Bernie Chiaravalle (born August 11, 1953) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is known for backing up Michael McDonald.

Career

Chiaravalle was born in

Port Hueneme, California Port Hueneme ( ; Chumash: ''Wene Me'') is a small beach city in Ventura County, California, surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Santa Barbara Channel. Both the Port of Hueneme and Naval Base Ventura County lie within the city limits. Port ...

. He studied piano as a child and still plays it. According to Chiaravalle, "I shifted my focus when I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and that inspired me to want to be in a band." He then began to play the guitar. He is the singer and guitarist for singer Michael McDonald, and has also written songs with McDonald since the late 1980s. He has been recording and touring with McDonald since 1988. Chiaravalle's career with McDonald started out by meeting singer-songwriter

David Pack David Robert Pack (born July 15, 1952) is an American singer and musician who co-founded the rock band Ambrosia in the 1970s. Career As performer Pack was co-founder, guitarist and main vocalist for the band Ambrosia. His collected works as a ...

from the group

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...

who later introduced him to McDonald. He and McDonald collaborated on several songs which are on McDonald's 2000 album ''Blue Obsession''. When

the Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

reunited with McDonald for a co-headlining tour with the

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock music, rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles t ...

in 1995, Chiaravalle filled in on guitar for the absent

John McFee John McFee (born September 9, 1950, Santa Cruz, California) is an American singing, singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long-time member of The Doobie Brothers. Biography Some of McFee's early and no ...

. Chiaravalle has had success as a solo artist as well with a 1999 single, "Speak", and with the single "Till I Hurt You" on

Larry Carlton Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. He has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorde ...

's ''Fingerprints'' CD which he co-wrote with Larry Carlton and Michael McDonald. He also co-wrote "No Love To Be Found" with McDonald which can be found on ''Michael McDonald: The Ultimate Collection'' released in 2005. "From Now On", a blues song written with Steve Leland, has been used in TV

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s. "One More Word", another song written with McDonald, was a regional hit on

KTWV KTWV (94.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an urban adult contemporary radio format. KTWV has studios on ...

in Los Angeles in the early 90s. The song was recorded under the name Silent Partner, a band with his friend Chazz Frichtel. In 2013 Chiaravalle released the album ''All or Nothing'', and continues to tour with McDonald. He also produced an album of 12 songs for singer

Amy Holland Amy Celeste Boersma, known professionally as Amy Holland, is an American pop rock singer, songwriter, and composer. Holland's music career spans more than 30 years. She received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1981, following h ...

(McDonald's wife) called "The Journey To Miracle River". Chiaravalle co-wrote much of the album along with her and other writers including

Jon Vezner Jon Vezner (born June 6, 1951) is an American country music songwriter. He is best known for his work with Kathy Mattea, to whom he has been married since 1988. Vezner began working as a songwriter in Minnesota and later moved to Nashville, Tenne ...

, John Goodwin, Frichtel and McDonald. He also plays guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and percussion on the record. It was released on McDonald's record label Chonin Records. The song "Miracle River" was later recorded by singer Judy Collins as a duet with Michael McDonald. In 2018 Bernie had 2 new songs co-written with Michael McDonald "Wide Open". "Beautiful Child" (McDonald, Chiaravalle, Sabatino) and "Blessing in Disguise" (McDonald, Chapman, Peppard, Chiaravalle). In 2020, Chiaravalle released his tenth solo album entitled "This Is What I See".

References

External links

* 1953 births Living people People from Port Hueneme, California American male songwriters American rock guitarists American male guitarists {{US-rock-guitarist-stub