Prog-Watch 536
This week my special guest is Robert Berry of 3 and 3.2! Robert talks candidly about the formation of the original 3 (with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer) in the late 1980s, how he and Emerson came to resurrect the idea of the band, and the ordeal he faced in finishing the album following Emerson’s tragic death in 2016. Along the way, there will be plenty of music…from the original 3, a few from Robert’s solo career, and of course a few from the new 3.2 album “The Rules Have Changed”!
Robert Berry is an American guitarist, vocalist and producer, best known for his work with 3 (with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer), Hush, Ambrosia, and The Greg Kihn Band.
Berry came into the spotlight in 1988, when he teamed with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer (of Emerson, Lake & Palmer fame) and formed the band 3. Nearly 30 years later he and Emerson were working on a follow up, when Emerson tragically died in early 2016. Berry resolved to finish the album as a testament to his lost friend and collaborator, and released the 3.2 album The Rules Have Changed in August 2018.
Aside from 3 and 3.2, Berry has participated in several projects, including Tales from Yesterday, a tribute album to Yes. He was also involved in a follow-up to GTR in which he replaced Steve Hackett. Material from this project and an unreleased second 3 album appeared on Berry’s solo album Pilgrimage to a Point. Berry’s band Alliance is composed of Gary Pihl from the band Boston on guitar, David Lauser from the Sammy Hagar Band on drums and Alan Fitzgerald from Night Ranger on keyboards. Berry has contributed songs to a number of film soundtracks, and in 1999 he produced and performed on The Wheel of Time, an album billed as a soundtrack to the Robert Jordan fantasy series The Wheel of Time. He has also performed as the bassist for the Greg Kihn Band and works as a record producer from his own studio.
In addition to all of the above activities, Berry organizes dozens of sessions and tribute albums to bands such as Rush, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Jethro Tull, and is the leader of December People, which has produced four albums of Christmas music arranged in the style of various classic rock artists and performs these arrangements around the holiday.
| robertberry.com |
Music with some meat to it!
Prog-Watch is a weekly podcast and internet radio program dedicated to bringing the listener contemporary Progressive Rock music from around the world. Your big, hairy host, the “Prog-Squatch” wanders the woods of the world, beats the bushes, and digs in the dirt to bring the best Prog back for YOU! Sometimes solo and sometimes with a guest host, the Prog-Squatch will bring you new and interesting artists in each episode, and give you some background info and a taste of their music.