Matraca Berg
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| Matraca Berg | ||
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 Matraca Berg - publicity shot. © Matt Barnes
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Matraca Berg | |
| Born | February 3, 1964 | |
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee | |
| Genre(s) | Country | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Guitar | |
| Years active | 1982–Present | |
| Label(s) | RCA Rising Tide |
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| Associated acts |
Jeff Hanna, Trisha Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss, Gretchen Peters | |
| Website | Matraca Berg Official Site | |
Matraca Berg (born February 3, 1964 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a respected country music singer-songwriter who has penned numerous hits for other artists. Despite being a talented vocalist herself, her own albums, while critically praised, have not been commercially successful.
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[edit] Early history
Matraca Berg grew up surrounded by country music. Her mother, Icie Berg, moved from Harlan County, KY to Nashville, TN in the 1960s to seek her fortune as a singer and songwriter shortly before Matraca was born. Her Aunt Sudie Callaway was a successful Music Row backup singer. "Aunt" Lois Johnson was a recording artist, singing regularly with Hank Williams, Jr. Aunts Coleida Callaway and Clara Howard were backup vocalists on Kentucky’s Renfro Valley Barn Dance. Uncle Jim Baker was a steel guitar player who also spent some time running Mel Tillis's song publishing companies.
Matraca's mother found only limited success in the music industry and eventually became a nurse. However, Matraca was soon bitten by the music bug and, as a teen, approached her mother with some songs that she had written. Fortunately, Icie was very supportive and helped to cultivate Matraca's burgeoning talent. She soon became Matraca's first writing partner, and when she felt it was time, Icie helped to shop her music around.
When Matraca played her songs for songwriter Bobby Braddock, he volunteered to co-write with the young newcomer. She found her earliest success in their collaboration, "Faking Love" sung by Karen Brooks and T. G. Sheppard, which topped the charts on February 19, 1983. Matraca was only 18.
[edit] Career history
Although her mother died only two years later, Matraca continued to have great success writing songs for other performers. After Reba McEntire had a #1 song with Berg’s "The Last One to Know" and Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Ray Price, Marie Osmond, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Michelle Wright and others recorded her songs, RCA Records offered Matraca Berg a recording contract of her own. Matraca released her own debut album, Lying to the Moon, in 1990. The album was met with critical praise but was not a commercial success, peaking at only #43 on the Billboard country charts.
Matraca continued to build her resume by writing for others, and in 1994, RCA released her second album The Speed of Grace, another critically appraised, but poor-selling album.
1997 was a big year for Matraca. Matraca co-wrote "Strawberry Wine" along with Gary Harrison, which Deana Carter picked to record. The song was an instant smash and became Matraca's most well known and successful song to date. Berg won the "Song of the Year" award that year at the CMA (Country Music Association) Awards. Also in 1997, Matraca released the critically praised album Sunday Morning to Saturday Night. This album includes her single "Back When We Were Beautiful", a ballad that Matraca performed on the 1997 CMA's, for which she received a standing ovation. However, it found only mild success with the singles "That Train Don't Run" and "Back in the Saddle", and the album was taken out of print.
In 1999, Matraca and RCA Records released a compilation album entitled Lying to the Moon & Other Stories which also included tracks from her 1997 Rising Tide release.
In 2004 and 2005, Berg was nominated for induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame making her one of the youngest nominees in history. She continues to be a prolific and respected country songwriter. She currently lives in Nashville with husband Jeff Hanna, a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. She is touring the United Kingdom this year with Suzy Bogguss and Gretchen Peters as part of the Wine, Women & Song concert series.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | US Top Country Albums |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Lying to the Moon (RCA Records) | #43 |
| 1993 | The Speed of Grace (RCA Records) | -- |
| 1997 | Sunday Morning to Saturday Night (Rising Tide) | #48 |
| 1999 | Lying to the Moon and Other Stories (RCA Records) | -- |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | US Hot Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Baby, Walk On" | #36 | Lying to the Moon |
| 1990 | "The Things You Left Undone" | #36 | Lying to the Moon |
| 1991 | "I Got It Bad" | #43 | Lying to the Moon |
| 1991 | "It's Easy To Tell" | #66 | |
| 1991 | "I Must Have Been Crazy" | #55 | |
| 1997 | "That Train Don't Run" | #59 | Sunday Morning to Saturday Night |
| 1998 | "Back in the Saddle" | #51 | Sunday Morning to Saturday Night |
[edit] Trivia
- Matraca is her real given name, not a stage name. It is pronounced "Mah-TRAY-Sah".
- Trisha Yearwood is one of Matraca's most high-profile fans, covering songs including "Lying to the Moon," "Wrong Side of Memphis," "XXXs and OOOs," "Everybody Knows," and many more.
