Spotlight on: Andy Berkhout

photo credit : Robbie Wiedie

The fabled semester off school – it’s a chance for book-weary students to take a break and chase their dreams for a while. For Milwaukee musician Andy Berkhout, who graduated from Marquette University in December of 2008 and will return in fall to pursue a Master’s in social work, the break is an opportunity to expand and develop his solo music career.

Berkhout has been half of folk-rock duo Greenville for a few years, but only recently started writing and recording solo material. He released his first full-length, “Wake Up for the Day,” in May. “It was kind of fun recording it,” he says. “It’s like there’s 10 of me instead of one, I can play the guitar and banjo all at one time.”

The album does indeed have the layered, somewhat ethereal sound of one man harmonizing with himself, and instruments like banjo, ukulele, piano and harmonica appear in several tracks on top of the acoustic guitar. On some tracks – opener and title track “Wake Up for the Day,” for instance – the vocals are edited together to give the impression of two singers.

Berkhout draws his musical inspiration from a variety of sources – from lyrically powerful folk like Simon and Garfunkel to indie rock standbys like Wilco. “I really think there’s something positive you can take from just about any music,” he says, “so I just try to put a little bit of that into everything I write.”

“Wake Up for the Day” pays clear homage to Sufjan Stevens with gentle, down-tempo ballads and a generous helping of banjo. Vocally, Berkhout is reminiscent of Dave Matthews – he glides through words with a similarly nasal croon. But rest assured, the album is completely free of 15-minute jam guitar solos.

“Miss You Well” is the album’s stand-out track, layering guitar and banjo under lyrics about personal connections and loss. “I spent about half a year in South Africa a couple years ago, so that’s how I started writing this kind of music,” Berkhout says. “It’s a song about the bonds you make with people and how they affect you over time.”

According to Berkhout, drawing from experience is just one inspiration for his songwriting process. “I don’t really have any one set-out way of doing it,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll just be walking around and I’ll have the idea for a song in my head so I’ll jot it down really quickly. Sometimes I write the words first and it’ll kind of end up being more like a poem or something that turns into a song.”

Other times, a couple notes plucked out of the banjo will blossom into a new piece. “I think that’s kind of the most fun part about it,” Berkhout says. “Sometimes those little accidents turn into something really great.”

Though Berkhout is based in Milwaukee, he enjoys his experiences in the Madison music scene. “Madison is a great city, and I think there’s really great support here for art and music,” he says.

 Visit Andy's Web site for news and upcoming shows, or his MySpace to preview tracks from "Wake Up for the Day" and his previous EP "In the Light."