Matraca Berg
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| Matraca Berg | |
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 Matraca Berg
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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 |
| Associated acts | Trisha Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss, Gretchen Peters |
| Website | Matraca Berg Official Site |
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Matraca Berg (IPA: /mə.'treɪ.sə bɜrg/) (born February 3, 1964 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a respected American country music singer-songwriter who has penned numerous hits for other artists, in addition to releasing her own albums.
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[edit] Early history
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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 19.
[edit] Career history
After her mother's death in 1985, 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 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.
What was to be her follow-up album, Bittersweet Surrender, was recorded in 1991. It featured the first single, "It's Easy to Tell," which charted unimpressively in November, 1991. Due to the single's lack of radio play, the album was cancelled -- although "Eat At Joe's", a track form the canceled album, would eventually be released on her 1999 compilation album Lying to the Moon & Other Stories. Other songs from Bittersweet Surrender included "I'm Listening" (which was later recorded by Stephanie Bentley), "Wrong Side of Memphis" (which became a hit for Trisha Yearwood), and "You Give Me Love" (which was recorded by Faith Hill).
Matraca continued to build her resume by writing for others, and in 1994, RCA issued a second album The Speed of Grace -- another critically appraised but poor-selling album.
In 1997, Matraca co-wrote "Strawberry Wine" along with Gary Harrison, which Deana Carter released as a single. The song was an instant smash and became Matraca's best-known and successful song to date. Berg won the "Song of the Year" award that year at the CMA (Country Music Association) Awards. The same year, 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". 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 her husband Jeff Hanna, a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. During 2007, Matraca 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 Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Lying to the Moon | 43 | RCA |
| 1991 | Bittersweet SurrenderA | ||
| 1993 | The Speed of Grace | ||
| 1997 | Sunday Morning to Saturday Night | 48 | Rising Tide |
| 1999 | Lying to the Moon and Other Stories | RCA |
- AUnreleased album.
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | CAN Country | |||
| 1990 | "Baby, Walk On" | 36 | 61 | Lying to the Moon |
| "The Things You Left Undone" | 36 | |||
| 1991 | "I Got It Bad" | 43 | 30 | |
| "I Must Have Been Crazy" | 55 | 58 | ||
| "It's Easy to Tell" | 66 | Bittersweet Surrender | ||
| 1997 | "That Train Don't Run" | 59 | 70 | Sunday Morning to Saturday Night |
| "Back When We Were Beautiful" | ||||
| 1998 | "Back in the Saddle" | 51 | 74 | |
[edit] Singles written by Matraca
| Year | Title | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | "Faking Love" | T. G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks |
| 1987 | "The Last One to Know" | Reba McEntire |
| "Just Enough Love" | Ray Price | |
| 1991 | "I'm That Kind of Girl" | Patty Loveless |
| 1992 | "The Wrong Side of Memphis" | Trisha Yearwood |
| 1993 | "Hey Cinderella" | Suzy Bogguss |
| 1994 | "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)" | Trisha Yearwood |
| 1995 | "Walk On" | Linda Ronstadt |
| "You Can Feel Bad" | Patty Loveless | |
| 1996 | "Strawberry Wine" | Deana Carter |
| "Give Me Some Wheels" | Suzy Bogguss | |
| "Wild Angels" | Martina McBride | |
| 1997 | "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" | |
| "Still Holding On" | Martina McBride and Clint Black | |
| "We Danced Anyway" | Deana Carter | |
| "Everybody Knows" | Trisha Yearwood | |
| 1998 | "Somebody to Love" | Suzy Bogguss |
| 1999 | "Fool, I'm a Woman" | Sara Evans |
| 2001 | "If I Fall You're Going Down With Me" | Dixie Chicks |
| 2003 | "You're Still Here" | Faith Hill |
| "On Your Way Home" | Patty Loveless | |
| 2005 | "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today" | Gretchen Wilson |
| 2006 | "That Train Don't Run" | Pinmonkey |
