Matraca Maria Berg Hanna (; born February 3, 1964) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has released five albums: three for RCA Records, one for Rising Tide Records and one for Dualtone Records, and has charted in the top 40 of the U.S. Billboard country chart with "Baby, Walk On" and "The Things You Left Undone," both at No. 36. Besides most of her own material, Berg has written hits for T.G. Sheppard, Karen Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Deana Carter, Patty Loveless, Kenny Chesney and others. In 2008 she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2018 she received the Poet's Award from the Academy of Country Music Awards. Since 1993 she has been married to Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Early history Matraca Maria Berg was born February 3, 1964, in Nashville, Tennessee. Berg's mother, Icie Calloway,Howard, Jason (2012). A Few Honest Words: The Kentucky Roots of Popular Music Lexington, KY: The University of Kentucky Press Retrieved May 29, 2016. moved from Harlan County, Kentucky, to Nashville in the 1960s to seek her fortune as a singer and songwriter, shortly before Matraca was born. Matraca's aunt, Sudie Calloway, was a successful Music Row backing singer. Aunts Coleida Calloway and Clara Howard were backing vocalists on Kentucky's Renfro Valley Barn Dance. Uncle Jim Baker was a steel guitar player who also spent some time running Mel Tillis's song publishing companies. When Matraca was two years old, her mother married nuclear physicist Ron Berg, who legally adopted Matraca.McCall, Michael (2009). "Poets and Prophets: Salute to Legendary Country Songwriter Matraca Berg." Country Music Hall of Fame (July 18, 2009). Retrieved May 29, 2016.Gleason, Holly (2014). "The Daughter of Music Row." The Oxford American, 83, 1-22-2014. Retrieved May 29, 2016
Berg's mother found only limited success in the music industry and eventually became a nurse. Berg herself then took up songwriting with her mother's encouragement. When Berg played her songs for songwriter Bobby Braddock, he volunteered to co-write with her. She found her earliest success in their collaboration, "Faking Love", which was sung by Karen Brooks and T. G. Sheppard, topping the Billboard Hot Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs) chart on February 19, 1983.
Career history After her mother's death in 1984, Berg continued to have success writing songs for other performers. Reba McEntire had a No. 1 song with her "The Last One to Know", and Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Ray Price, Marie Osmond, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Michelle Wright and others recorded her songs.
Berg signed to a recording contract with RCA Records Nashville in 1990, releasing her debut album, Lying to the Moon, produced by Wendy Waldman and Josh Leo, that year. Leo later recalled that the sessions deliberately broke with Nashville convention, using oboe and cello alongside banjos and fiddles, saying "there were no limits with Matraca." Its first two singles, "Baby, Walk On" and "The Things You Left Undone," both charted in the country top 40 at No. 36, followed by the No. 43 "I Got It Bad" and No. 55 "I Must Have Been Crazy."
She was nominated for Top New Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music in 1991, losing to Shelby Lynne.
What was to be her follow-up album, Bittersweet Surrender, was recorded in 1991. It featured the single "It's Easy to Tell," which charted in November 1991. The album was rejected by the label, which wanted a more mainstream-sounding recording instead. One of the songs from this canceled album, "Wrong Side of Memphis," later became a Top Ten hit for Trisha Yearwood. She continued to write for others, and in 1994, released a pop album The Speed of Grace.
Berg's 1995 song, "You Can Feel Bad", co-written with Tim Krekel and recorded by Patty Loveless, was a No. 1 country single, spending twenty weeks on the chart.
Berg co-wrote "Strawberry Wine" along with Gary Harrison, which Deana Carter released as a single. Berg won the "Song of the Year" at the 1997 CMA (Country Music Association) Awards. That year Berg became the first woman to have five No. 1 country songs within a single year.
The same year, she released the album Sunday Morning to Saturday Night via Rising Tide Records; it produced the singles "That Train Don't Run" and "Back in the Saddle," the former of which was released by Pinmonkey in 2006. In 1999, RCA released a compilation album entitled Lying to the Moon & Other Stories which also included tracks from her 1997 Rising Tide release.
