Lou & Peter Berryman

In the nineties, I was in a duo with fellow musician and friend, John Giver. He had approached me with the notion of performing humerous music that he had written as well as quirky songs by others. Until that time I hadn't played much on my own and was just coming into the open mike scene. As soon as John introduced me to Lou & Peter Berryman, I knew he had something. We learned the wordy duets by Lou & Peter as well as songs by Christine Lavin, Martin Mull and other funny songwriters. We even held a contest to name our group and the winning entry was Postage Due, implying we weren't all there.

On stage, performing this musical comedy, my stage fright would disappear with the first laugh from the audience. Of all the songs were learned and performed, without a question, Lou and Peter's songs were always my favorites. Among them, Do You Think Its Going to Rain?; Crab Canape, Your State's Name Here; We Strolled on the Beach; Why Am I Painting the Living Room; Odd Man Out; Chat With Your Mother; Family Car and more than I can think of right now. Just the names should just you an idea of how silly these songs are.

The Berrymans are a folk duo from Madison, Wisconsin. They had been married for seven years then divorced but continued to be friends and bandmates. Their songs touch every possible subject and can cause listeners to cry with laughter. They have dozens of CD's with their thirty years of songs.

We had the honor and privilege of hearing them as well as meeting them on Saturday, October 25th at the Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They were as charming as they are hilarious. We chatted about some of the songs that Postage Due performed and they made a list of the audiences favorites to perform in the second set. My favorite song to perform is "Orange Cocoa Cake" a tribute to multi-tasking! Please, please check them out on YouTube and watch for them to be at a venue near you.