Chicken Little On the Local

by Dave Sharp on Jun 26^th, 2011

Emily Berkey (left) and Dave Cuomo of Chicken Little perform at Betty's. Photo credit: Andy Hollingsworth.

Dave Cuomo and Emma Berkey are not as miniature as you’d think. Given their band name “Chicken Little” and their slogan “half-pint-folk-punk,” one might assume they’re riding the TLC small person entertainment craze right into the music industry. Granted, they relatively small in stature, which just adss to the awe when you hear the large sound coming from an acoustic guitar and accordion. Their music, their personalities and their passion for forwarding DIY music in Nashville are giant.

“It all started in Brooklyn, New York,” Emma started out our conversation.

The duo birthed out of the “anti-folk” scene in Brooklyn, which the two have a far from narrow definition for: “It’s ironic, quirky, singer-songwriter stuff,” Dave described. “Anything that’s not Bob Dylan, but they still love Bob Dylan. It’s confusing.

“They’re not punk, they’re not folk, but they act like punks and play folk. It’s weird.”

Dave started playing New York subways in pursuit of exposure and cash. Emma was “right out of college, trying to figure out what direction I wanted to go musically. I was doing a lot of choral stuff in the city.”

The two met and hung out; the musical metamorphosis into the unnamed version of Chicken Little occurred when Dave’s ex-girlfriend found an accordion on the street. It worked and he gave it to Emma just for fun.

That was a runaway train and now Dave and Emma live together and play as Chicken Little in Nashville. Dave’s a cook at the Patterson House – he’s a culinary school graduate and pizza aficionado; Emma is well versed in the restaurant industry as well and serves at the Wild Cow.

The half-pint-folk-punks invited Sinizine.net to “The Shed” behind their house where all the musical magic happens to chat about the life and times of Chicken Little and capture of a couple of tunes for sharing. This is what ensued.