Geoff Berner

Geoff Berner
Geoff Berner performing at Hulen, Bergen in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Geoffrey Berner
Born	1971 (age 45–46)
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Folk, Klezmer
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Accordion
Years active	2000s–present
Labels	Black Hen Music, Sudden Death Records, HoneyMilk Records, Jericho Beach Music, Mint Records
Associated acts	E.s.l. Terror of Tiny Town
Website	http://www.geoffberner.com

Geoff Berner (born 1971, in Vancouver) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, accordion player, TV writer and novelist from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Berner has gained a cult following over the years, especially in Canada and Norway, where he recorded his first live album, Live in Oslo (2004).

Berner, in his youth, studied the piano. At a party, somebody asked him why he did not play the accordion. As a result, he began learning how to play the accordion.

Following several years fronting the punk band Terror of Tiny Town (its name borrowed from the 1938 film), Berner released his first solo EP, Light Enough to Travel (2000) on the Sudden Death Records label. Light Enough to Travel contained some of the songs he wrote while part of The Terror of Tiny Town. The Vancouver band The Be Good Tanyas covered the title track, and had some chart success with their version in England, which helped to kickstart Berner's career. In 2000, Berner was deported to Norway, where he discovered the Norwegian band Kaizers Orchestra, for whom he would later become a support act. His first full-length album, We Shall Not Flag or Fail, We Shall Go On to the End (2003) featured the track "We All Gotta Be a Prostitute Sometimes", which has been covered by a surprising number of artists, considering Berner's relative obscurity.

In the years between We Shall Not Flag or Fail, We Shall Go On to the End and 2005, Berner travelled to Romania, to study the traditional musical style klezmer, from the many talented masters in Romania. In Romania, he suffered a severe gastrointestinal infection and was rushed to a Romanian hospital, which inspired him to write "Song Written in a Romanian Hospital". After his return, Berner released his second studio album, Whiskey Rabbi (2005) on Black Hen Music, with the help of Diona Davies of Po' Girl, on the violin, and Wayne Adams of Zolty Cracker, percussion. They would later join him occasionally on tour. Whiskey Rabbi is the first of a trilogy of klezmer-themed records.