Nicole Berke to brighten up the Adrift Hotel with a weekend concert

Published 5:00 pm Monday, June 10, 2013

LONG?BEACH, Wash. The Adrift Hotel welcomes soulful pianist, singer and songwriter Nicole Berke 9 to 11 p.m. Saturday, June 15 and 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 16. There is no cover for the concerts, which will be held in the intimate room attached to Pickled Fish restaurant on the top floor of the hotel overlooking the ocean. The Adrift Hotel and Spa is located at 409 Sid Snyder Drive in Long Beach, Wash.

Berke, 25, a Boston native, is a musician whose diverse musical influences and love of travel often seep into her songwriting. Her voice is fresh with genuine power and her songs are a well-crafted take on what soul-pop-jazz can be. She moved to Portland in 2009 to complete a social psychology degree at Portland State University.

Berke is currently promoting her new full-length album This Bright Before, which was released in February 2013. The record is the long awaited follow-up to her acclaimed 2008 debut EP Frondescence. Mixing jazz, pop, soul and R&B with retro nuances, This Bright Before is poised to separate Berke from the crowd. With a sold-out album release show at Jimmy Maks, the top jazz club in Portland, and then opening for the legendary jazz Hammond organist Dr. Lonnie Smith at the 2013 Sould Out Festival in April, Berke is impressing audiences with her fresh and original sound. Tiffany Turner, one of the owners of the Adrift Hotel, heard about Berkes show at Jimmy Maks and reached out to her on Facebook to perform in Long Beach.

The album chronicles the last five years of Berkes life, including a four-month residency fronting a soul band at the Kerry Center Hotel in Beijing. Berke is headed back to China, this time to Hong Kong, for a return engagement starting September 2013. She also teaches voice and piano at School of Rock and is an endorsed artist by the world-renowned Kurzweil keyboards.

Berke plans to perform the album solo and with her band as much as possible, in as many states and countries as she can get to. Her genuine connection to audiences and her love of performing is apparent by all who see her play live. Berke is determined to build her recording and performing career around her uncompromising style and her personal and social reflections and narratives, which speak clearly to her generation and beyond. Berkes voice has genuine power and her songs are a well-crafted take on what soul-pop-jazz can be. Her musical compositions are sophisticated and emotionally charged with complex arrangements that fit perfectly in place; the combination is mesmerizing.

For more information about Berke, visit www.nicoleberkemusic.com. For more information about the Adrift Hotel, call 360-642-2311 or visit www.adrifthotel.com