Herman Dune's video: Green Cassette Wayward Son

On August 7th, 2019, my generation lost its voice of beauty. A poet, a songwriter, a singer had left us, David Cloud Berman. In the ‘90s we heard a lot about sounds defining art, the “sound of Grunge”, the “sound of LoFi”, the “sound of Alt-Country” or the “sound of Americana”. He was all that in a way, but not really, because he was a serious writer, and in the end that is what will matter. He was a serious wordsmith at a time when words seemed secondary in his field, and he never seemed to take anything seriously, except for the writing itself. I got to meet him with his partner and the essential Silver Jew, Cassie, in Paris when I was curating a festival and then in Nashville where they lived. They were a beautiful couple who gave off the impression that every word, every handshake, every look mattered. Their attention made me feel very special, the way I imagine I would feel if Bob Dylan or Miles Davis came to chat after one of my own shows, like they would in my dreams. From then on, Berman and I spoke often, and especially when I moved to San Pedro which seemed funny to him, or when he recorded Purple Mountains and I Santa Cruz Gold. No decent artist needs validation, but we also seek it madly. Well, when he helped me edit Santa Cruz Gold, wrote some new lyrics for it, or discussed the arrangements, when he sent it around with nice words, I thought I’d never need another opinion on my album again. We talked a lot about Purple Mountains, I heard the demos, different recording sessions with different bands, he asked for opinions, advice. I would never have guessed this wasn’t the beginning of a great chapter but the end of a story. Last year, I went to visit my family in Sweden, while we were going through rough personal times. And the fact that I was gonna open for Purple Mountains shows was my secret weapon against gloom, blues, weariness. I’d just have to think of the coming concerts to feel better. When we got back, Mayon and I learnt of his passing. Purple Mountains came out, he had sent me the tape for my ‘92 Volvo. It was a cool green cassette from @dragcityrecords , and it sits in the car unplayed, until it will be heard.