Just call him the rebel of klezmer — Geoff Berner will be bringing his fusion of traditional klezmer with modern influence to the Penticton Art Gallery this Sunday.
“There is this kind of rebellious movement in the genre. Quite a few artists from Canada, New York and Berlin including myself are part of that. We call ourselves the Klezmer Bund. It’s like a union of radical, political, klezmer musicians,” said Berner.
Growing up in a Jewish household, Berner has long been listening to klezmar, but living in Vancouver he also embraced punk music.
“I was raised a Jew so it sort of belongs to me. The music I make now is a bit of a mix of klezmar and punk. They have both been valuable traditions in my life,” said Berner.
With a sizeable cult following built through extensive touring, Berner calls his fans bookish people who like to drink. He has packed bars in Berlin, Amsterdam, Oslo, Zurich and in Canada. Now he is prepping for an international tour for the release of his latest CD called Victory Party on March 8.
“It varies what I sing about but mostly it is left-wing, snarky and sometimes funny. I sing mostly about drinking, girls, God and political stuff that runs through that. I also sing the folk stuff too,” said Berner.
In 2004 he took his band to rural Romania. Berner and his band searched out old-school klezmar musicians to get in touch with their roots. It was here where he learned he is not quite the music rebel he thought he was.
“What we found listening to the old songs is a lot of them are pretty rebellious. We are more traditional than we knew we were,” said Berner.
Berner is playing at the Penticton Art Gallery Tea Room this Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for gallery members and students and $15 for non-members.
For more information visit www.pentictonartgallery.com.