- Notable songs Matraca has written for others include:
- "Wild Angels" by Martina McBride
- "Still Holding On" by Martina McBride and Clint Black
- "Hey Cinderella" by Suzy Bogguss
- "We Danced Anyway" by Deana Carter
- "If I Fall You're Going Down With Me" by The Dixie Chicks
- Other songs recorded by others:
- Alecia Elliott: "Some People Fall, Some People Fly"
- Beverly Ellis: "Diamond Won't Cut It"
- Carroll Arthur: "Love Spent The Night"
- Chely Wright: "Emma Jean's Guitar"
- Chris Knight: "Devil Behind The Wheel"
- Christy Sutherland: "Down to the Levee", "The Girls Are Alright"
- Clint Black: "Still Holdin' On"
- Deana Carter: "Dickson County", "We Danced Anyway", "Strawberry Wine", "Goodbye Train", "Ruby Brown", "You And Tequila"
- Debbie Hennessey: "I'm Still Alive"
- Dixie Chicks: "If I Fall You're Going Down With Me"
- Duane Steele: "The Trouble With Love"
- Dusty Springfield: "You Are The Storm"
- Eddy Raven: "Johnny's Got A Pistol"
- Faith Hill: "You Give Me Love", "You're Still Here"
- Forrester Sisters: "You Love Me"
- Gretchen Wilson: "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today"
- Highway 101: "Bridge Across Forever", "If Love Had A Heart", "Somewhere Between Gone and Goodbye"
- Hootie & The Blowfish: "The Killing Stone"
- Jill King: "98.6 Degrees and Fallin'"
- Jim Photoglo: "You Give Me Love"
- Joan Kennedy: "The Trouble with Love"
- John Berry: "When Love Dies", "Wrong Side of Memphis"
- Karen Brooks: "Last One To Know"
- Keith Urban: "Nobody Drinks Alone"
- Kimber Clayton: "You Don't Know Her "
- LeeAnn Womack: "You Should've Lied"
- Linda Ronstadt: "Baby Walk On "
- Loretta Lynn: "Working Girl"
- Lori Yates: "Promises Promises"
- Lorianna Matera: "Destiny's Daughter"
- Marie Osmond: "Baby's Blue Eyes"
- Martina McBride: "Anything's Better than Feeling the Blues", "Cry On The Shoulder of the Road", "Still Holdin' On", "Wild Angels"
- Mary Duff: "Strawberry Wine"
- Melonie Cannon: "Tennessee Road"
- Michelle Wright: "As Far As Lonely Goes"
- Millie Jackson: "When Love Dies "
- Mindy McCready: "All I Want Is Everything", "Oh Romeo"
- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: "Don't Underestimate Love (w/ Suzy Bogguss)", "It's A New Day", "Jealous Moon", "Little Angel", "Oh Cumberland"
- Pam Tillis: "Calico Plains", "Crazy By Myself"
- Pat Green: "Finder's Keepers"
- Patricia Conroy: "Home In Your Arms", "Somebody's Leavin'"
- Patty Loveless: "I'm That Kind of Girl", "My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again" , "You're So Cool", "On Your Way Home", "You Can Feel Bad"
- Pinmonkey: "That Train Don't Run"
- Purely Wild: "Lying to the Moon"
- Randy Travis: "Mining for Coal"
- Ray Price: "Just Enough Love"
- Reba McEntire: "Last One To Know"
- Robin and Linda Williams: "Lying to the Moon"
- Sally Jones: "Calico Plains"
- Sara Evans: "Fool, I'm A Woman"
- Sonya Isaacs: "Give Me Tonight"
- Stephanie Bentley: "I'm Listening"
- Susan Ashton: "Our Little World", "Shot for the Moon"
- Suzy Bogguss: "Diamonds and Tears", "Eat At Joe's" , "Hey Cinderella" , "Give Me Some Wheels" , "Somebody to Love"
- Sweethearts of the Rodeo: "Como Se Dice (I Love You)"
- T.G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks: "Faking Love"
- Tanya Tucker: "Black Water Bayou", "Girls Like Me", "Lonesome Town", "Who's Gonna Love You"
- Terri Clark: "Working Girl"
- The Players: "Lay Me Down"
- The Wreckers: "Strawberry Wine"
- Tim Krekel: "It's A New Day"
- Tom Wopat: "Bad Love Blues"
- Tracy Nelson: "You Will Find Me There"
- Trick Pony: "Stand In The Middle of Texas"
- Trisha Yearwood: "Come Back When It Ain't Rainin' ", "Everybody Knows", "For A While", "I'm Still Alive", "Lying to the Moon", "Under the Rainbow", "When a Love Song Sings The Blues", "Wrong Side of Memphis", "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)"
