What is country music these days anyways? While the genre has in a way become genre-less, it has always meant one thing to Joe Berk — the story of your roots and what you grew up on. Drawing inspiration from R&B, Motown, Rock, and Hip-Hop, the Denver, Colorado, resident has fused those elements with traditional country songwriting to develop a unique sound with witty lyrics and catchy modern hooks.
Country artists also from Colorado include Ingrid Andress, John Denver, and Clare Dunn. Can you share some local artists to watch in 2021?
It’s funny that you mention Clare Dunn…I am actually a big fan of her music. As far as other Denver artists go, Spencer Crandall is another good one — and I also have to give a shoutout to Kayla Ruby as well, who I recently had the pleasure of opening for in Sutherland, Nebraska.
At the beginning of the quarantine, you shared how you had all the time in the world but found being stuck in the house had drained the majority of your creative energy. As time has passed, how have you been able to refocus and re-energize?
Yea wow, I was really in a funk there for a bit haha. I think there’s a couple things that have really helped me — I started getting outside a lot more, going hiking like every other day and that played a huge part in helping me re-energize. I think the exercise itself played a part, but even other aspects of it, like a nice long drive through the mountains on the way to the trailhead gave me inspiration and time to brainstorm new ideas.
Of the original songs you’ve written this year (including “Breakup in My Head”, “Tourists in…