Van Ghost makes move from promoter to performer

When his friend asked him to perform at her wedding last year, Michael Berg didn't consider himself an entertainer.

Buffalo Grove native Berg had played a little during his days at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. However, through managing Chicago alternative rockers Dearborn and promoting area jam rock, jazz/funk and electronic shows with his companies Silver Wrapper and Triple Dot Mas, he'd spent the better part of the past decade on the business side of the music world.

Today, Berg leads Van Ghost, a band which since making its debut at Chicago's Metro in January has played shows with the Drive-By Truckers, Blind Melon and Tim Reynolds. The eight-piece country rock combo recently completed recording its debut CD, "Melodies for Lovers." Co-produced by Berg and guitarist Dan Wean, the disc will be mastered by Sean O'Keefe, producer of Fall Out Boy's debut album and subsequent successes by the Plain White T's, Motion City Soundtrack and Hawthorne Heights.

One listen to the album's rough mix belies Van Ghost's relative youth. From the evocative lope of opener "Summer Promise" to the dramatic, somewhat darker flourishes of powerful closer "Coliseum," its atmosphere is warm and vibrant, its rootsy grooves tight and assured. Berg's pensive pipes intertwine with the sultry jazz-schooled tones of Jennifer Hartswick, a Vermont transplant who is best known as a member of Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio's band. It's obvious why Berg says O'Keefe called the material "the perfect blend of desperation and hope."

While preparing for a show at Subterranean this weekend, Berg discussed Van Ghost's journey so far, including the request that inspired him to leap from behind the scenes to center stage. An edited version of that conversation follows.

Q. How did Van Ghost come to be?

A. Last March, my friend got married to a guy out in Vermont. She was one of my little sister's best friends in high school and she was a big fan of my music back then. She asked me to play a song at her wedding. I didn't know if I had it in me. I'd been on the business side for so long, it made me really critical of other people. The karma of it was that I started practicing and completely got inspired. I picked up right where I left off in terms of guitar skills, and my songwriting skills had developed somehow, not through practice but I think more the musical sponging that I had been doing. I'd been trying to absorb as many different kinds of music as I possibly could, and it really helped me formulate what I love about music.

So, as I got it down, I got sick of practicing the same song over and over and I started to write new songs. I really liked what was happening, so I planned to make a record, and because of my history as a concert promoter, one thing lead to another and we started doing shows. We landed really good shows for an upstart band, shows that a band that just started really shouldn't be playing, but because I had paid my dues in other areas I was able to land them.

I had so many relationships going with all these musicians around town and nationally, I basically got to hand-select the exact band that I wanted. All the people that I asked were interested and decided to take a stab at it with me, and now that we've got it rolling, there's a nice camaraderie and it seems like a real band at this point.

Q. Is it tough getting eight people to all go in the same direction?

A. From the time I managed other bands, I can tell you that the best way to keep the band going is to have one primary songwriter and have everyone do their parts over that. The hardest thing for an eight-piece band is finding time to get all eight of us there for band practice.

Our pedal steel player (Rocco Labriola) is the only guy that I hadn't met before the band started. He's really an integral part of our sound. My two biggest influences right now by a landslide are Wilco and Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, and he's really into the same music, so like everyone in the band, he understands the vision of the songs. Everyone's seemingly having a good time doing it. No band makes it because they're trying to make it or because they need to. If they're having a good time doing it, having fun on stage, people feel that.

Q. Are there any songs you feel are particularly representative of the band or of which you're especially proud?

A. I think "Summer Promise" is the most middle-of-the-road song. I don't mean that in a bad way but in the best possible way, where if you're going to introduce a fan to our band and you don't want to play them our heaviest or lightest or most jammy song, but the one that's most in the middle to express our sound, that would be "Summer Promise." In terms of pop music, "Wednesday" is definitely the catchiest, and between those two and "Do It for You," those are our top single choices. "Everyday Music" is kind of like an album deep cut. "Coliseum" shows our heavier side, more of our rock pretenses. It's a fan favorite and it's kind of a guaranteed set closer because it takes the energy up a notch. Something I've found is that the way the show starts and the way the show ends is what people are going to hold on to, and what happens in the middle is somewhat less consequential, if you will.

Q. With the players in the band, it seems there would be room for improvisation.

A. We do a little bit of that. A couple of the songs have jams at the beginning or at the end every time. That's where I fall behind the band. My musicality is more as a rhythm guitarist and a songwriter. So the improv is the keyboardist, the pedal steel player, the guitarists soloing and me just playing some chords, enjoying it as a listener as well as being part of it. I have a history as a jam band promoter, and although I'm not really so into jam bands anymore, I can't help but embrace that side of it. Especially when it's not every song. When there are two or three songs in a show for us to really go off and get experimental with, it's really cool because it comes back to good songs.

Next show

With: 56 Hope Road, Sangamon, John Wasem

Facts: 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5 at Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave., Chicago

Tickets: $10; (773) 278-6600 or subt.net