Bernice Lewis

"For me, it's about the songs, each different, each a well-thought-out message, each a labor of love," says Bernice Lewis. Her newest CD, She Undoes, (2006) was Recorded in Nashville and produced by Grammy Award winner Charlie Chadwick (Suzi Bogguss, John Carter Cash, Kathy Mattea). It features a duet with fellow singer songwriter Cliff Eberhardt and a jazzy a cappella version of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” in addition to a collection of originals.

Religion and Release (2000) features guest appearances by some of folk music's finest performers: Dar Williams, Ellis Paul, Brooks Williams, Alisa Fineman, and Jennifer Kimball. . Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Living’s Editor, proclaimed "not a bad note on it..."

A favorite on the coffeehouse circuit, contemporary-folk radio, and at the major folk festivals, Lewis -- who studied vocal improvisation with Bobby McFerrin, guitar technique with Alex DeGrassi and Guy van Duser, and songwriting with Roseanne Cash and Cris Williamson -- has been a featured performer on NPR’s "Mountain Stage" program, as well as at the Kennedy Center. In 1987, she was a finalist in the prestigeous New Folk Songwriting Contest at the Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival, where she continues to be a main stage regular. Her ballad Bridges That Hold was included in Peter, Paul and Mary’s Lifelines video (PBS). She was featured in Yoga Journal for her work with sound and yoga, and has shared the stage with many renowned artists, including Dar Williams, Dixie Chicks, Patty Griffin, Pete Seeger, Ellis Paul, John Gorka, Rory Block, Livingston Taylor, Odetta, Patty Larkin, Christine Lavin...it’s a long list. She is also a published poet, a sought after producer, and an educator extraordinaire.

Lewis began her performing career in the Phoenix area. In the mid-eighties, she relocated to the Northeast to take advantage of the burgeoning scene of songwriters and folk venues. She returns annually to tour, present, and hike. In 2008, Bernice was chosen by the National Park Service to be Artist-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim.

For over a decade, she has been teaching songwriting at Williams College in Williamstown, Ma and Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Co, as well as camps and retreat centers. She’s had a thirty-year daily yoga practice, loves good coffee, and her religion is the Grand Canyon.