Kehl. “It was one of my biggest regrets, not getting back together with (Craig) and playing. You get to that point in your life where it’s like, by the time (the band StoneFace) was breaking up we were thinking about families, buying houses, so you get caught up in that. And I would think well when the kids are older I’ll get around to seeing him.”
“This was a good way to pay respects,” said Davidson. “It was meant to be. You can’t look back and regret. I do enough, but you shouldn’t. It’s been a heck of a journey.”
When asked what Craig Berry might think about “Memories In Music,” the thought brings a smile to Davidson’s face.
“I think he would be extremely humbled,” he said. “He probably wouldn’t believe that this many people would want to be involved in something of his. There have been a few instances when the guys are recording their tracks and I can’t even contain myself because this is far beyond what I thought it could be, and I felt like Craig was smiling through me.”
“He’s smiling right now,” added Smith.
