David Berman (musician)

David Berman
Berman performing with Silver Jews at Webster Hall in 2006.
Born	David Craig Berman (1967-01-04)January 4, 1967 Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.
Died	August 7, 2019(2019-08-07) (aged 52) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Virginia University of Massachusetts Amherst
Occupations	Musician singer cartoonist poet
Years active	1989–2009 2019
Spouse	Cassie Berman ​ ​ (m. 1999; sep. 2018)​
Father	Richard Berman
Musical career
Origin	Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock country-rock
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Labels	Drag City
Formerly of	Ectoslavia Silver Jews Purple Mountains
Musical artist
Signature

David Cloud Berman (born David Craig Berman; January 4, 1967 – August 7, 2019) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and poet. In 1989, he founded – and was the only constant member of – the indie rock band Silver Jews with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich.

With Malkmus, he developed the simple country-rock sound that characterized the early lo-fi recordings of both Pavement and Silver Jews. He worked extensively on his lyrics whose themes overlapped with his poetry, of which he only published one volume; his lyrics concerned many subjects, including his depression, which culminated in Berman attempting suicide in 2003. Afterward, he underwent rehabilitation, engaged with Judaism and toured for the first time, but soon dissolved the band.

In his reclusion, further turmoil arose which promoted him returning to music; he adopted a new stage name and released an eponymous album in July 2019, a month before he died by suicide. Purple Mountains was acclaimed by his dedicated following, whom Berman believed non-existent. He is regarded as a significant and influential indie rock cult figure.^[1]