Cindy Lee Berryhill

It`s goodbye but not farewell for Cindy Lee Berryhill, whose long sojourn as a San Diego-based singer-songwriter has been vaporized, in a manner of speaking.

Having spent more than a decade as a happily independent cult artist, she is now working in Los Angeles for Neil Young`s label, Vapor Records, and its sister company, Lookout Management. The nonperforming, music-related job allows her to use some of the skills she developed as a way-out-of-the-mainstream performer, while continuing her solo career.

"What`s neat is that part of what Vapor is interested in me for is the songwriter/touring-musician aspect, and what I can bring to them to help out with marketing and promotion," said Berryhill, speaking by phone recently from Vapor/Lookout`s Santa Monica offices.

"And I appreciate that, because a lot of times the music industry is afraid of artists. Being the `obscure cult hero` that I am, I certainly know how to get the grass-roots thing going."

That she does.

In the late 1980s, Berryhill was part of the same anti-folk music movement in New York that yielded such like-minded mavericks as Beck and Roger Manning. Since then, she`s made a series of charming, increasingly assured albums for various indie labels, both on her own and with her Garage Orchestra.

She`s also an expert at innovative performance concepts. Witness her "living room" tours of 1997 and `98, which found her appearing coast-to-coast in the homes of her fans, who promoted her concerts via the Internet.

"Vapor has really cool acts, like Jonathan Richman and a Canadian duo called Tegan & Sara, which remind me of my early, hardcore anti-folk days," said Berryhill, who assumed her new full-time day gig in January.

"So I don`t have to be a great pretender. And even though I`m an outsider, a lot of people within the industry have known about me, so it`s not that far-fetched that I`m working here."

Lookout Management is co-owned by Elliot Roberts, Neil Young`s longtime manager. It represents such varied artists as David Crosby, Spiritualized, Finley Quaye and former Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval.

Berryhill`s work for Lookout is giving her new insight into an industry that for too long has kept her at arm`s length. Her new job also lets her interact with some of the biggest names in contemporary music.

"Billy Corgan came in the office recently," she said, recalling a visit by the leader of the now-defunct Smashing Pumpkins. "It was the same day I drove David Crosby to and from the Santa Monica airport. We had a great talk, not only about music but about science-fiction books and the likely future synthesis of all races as the result of interbreeding throughout the world."

Berryhill now lives in Venice Beach. She returns to Encinitas most weekends to be with her partner, noted rock music author Paul Williams. Her Feb. 24 concert at Dizzy`s in San Diego`s Gaslamp Quarter was being billed as her "farewell for now" show.

"I don`t even have any plans for the next date in San Diego, so I suspect it won`t be until well into the spring," said Berryhill, who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Ramona, northeast of San Diego.

Her Dizzy`s show was to be the first to feature her with the Celloettes. The newly formed duo features veteran Garage Orchestra cellist Renata Bratt and fellow cellist Joyce Rooks, a member of the Trowsers in the late 1970s and early `80s.

"On Feb. 28, I`ll be doing a recording session in Encinitas with Renata and some other people, including Glen Campbell, a cellist from the San Diego Symphony, and his son, Ben, on bass," said Berryhill, who describes her lilting music as "slightly futuristic sci-fi pop."

"This year, I needed to put an emphasis on basic survival skills. I want to be an artist, but not a starving artist. Now that I`m taking care of some of the basics, I think my vision for my next album will start to coalesce."

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: George Varga