Is it Chris Young or Charlie Berry?
He may look like Chris Young, but Chris Young doesn’t think so! Former Texas punk rock band member, Charlie Berry brings his charm, big energy and wit to our interview. We talk about his musical journey, the power of his 3 year old daughter and discuss the “Is it really a sandwich” debate from his TikTok Channel. He also does an acoustic performance of his newest release, “Be Somebody.”
Sue Bonzell:
He is a former punk rocker from Texas, turned country musician and producer, and he has a new single out. Charlie Berry is here. How are you?
Charlie Berry:
I’m doing well. Doing well. Love that intro.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay, good. That was okay.
Charlie Berry:
That was great.
Sue Bonzell:
I need to know about the punk rock thing. I got to know. I got to know.
Charlie Berry:
I think that mostly it was what was happening in my neighborhood at the time growing up in Dallas, Texas. I loved the energy of that music. It’s fun music. And really backed into country music through songwriting. But yeah, loved that early 2000s pop-punk music. I still do, actually.
Sue Bonzell:
I mean, it’s completely different than country, so how did you… So you just started writing songs and they had the country feel to it?
Charlie Berry:
As I got more and more into lyrics, I just got more and more into country songs. And eventually, wanted to be at the source of the river, which is obviously Nashville, Tennessee. So came up here to really just be close to it and learn. So yeah.
Sue Bonzell:
Well, it’s the storytelling, I think. It really has a heart to it.
Charlie Berry:
Since I’ve moved to Nashville and gotten more into country music and become a country artist, the sounds, I mean, I can’t say it’s not different, but country rocks a little more than it used to.
Sue Bonzell:
Yeah, definitely.
Charlie Berry:
Yeah. It all kind of blends together for me.
Sue Bonzell:
Well, you’re doing a great job here. The one thing I have to say when I first saw you and I follow you on TikTok and on all the socials and everything, I’m like, “He looks a lot like Chris Young.” How often do you get that?
Charlie Berry:
Every day.
Sue Bonzell:
Every day?
Charlie Berry:
I think he’s probably really flattered by that.
Sue Bonzell:
Oh, I’m sure he is. Absolutely. I mean, you’re a good-looking guy. He’s a good-looking guy. You know?
Charlie Berry:
I actually ran into him. There’s a picture on my Instagram. I ran into him at Country Radio Seminar Week in the lobby of a hotel. And I told him, “People are always telling me I look like you.” And he was like, “I don’t know why they’d say that.” I was like, “Yeah, me either, man. Can I get a picture?”
Sue Bonzell:
Right? Oh, that’s going to be a good picture.
Charlie Berry:
It was good.
Sue Bonzell:
Are these guys brothers? What’s going on here? I’d be okay with being [inaudible 00:02:09].
Charlie Berry:
When we’re right next to each other, it’s not like identical twins, but if you were like, describe me. Tall guy, beard, country singer, about this size.
Sue Bonzell:
Exactly.
Charlie Berry:
You know? Yeah.
Sue Bonzell:
Now, how tall are you?
Charlie Berry:
6’3″.
Sue Bonzell:
6’3″? Yeah. He’s much taller than me. I’m about 5’1″.
Charlie Berry:
We had to adjust the camera.
Sue Bonzell:
We we had to make adjustments.
Charlie Berry:
We did.
Sue Bonzell:
Well, you’ve got a new single coming out in June. June 17th. Tell us about the single.
Charlie Berry:
I am really excited about the single for a lot of reasons. I love the song just in and of itself. The stuff I released last year, it was a little bit somber, a little bit… And I think that’s just where I was as a person, and as an artist. And the last song I put out was called Outskirts of Grace. It was kind of a line-in-the-sand moment. It’s a song about redemption. And this next one is fun. And so I think that it’s kind of a new moment for me, a new chapter for me. And it’s exciting to start something new. And particularly with this song, it’s called Be Somebody, and I love it. I’m really excited for everybody to hear it.
Sue Bonzell:
You’ve been sharing a little bit of it on TikTok, which I’m loving. You had one video with the chalk painting, which was awesome.
Charlie Berry:
Yes. Yes.
Sue Bonzell:
Who did the chalk painting?
Charlie Berry:
Well, a friend that I’ve made on TikTok named Ally, she’s up in Canada. Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Sue Bonzell:
Nice.
Charlie Berry:
Which I’ve learned since meeting her, learned about. So yeah, she painted her old driveway up with this chalk, and it was a lot of work.
Sue Bonzell:
It’s a work of art.
Charlie Berry:
It is. It is.
Sue Bonzell:
I was impressed. I’m like, “Damn, that is really freaking cool.”
Charlie Berry:
Yeah. It was really flattering, and it was really cool to see that she did that.
Sue Bonzell:
I was wondering if maybe it was your daughter. How old is your daughter?
Charlie Berry:
She’s four.
Sue Bonzell:
She’s four? [inaudible 00:03:58].
Charlie Berry:
Yeah, she likes chalk too, but that’s a little advanced for her at this point.
Sue Bonzell:
Yeah. Now, did I hear that she actually likes this song?
