LISTEN: Celebrating the life of indie rock poet David Berman on Sat, Nov 16

Nov 6th, 2019 | By Nathan Moore

On Saturday, November 16, friends, alums, and community gathered at the Stage at WTJU to remember the life of David Berman.

David was an indie-rock poet, leader of the band Silver Jews, and former WTJU DJ. He died on August 7.

From 2 – 4 p.m., we aired two hours of David Berman’s music on Radio Freedonia, interspersed with anecdotes shared by those who knew David. Plus, we hosted a special pop-up exhibition of Bermanalia in the Charles Wright papers from UVA Special Collections Library.

From 6 – 10 p.m., we hosted live music performances and readings dedicated to David’s life and creative work. Performers included The Wild Kindness Band, The Walnut Falcons, Shannon Worrell, Devon Sproule & Paul Curreri, Diane Cluck, Ned Oldham, and many more. The memorial celebration included a live broadcast from 8 to 9ish p.m.:

: Poured out some bourbon at the Red House for David Berman on Sunday

: Afternoon slideshow at the David Berman Memorial Celebration

: Gate Pratt and Steve West perform as part of the Wild Kindness Band

: Eric Bruns, David Copenhafer, and Bryan Mason perform as the Walnut Falcons

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