When John Berry performs at Augusta’s Imperial Theatre, it’s a homecoming for the GRAMMY-award winning singer/songwriter.
“I grew up in Aiken,” said Berry, who will present his “Christmas With John Berry: The Silver Anniversary Tour” at the Imperial Dec. 19.
That’s not all that makes it a homecoming. He’s brought about 20 of those 25 years of Christmas concerts to the Imperial. And many people make an annual trip to see his Christmas concert.
“People come because it’s a family tradition for them. I love that,” he said. “Year after year, they come for the music and the message of Christmas and hope.”
The Christmas tour is special to Berry, and after only being able to perform six concerts last year, he hopes this one will be even more special to those in the audience.
“We’re trying to make this as wonderful as we can,” he said.
While there are songs of the season, also included in the show is a video of holiday memories of when his kids were little. Now those children have grown up and have spouses of their own. Berry has one granddaughter and another grandchild on the way. The video will end with an updated family photo.
One of the songs is one side of a phone conversation in which Berry promises his kids that Daddy will be home in time for Christmas.
Another high point of the concert is Berry’s rendition of “O Holy Night,” which is one of his most requested songs.
“We have a wonderful, wonderful band,” he said. “There are seven of us on stage. We have a new fiddle player who also plays the violin. People ask me what’s the difference between a fiddle and a violin, and I tell them it’s all in how you grab it, how you hold it and how you stroke it.”
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With theaters such as the Imperial shut down for much of 2020 and into 2021, Berry started a podcast called Faith, Family and Friends.
He also wrote some new songs for an upcoming album called “Find My Joy.”
“It’s a faith-based album with four new songs and six traditional hymns,” he said.
Berry is backed by a 45-piece string orchestra for the new recording.
Berry has been involved in country music for 40 years, rising to “stardom on the country charts of the 1990s with such mega hits as “Your Love Amazes Me, “ “Standing on the Edge of Goodbye” and “She’s Taken a Shine,” according to his website.
Berry was nominated for the ACM Top New Male Vocalist in 1994, won a GRAMMY in 1996 for participating in “Amazing Grace: A Country Salute to Gospel Vol. 1.” Another GRAMMY nomination came in 1995 for “Your Love Amazes Me,” and he was nominated for the CMA Horizon Award and Top Male Vocalist Award in 1995, his website said.
In 2019, he was diagnosed with throat cancer and required chemotherapy and radiation.
The concert is set to begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $28-$42. For tickets, visit imperialtheatre.com or call the box office at (706) 722-8341.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com .