Charlie Berry:
She does. I got a video of her today that I’ll put out at some point, where I caught her singing it. Yeah. Yeah.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. So you know you got a good hook when a four year old’s singing it.
Charlie Berry:
That’s exactly right. It’s really the test, if little kids can latch onto the hook. It’s like, okay, it’s catchy then at the least. Yeah.
Sue Bonzell:
Mission accomplished. Done. So now you are not only an artist. I mean, you’re a guitar player, singer, writer, producer now. I mean, you do it all. This is impressive.
Charlie Berry:
I do, and I just started all of it out of necessity. Funny enough, a lot of people become an artist through songwriting, and I became a songwriter through wanting to have a microphone. So it was like, I watched my dad play in cover bands when I was growing up. And so to me, as a man, you grow up and you front a band. So I was like, “Okay, that’s what you do.” So eventually I was like, “I need songs,” so I started writing them and got more into that. And then wanted a producer and all the ones I wanted, I couldn’t afford. So I started figuring that out for myself too. So that’s been a big part of my path as a musician and artist is needing something done and then not being able to afford it, and then having to learn to do it myself.
Sue Bonzell:
I feel your pain. I feel your pain.
Charlie Berry:
Yes. Video editing, I mean just all of it.
Sue Bonzell:
All the things. All the things. Yeah. Well, I mean, I can imagine too, it feels good though too, because you have a little bit of control over everything. You really know what you want and what you want it to sound like and all of that.
Charlie Berry:
And really, that discovery process is the fun for me. Figuring out how to do it, how to get the sound, all of that stuff.
Sue Bonzell:
Now, you have a song called Wish I Would’ve Said That.
Charlie Berry:
I do.
Sue Bonzell:
And I like this song. And now you said, I had either read this or heard it somewhere, that you were inspired by this song somehow while you were mowing lawns.
Charlie Berry:
Yeah. Wow.
Sue Bonzell:
Were you the Mow & Blow guy?
Charlie Berry:
You went way back.
Sue Bonzell:
I did.
Charlie Berry:
Wow. I’m impressed. I’m impressed. Yes. So when my band broke up, I really didn’t know what I was going to do, and I needed some income. And I was like, “Well, I’ve got a lawn mower. I’m going to go knock on my neighbors’ doors.” You’re like, “You don’t know me, but I just mowed your lawn. Will you…” No, I’m just kidding. “Will you pay me now?” But yeah, I started this. It really oversells it to say I had a landscaping business, I guess that’s what it was, but it was really just me and a mower. And I would listen to those Spotify country playlists or whatever. And there were a couple songs that really got me. Why Didn’t I Think of That?, and Goodbye Says it All. And the essence of that is Damn, I wish I would’ve said that. So I thought I want to write something like that, that’s so cool. I haven’t heard that in any other genre. It’s super country feeling to me. So yeah.
Sue Bonzell:
I mean, how many times have you had a conversation with someone, whether it’s a relationship or not, just someone and you walk away and you go, “Man, I wish I would’ve said that.”?
Charlie Berry:
All of them.
Sue Bonzell:
Right?
Charlie Berry:
Like all of them.
Sue Bonzell:
“Oh, I wish I would’ve said that. Dang it. Oh, man.” Well, so the new single, Be Somebody, comes out June 17th. Would you be willing to play either that song or maybe a song of your choice for us?
Charlie Berry:
Yeah, I’d love to. I’d love to.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay, great. Well, when we come back, hey, Charlie Berry is going to play a song for you.
Charlie Berry:
Hey, y’all, I’m Charlie Berry. This is my new single, Be Somebody. (singing)
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. Charlie Barry, Be Somebody. Amazing song. Love this. This is his new release. You can go get it right now on all the places, right?
Charlie Berry:
That’s right.
Sue Bonzell:
All the places, anywhere you can find music, go get it, download it, right?
Charlie Berry:
Yeah.
Sue Bonzell:
That’s what we’re supposed to do.
Charlie Berry:
I think so. I’d really like that.
Sue Bonzell:
Yes. We would really like that. Really like that. Well, we’re going to play a game here in just a minute, but I have one more question for you and I cannot let you leave without having a conversation about sandwiches.
Charlie Berry:
Oh, my God.
Sue Bonzell:
Now-
Charlie Berry:
Let’s do this.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. If you don’t follow Charlie Barry on TikTok, go follow him and go check out his TikToks, where he talks about sandwiches. Now you have a definition of sandwich, right?
Charlie Berry:
Yeah. It’s more fun to end with that. I like being provocative first, saying hot dogs are sandwiches, Pop-Tart’s a sandwich, a ravioli is a Pop-Tart, a Pop-Tart’s a calzone, calzone is a folded-over pizza, pizza is an open-faced calzone, so that’s a sandwich.
Sue Bonzell:
That’s a sandwich.
Charlie Berry:
It’s a whole taxonomy that we’ve done. Yeah. It’s a hobby.
Sue Bonzell:
I was cracking up. I was going to say, you had several TikToks on that, and it was really fun. But you’re very steadfast in your views about the sandwich.
Charlie Berry:
No, I mean it. No, I mean it. It’s funny, but I’m also like, “This is true. This is true.”
