Cary Goldberg began his 20+ year career as a performing artist on a one night whim. At the age of 14, he wrote a stand up comedy act and opened for a comedy troupe at the local rock club, what was supposed to be one night, ended up spanning 6 years. Cary always stuck to rock clubs rather than comedy clubs, because as a comedy promoter once eloquently told him “People come to comedy clubs to drink, not to think.” Cary has always believed that if his art wasn’t making people think, he was doing a disservice. He played hundreds of shows up and down the east coast opening for a who’s-who of touring bands of the early 2000s . Cary always preferred the concept of residencies and thrived on the idea of being the unbilled guest. In his early 20’s Cary had a realization that comedy was no longer his vehicle. He realized that at the end of the day he could not make the impact he wanted to make in that form, as he always ended up being the butt of the joke, whether the joke was his, or someone else’s. He briefly pivoted to folk music and wrote an album of material. In 2007, He struck up a friendship with the late paraplegic folk musician Vic Chesnutt and there were plans in the works for collaboration. When Vic passed away on Christmas Day of 2009, everything stopped. Cary stepped away from performing for a few months and then one day, on a whim, he asked a few friends if he could show up to a gig and just talk. Talk about his friends, talk about life, recite some cover songs and think his way through. That one nighter ended up being Cary’s foray into spoken word that has lasted 12+ years 6 albums and hundreds more performances. In 2016, with the help of his dear friend and recording engineer Taylor Roig, Cary released A Prayer for Rhythm his first full length musical collaboration which featured 21 Jazz musicians from all over the world, whom he met through a relationship with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Over the next 3 years Cary found an artistic home at the legendary Bowery Poetry Club where he performed on a monthly basis. February, 2020 he announced his next album A Prayer for Reckoning was to be recorded that summer. 2 weeks later the world shutdown and the reckoning came anyway. Cary found himself in the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic Manhattan, New York. He proceeded to spend the better part of the next 2 years inside his apartment, where he lived with his long time girlfriend. For Cary, the pandemic was yet another radical reprioritization. What mattered, was getting through each day, simply surviving. Survive he did, and in 2022 his longtime girlfriend became his wife. After 20+ years of a winding road Cary has decided to retire from live performance in 2024. That said, there’s always room on every show for a special thought provoking guest.
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Disability Empowerment Now is produced by Pascal Albright
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