Artists:Cliff Eberhardt

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Cliff Eberhardt knew by age seven that he was going to be a singer and songwriter. Growing up in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, he and his brothers sang together and their parents played instruments. His dad introduced him to the guitar and he quickly taught himself to play. Fortunate enough to live close to the Main Point (one of the best folk clubs on the East Coast), he cut his teeth listening to the likes of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, and Mississippi John Hurt — receiving an early and impressive tutorial in acoustic music. At the same time, he was also listening to great pop songwriters like Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Rodgers and Hart, which explain his penchant for great melodies and clever lyrical twists.

At fifteen, Cliff and his brother Geoff began touring as an acoustic duo, playing the Eastern club circuit until Cliff turned twenty-one and moved to Carbondale, Illinois. There he found space to develop his own voice within a vibrant and supportive music scene that included Shawn Colvin. After a couple of years there and a short stay in Colorado, Cliff moved to New York in 1978.

Because the clubs were great (the Bitter End, the Speakeasy, Kenny’s Castaway, Folk City) and the company amazing (John Gorka, Suzanne Vega, Lucy Kaplansky, Julie Gold, Steve Forbert, Christine Lavin, and Shawn Colvin), New York was an ideal musician’s boot camp. Though he put in long hours as a taxi driver, Cliff worked steadily on his music throughout the 80’s, doing solo gigs and studio work, and playing guitar on the road with Richie Havens, Melanie and others. Singing advertising jingles for products like Coke, Miller Beer and Chevrolet (“The Heartbeat of America” campaign) allowed him to devote more time to his songwriting.

In 1990 Cliff’s song “My Father’s Shoes,” appeared on Windham Hill’s Legacy collection, leading to a deal with the label. They released Cliff’s first album, The Long Road (1990), a work featuring a duet with Richie Havens. The critical response to this debut was outstanding (the Philadelphia Inquirer called the album a “repeatedly astounding collection”). He followed with two more records on Windham Hill before releasing, 12 Songs of Good and Evil (1997) on Red House Records, which stemmed from a chance meeting with Red House founder Bob Feldman at John Gorka’s wedding. Since then, Cliff has released 3 albums on the label, including his latest The High Above and the Down Below, recorded in Minneapolis with noted jazz players Gordy Johnson, J. T. Bates and Rich Dworsky.

Long one of the most respected songwriters on the club scene, his peers often mine his catalog for themselves. Cliff’s song “Memphis” was included on Cry Cry Cry, an album of collaborative covers by the “folk supergroup” of the same name (comprised of Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell). Other performers who have recorded his songs include Richie Havens, Shawn Colvin, Russ Taff and Buffy Sainte Marie. A collection of his songs has recently been published in The Cliff Eberhardt Songbook (Cherry Lane Publishing)..


External links

Cliff Eberhardt on MySpace
Cliff Eberhardt on Wikipedia

More information

This artist lives
in New York.
The gender of this
artist/group is male.

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Listener Tags & Comments

Cliff was my FIRST house concert to attend at WWR...and He as much as Jim and Esther hooked me in! I still hold Cliff close to my heart, I've even written to him to return. I even promised to laugh hardily at his lousy jokes! *grins* For a good time, Cliff is an awesome performer. His first CD, Long Road Home, is not out in print anymore...consequently, I paid $35 bucks for it and it's well worth the price! Cindy 10:30, July 3, 2006 (AKDT)

Cliff has performed several house concerts at our house; we don't invite artists back if we don't like them. His guitar playing is wonderful, his endings are legendary and his songs are incredible. Better yet is his wit when he gets fired up; he'll make you laugh 'til you cry. If you ever get the opportunity to see him in a house concert setting, don't pass it up. If you do cross trails with him, ask him about "Robin's fudge". Cub Driver 20:44, May 8, 2008 (AKDT)

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Request a show of songs by Cliff Eberhardt

Song Album Length Played Overall You Tags Single Request
Whenever I Sing The Blues School For Love 2:13 19
13 votes
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. Fast
School For Love School For Love 4:30 13
8 votes
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. Love
Carnival Girl 12 Songs Of Good And Evil 2:25 25
12 votes
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. Folk pop / Acoustic guitar / Mandolin / Major key / Relationships / Solo vocalist / Acoustic / Band
  Total Time 9:08          

The current music queue contains 17 songs that will take 1 hr, 27 mins to play.
You must be a logged on user to request music. It's free and easy. Create an account here.

Artist name is|Cliff Eberhardt
Last played|   more than 1 month ago
----------------------------------------
Show name|    Songs by Cliff Eberhardt
Length|       15 minutes
Order by|     random
Limit|        3 songs
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Stats

  • Spotlighted: Sunday, February 27th 2005
  • Songs on WWR: 37
  • Total plays: 595
  • Total requests: 278
  • Total listens: 15823
  • CDBaby referrals: 0
  • CDBaby sales:

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