Sue Bonzell:
My favorite one is nachos are just a plate of tiny open face sandwiches.
Charlie Berry:
Yeah, it is. It is. They’re all little open-face sandwiches.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. I just had to do that. I’m sorry if you-
Charlie Berry:
That’s about as far as you can go with it, I think. I think that’s as far as you can carry it out.
Sue Bonzell:
But I mean, it makes sense. I can be on board with the whole sandwich philosophy. Charlie Berry, you heard it here second, because you did it first. Okay. Are you ready to play a game?
Charlie Berry:
I’d love to.
Sue Bonzell:
All right.
Charlie Berry:
Are we competing? Is it me versus you? Or is it just-
Sue Bonzell:
Everybody wants to compete.
Charlie Berry:
Do they? Everybody asks that?
Sue Bonzell:
Yes, most people, they’re pretty competitive. This is a win-win. This is winning for everyone. This is called truth or truth. We don’t play truth or dare, because we don’t want you-
Charlie Berry:
I’m a little nervous.
Sue Bonzell:
… hurt anything.
Charlie Berry:
I’m a little nervous about this.
Sue Bonzell:
We’re going to play truth or truth. You get to pick your own questions. Go ahead.
Charlie Berry:
Okay. Are you going to read it or am I going to read it?
Sue Bonzell:
No, you can read it out loud.
Charlie Berry:
Okay. I’m going to read it. All right. Oh, my God. What is the weirdest thing you have ever done in front of the mirror? I’m going to say dance. Let’s just say dance. Yeah. Yeah, I had to try some stuff out. And most of it’s like, yeah, I was right, I shouldn’t do that in public. Most of is like, that wasn’t cool. [inaudible 00:13:07].
Sue Bonzell:
Were your trying out your TikTok dance moves, maybe, a little bit?
Charlie Berry:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a moment where I thought about crossing over into like I bet I could do those dances.
Sue Bonzell:
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Charlie Berry:
But it’s a no. It’s a no. It’s a strong no.
Sue Bonzell:
Well, like you said, you got to test it out, right?
Charlie Berry:
You got to try it, right? I mean, yeah, you never know.
Sue Bonzell:
Well, see, sometimes it’s just better to just not see yourself in the mirror, and just do it.
Charlie Berry:
Yeah, that’s usually my philosophy. Yeah. That’s usually my philosophy.
Sue Bonzell:
It’s like, it’ll be fine. It’s TikTok.
Charlie Berry:
I had enough doubt that I knew I maybe needed to check.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. So dancing in front of the mirror.
Charlie Berry:
So does this go back in?
Sue Bonzell:
I’ll hang onto it.
Charlie Berry:
Okay. Yeah, you hang onto that one.
Sue Bonzell:
I’ll hang onto that one. Okay. We’ll do another one.
Charlie Berry:
All right. Do you have a hidden talent? No. I’m barely hanging on to my not hidden ones. I’m not holding anything back. I wish I had a hidden talent.
Sue Bonzell:
Well, it might be the dancing in front of the mirror thing.
Charlie Berry:
Yeah, that could be it. Y’all will never know.
Sue Bonzell:
It’s conversations about sandwiches. What do they call you? We’ll call you the duke of sandwich, isn’t that where the sandwich came from?
Charlie Berry:
I believe it was the earl.
Sue Bonzell:
Was it earl, duke?
Charlie Berry:
I think it was an earl. Yeah. The Earl Of Sandwich.
Sue Bonzell:
Something like that. Well, okay. Well, maybe your hidden talent is making sandwiches.
Charlie Berry:
Yeah, I would love that. I would love to be known for that, even if it’s not true.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. We’re putting that on your resume.
Charlie Berry:
Perfect.
Sue Bonzell:
It’s going on the resume for sure. All right.
Charlie Berry:
All right. I feel like I am winning even though-
Sue Bonzell:
You are winning. See. We’re winning too.
Charlie Berry:
What’s a bad habit you have? Not finishing songs. I got about a thousand half-finished songs.
Sue Bonzell:
Really?
Charlie Berry:
Yeah. And I lose track of them and I don’t write stuff down. And yeah, I wish that I was better about finishing stuff like that.
Sue Bonzell:
What happens with the ones that actually get finished? What’s the difference?
Charlie Berry:
My attention span that day. If it’s sunny outside, I’m probably not finishing it. I’m probably going outside. I wish I was more disciplined than that, but that’s the truth. That’s the truth.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. Well, we’re getting all kinds of good information here from Charlie Berry. I want to thank you for being here, playing your song, answering all my questions and playing my silly little game.
Charlie Berry:
Which I won.
Sue Bonzell:
See, he won. He won. We’ll just chalk that up. He won. He won. We all won. It’s all good. Thank you again.
Charlie Berry:
Thanks.
Sue Bonzell:
Make sure you guys go download his new song, Be Somebody. Do it right now.
Thanks for watching Up N Country. Be sure to like and subscribe and leave us a comment. We do new episodes every Tuesday, and be sure to follow Up N Country on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. And you can follow me too @SueBonzell on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
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