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Corridor native Bern to play flood benefit at Brucemore

By John Kenyon

When Mount Vernon native Dan Bern was touring the East Coast in early June, he says he was aware of flooding back in his home state.

“It was obviously national news for several days, but my mom was OK, which was my first concern,” says the songwriter. “Past that it was like, when I’m on the road, I’m so caught up in getting breakfast, drive 300 miles, soundcheck… I figured I’ll be there in a few days and see what was really going on.”

The real impact didn’t hit him until a trip to Cedar Rapids to visit his mother a few days after flood waters receded.

“The thing that you can’t get on any news thing is the scope of something like this,” he says. “When you drive to downtown Cedar Rapids through the Ellis Park neighborhoods and Czech Village, basically just follow the river, it’s just so massive.”

He says he knows some people personally who had businesses downtown that were damaged, and his first instinct was to help.

“Your first instinct is, I have this big van, I could drive around and see if people need stuff hauled away. Drop in the bucket kind of stuff,” he says.

He was approached about performing while in the area, including a request from a local director to participate in the “Moving Home” show at Brucemore July 10-19. Bern will perform as a balladeer in the production.

“It’s cool to do something that’s going to bring some money in and it’s just nice to do something with a bunch of people,” Bern says of the Brucemore production. “This is what they do. This is how people can help.”

The play is a partnership among Brucemore, Liar's Theatre, SPT Theatre, Theatre Cedar Rapids, Urban Theater Project of Iowa and Legion Arts. It incorporates music and stories inspired by “our own epic experience.” Proceeds of these shows will be donated to the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation's flood relief fund. Proceeds from a performance at Old Brick in Iowa City earlier this week were donated to Legion Arts and the Iowa Artist Relief Fund.

Bern says the director of the play asked if he wanted to write a song for the production. He read the script, decided it was “pretty great” and then wrote 10 songs. They told him that was too many unless there was a part for a balladeer.

“I said ‘Well, OK, that'd be me I guess.’ So I'm the balladeer,” he says.

Of the songs, he adds, “Noah makes his appearance, and Gilgamesh and firemen… it’s like this panorama of sort of mythic figures and very much contemporary, down home recognizable figures. It was pretty easy to write.”

Writing topical songs on the fly is nothing new for Bern, who has released about 150 songs on various discs but has written more than 2,000. While that means a treasure trove of unheard songs for fans, this batch might see life beyond the Brucemore shows. Bern says he’d like to record the songs during the open week between the two weekends’ worth of shows.

“I thought maybe we could record and slap them on a disc and that could increase what we’re able to pass along,” he says.

Bern has been busy of late. His last studio disc was 2006’s Breathe, but since then he worked writing songs for the film “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” a film that spoofs the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line.” Bern wrote or co-wrote many of the songs films, a task that allowed him to show his skill in many genres, never mind his way with a clever turn of phrase.

The experience was so positive that he’s prepared to move yet again, this time from New Mexico to Los Angeles.

“I loved doing ‘Walk Hard’ so much and I want to do more things like that,” he says. “I’m kind of shifting gears a little bit. There are some records I want to make and some touring I want to do. But I also want to be available for any projects like that.”

Perhaps his experience on the stage in Cedar Rapids will take him in yet another direction.

“Ever since ‘Walk Hard,’ I’ve really liked the thing of doing what I do and having it be a part of something larger, so doing this play is right in line with that,” he says. “Everybody involved with it is really good and is much more experienced with plays and stagecraft and downstage and direction. Maybe I’ll learn something.”

Dan Bern performs as part of “Moving Home,” a Classics at Brucemore production, on July 10-12 and 17-19. All shows are at 8 p.m. Advance tickets are $15/adult and $13/Brucemore members and students with high school or college ID. Tickets at the gate are $18.