In 2004 and 2005, Berg was nominated for induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, making her one of the youngest nominees in history. She was inducted in 2008.. Great American Country. October 27, 2008. In 2023, BMI presented Berg with the BMI Icon Award; previous country recipients of the honor include Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.
Personal life She currently lives in Nashville with her husband, Jeff Hanna, a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They were married December 5, 1993. The couple met while touring with Clint Black in the late 1980s.
Discography Albums Title Album details Peak chart positions US Country USHeat CAN Country Lying to the Moon Release date: September 25, 1990 Label: RCA Nashville 43 — — The Speed of Grace Release date: March 1, 1994 Label: RCA Records — — — Sunday Morning to Saturday Night Release date: September 23, 1997 Label: Rising Tide Records 48 — 22 The Masters Release date: 1998 Label: Eagle Records — — — Lying to the Moon and Other Stories Release date: August 10, 1999 Label: RCA Nashville — — — The Dreaming Fields Release date: May 17, 2011 Label: Dualtone Records 42 7 — Love's Truck Stop Release date: October 21, 2012 Label: Proper Records — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Singles Year Single Peak chartpositions Album US Country CAN Country 1990 "Baby, Walk On" 36 61 Lying to the Moon "The Things You Left Undone" 36 44 1991 "I Got It Bad" 43 30 "I Must Have Been Crazy" 55 58 "It's Easy to Tell" 66 — Bittersweet Surrender (unreleased) 1993 "Slow Poison" — — The Speed of Grace 1997 "That Train Don't Run" 59 70 Sunday Morning to Saturday Night "Back When We Were Beautiful" — — 1998 "Back in the Saddle" 51 74 "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Music videos Year Video Director 1990 "Baby, Walk On" Dave Bridges "The Things You Left Undone" Geoff Adams 1991 "I Got It Bad" Dave Bridges "It's Easy to Tell" Gustavo Garzon 1997 "That Train Don't Run" Roger Pistole 1998 "Back in the Saddle" (with Patty Loveless, Suzy Bogguss, Martina McBride, Faith Hill and Trisha Yearwood) Steven Goldmann 1999 "Lying to the Moon" 2012 "The Dreaming Fields" Jon Morgan
Singles written by Berg
Year Title Artist(s)1983"Faking Love"T. G. Sheppard and Karen Brooks1987"The Last One to Know"Reba McEntire"Just Enough Love"Ray Price1989"Promises, Promises"Lori Yates1991"I'm That Kind of Girl"Patty Loveless1992"Wrong Side of Memphis"Trisha Yearwood1993"Hey Cinderella"Suzy Bogguss1994"XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)"Trisha Yearwood"Somebody's Leavin'"Patricia Conroy1995"Walk On"Linda Ronstadt"You Can Feel Bad"Patty Loveless1996"Strawberry Wine"Deana Carter"We Danced Anyway""Give Me Some Wheels"Suzy Bogguss"Wild Angels"Martina McBride1997"Cry on the Shoulder of the Road""Still Holding On"Martina McBride and Clint Black"Everybody Knows"Trisha Yearwood"Oh Romeo"Mindy McCready1998"Somebody to Love"Suzy Bogguss1999"Fool, I'm a Woman"Sara Evans"All I Want Is Everything"Mindy McCready2001"If I Fall You're Going Down with Me"Dixie Chicks2003"You're Still Here"Faith Hill"On Your Way Home"Patty Loveless2004"98.6 Degrees and Fallin'"Jill King2005"I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today"Gretchen Wilson2006"That Train Don't Run"Pinmonkey2008"They Call It Falling for a Reason"Trisha Yearwood"Misery Loves Company"One More Girl2011"You and Tequila"Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter2013"Back When We Were Beautiful"Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1987 Made in Heaven Studio Singer Cameo; performed the song "We've Never Danced"
References
External links Official website