Biography
Direct and sincere, Bernard John writes songs for both the heartbreakers and the broken hearted. His voice and lyrics powerfully fill a room without any hint of restraint. If melancholy is the bread, then hope is the butter. That is the unrestricted fight for balance his music brings, and it is a fight he knows all too well.
Back in October of 2013, Bernard, then performing under the name John Colvert and living in Boston, MA, returned from a long string of shows that brought him from Portland, ME to Nashville, TN and back. Almost immediately upon his return he began to suffer from unexplained chronic migraines that would leave him nearly bedridden for months. Easily triggered by sound and bright lights, Bernard had no choice but to stow his guitar in the closet and focus on his health.
What he didn’t realize was that this initially unwelcome period in his life without music would lead to years of needed self discovery and change. “Sometimes you lose a battle you didn’t even know you were fighting,” Bernard says. “I realize now that I needed that time just to acknowledge the war.”
Eventually moving back to his home state of Rhode Island and finally regaining his health, it was time to pickup the guitar and pen again. After nearly a decade of being John Colvert, Bernard realized that he was no longer the person who came off tour in October of 2013, and in a time of change nothing is sacred. For once in his life his given name, Bernard John, felt right.
Bernard plans to release his first album as Bernard John in 2019. He has opened for Steve Earle, Langhorne Slim, Joe Pug, and Joan Osborne. He has also performed on the side stage for John Prine and Lucinda Williams.
