It’s been 15 years since David Berman enrolled in a graduate-level writing program right here at the University of Massachusetts, but he’ll be coming back to the Pioneer Valley this week.
Berman’s Silver Jews will play the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton Thursday night for the seventh show of their fall 2008 tour supporting their new record “Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea.” The band has played nearly every night from its kick-off last Thursday in Columbus, Ohio across the U.S. and back, finishing up in Nashville in mid-October.
The Silver Jews, founded by Berman in 1989, bring a lo-fi aesthetic to the concept of country and other rock genres, first playing together and recording songs on friends’ answering machines. The other original members were Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, both eventual members of indie-deities Pavement.
The Jews’ first release came in 1990, a 7 inch titled “Dime Map of the Reef.” When the band was still getting its start, after Pavement begun its rise to indie-prominence with 1992’s “Slanted and Enchanted,” rumors were abound that the Jews were merely a Pavement side project, though Berman consistently held the Jews’ main songwriting duties. This worked to the band’s advantage, however, with Berman meeting the founder of the Drag City label Dan Koretsky at a Pavement show, who agreed to release Berman’s tapes.
In 1993, Berman made the trek to the Pioneer Valley to enroll in the aforementioned (and currently hotly debated) graduate program at UMass after the release of the “Arizona Record” EP (recorded on a Walkman, as was the previous 7 inch).
During this stint at UMass, Berman found time to write what eventually became The Silver Jews’ first full-length, the 1994 album “Starlite Walker,” which found Berman again working with Malkmus and Nastanovich after their break recording Pavement’s first LP.
After this debut, Berman worked with some other acts (War Comet, Silver Palace) as well as working on a Silver Jews follow-up, 1996’s “Natural Bridge.” Demos featuring Malkmus and Nastanovich were scrapped, as Berman opted to record with members of Hampshire College’s New Radiant Storm King as well as Drag City’s Rian Murphy, shifting his sound from his earlier recordings’ DIY grit to a cleaner, to-the-point style with Berman’s lyrical and vocal work constantly at the helm.
As well as his role as Silver Jews’ singer/songwriter, Berman also poured over poetry on the side, releasing his collection “Actual Air” in 1999 after The Silver Jews’ next record “American Water,” which saw Stephen Malkmus returning to the band. In 2001 “Tennessee” was released, featuring Berman’s wife Cassie’s vocals in some tracks.
This set the stage for 2005’s recording sessions, which turned The Jews into an indie supergroup of sorts, consisting of Berman and Cassie alongside old pals Malkmus and Nastanovich, as well as Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie “Prince” Billy), and Azita Youseffi. These sessions birthed “Tanglewood Numbers,” The Silver Jews’ fifth full-length, a return to form after Berman’s struggles with depression and substance abuse.
This year saw the release of “Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea” truly embracing many country norms while expanding upon them endlessly. The Silver Jews have recently toured Israel with homeland heroes Monotonix, who also support them on select dates this fall.
Thursday’s show will be supported by Mike Flood (not the Nebraskan state senator) and will begin at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets for The Silver Jews are $20 in advance through iheg.com or the Northampton Box Office, and $20 at the door. The Iron Horse is located on 20 Center Street in Northampton.
Ian Nelson can be reached at [email protected].
