Charlie Berry’s family encouraged him to play music for as long as he can remember — when he was 6 years old, he found a red, Fender Stratocaster guitar under the Christmas tree.
Berry learned the instrument by playing along to tracks like the James Gang’s “Funk 49” with his dad, Charles “Butch” Berry. At 14, he got his first chance to play with his grandfather, a fellow whose work proved one of the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Chuck Berry.
Charlie Berry also played on his grandfather’s final album, released after Chuck Berry died in 2017, and performed alongside his father and Questlove of the Roots on "the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" to promote the record.
Berry, 28, delved more deeply into songwriting after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and assembled bandmates with whom he interprets early rock 'n' roll for a new generation, while developing his own voice as a songwriter and performer.
The Charlie Berry Project plays monthly at Blueberry Hill, the Delmar Loop venue where his grandfather maintained a monthly residency for 17 years. The band’s next show there is Wednesday.
St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin asked Berry about his efforts to interpret Chuck Berry’s work for a new generation, while establishing his own voice as a musician.
Jeremy D. Goodwin: Has music always been a family thing for you?
Charlie Berry: Since the time I could remember, there was always a guitar being played somewhere, or guitar music was being played by my father.
Goodwin: Did your family push you to become a professional musician?
Berry: Oh, no. I guess they were trying more so to protect me and get into a career that's a little bit more stable. Just because grandfather made it up to the very top doesn't mean that I will reach any level of success in music. So they always encouraged me to play but never to pick it up as a profession.
Goodwin: How did you wind up playing with Chuck Berry for the first time?
Berry: When I was about 13 or 14, I said, “Dad, I've been playing instruments for a little while now. I really want to play with you and Pa-Pa. Will that be possible to do?” He said, “I'm going to call your grandfather, see if he wants you to come up there.”
Originally he asked me to play two songs. And then we get into the set, and then my grandfather goes, "Nah, just stay here for the whole thing.”
Goodwin: Where was that?
Berry: At the Pageant. I think that was in 2008.
Goodwin: Can you tell me about what it was walking onstage and playing in, playing with your grandfather for the first time?
Berry: Terrifying.
Goodwin: So you were playing the Chuck Berry songbook?
Berry: Yeah. It’s crazy to think about, but I've been playing that rhythm since I was a child. Before I knew what I was doing, I was playing his iconic rhythm. I realized that the other day. I've been playing that for almost 20 years.
Goodwin: Does that show up in your original songs?
Berry: It's starting to now. In his work there’s a super-deep well of licks and variations of rhythm. I was like, "Why haven't I been doing this?” And then I just kind of fell down that rabbit hole with it.
If you look a little bit and listen a little bit closer to everything, you realize that there's just so much jam packed into these two-minute songs. I was like, I can make my own voice, but I have to own this, too.
My aunt and father, they're done playing music. None of the younger generation in our family are really taking an interest in music right now. I realized it's up to my cousin and myself.
Goodwin: Chuck Berry sang a lot about teenage issues — going on dates, driving his car. You're in your late 20s, but you approach some similar themes, right?
Berry: Oh, yeah. I want to try and have my own voice, but still stay true to the rock 'n' template. It works. People still do it.
