Matraca Berg

Induction Year: 2008

Birth Name: Matraca Maria Berg

Birth Date: 02-03-1964

Place of Birth: Nashville, Tennessee

Native Nashvillian Matraca Berg grew up around the music industry. Her mother was songwriter/session singer Icie Calloway Berg. Her stepfather was songwriter Dave Kirby ("Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone," "Memories to Burn," "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang"). Matraca had her first #1 hit as a writer with Karen Brooks and T. G. Sheppard's 1983 duet "Faking Love," co-written with Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Bobby Braddock. Matraca Berg was only 18 years old at the time.

She has since had more than 50 of her songs recorded. Some who have sung her songs include Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Linda Ronstadt, Tanya Tucker, Keith Urban, Dusty Springfield, Emmylou Harris, Kim Carnes, Ray Price and Loretta Lynn.

"Strawberry Wine," a #1 hit for Deana Carter co-written by Berg, was named the CMA Song of the Year for 1997. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award as Country Song of the Year, as was 2007's "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today."

"Wrong Side of Memphis," "XXX's and OOO's," "You Can Feel Bad," "Hey Cinderella," "I'm That Kind of Girl," "The Last One to Know" and "Strawberry Wine" have all been broadcast on radio and TV more than a million times apiece.

Berg and fellow Nashville songwriter Marshall Chapman co-wrote the songs for the 2000 stage musical Good Ol' Girls. She appeared in the 1987 motion picture Made in Heaven and on the soundtrack of the movie The Thing Called Love in 1993. As a backup vocalist, she has been in the studio with Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton and Neil Young. As a producer, she has guided recordings for Christian singer-songwriter Christy Sutherland.

Matraca Berg is also a recording artist. Her albums include Lying to the Moon (1990), The Speed of Grace (1993) Sunday Morning to Saturday Night (1997) and The Dreaming Fields (2011). She has been married to singer-songwriter Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band since 1993. Berg is the youngest-ever Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee.

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Song Catalog

 

"Baby Walk On"

(written with Ron Santaniello)

Matraca Berg1990 #36 country
 

"Back in the Saddle"

(written with Stan Lynch)

Matraca Berg1998 #51 country
 

"Como Se Dice (I Love You)"

(written with Janis Gill)

Sweethearts of the Rodeo1990 
 

"Cry on the Shoulder of the Road"

(written with Tim Krekel)

Martina McBride1997 #26 country
 

"Everybody Knows"

(written with Gary Harrison)

Trisha Yearwood1997 #3 country
 

"Faking Love"

(written with Bobby Braddock)

T. G. Sheppard & Karen Brooks1983 #1 country
 

"Fool I'm a Woman"

(written with Sara Evans)

Sara Evans1999 #32 country
 

"Girls Like Me"

(written with Karen Brooks, Ron Santaniello)

Tanya Tucker1994 
 

"Give Me Some Wheels"

(written with Suzy Bogguss, Gary Harrison)

Suzy Bogguss1996 #60 country
 

"Hey Cinderella"

(written with Suzy Bogguss, Gary Harrison)

Suzy Bogguss1994 #5 country
 

"I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today"

(written with Jim Collins)

Gretchen Wilson2005 #22 country
 

"I Got It Bad"

(written with Jim Photoglo)

Matraca Berg1991 #43 country

"I'm That Kind of Girl"

(written with Ron Santaniello)

Patty Loveless1991 #5 country
 

"If I Fall You're Going Down With Me"

(written with Annie Roboff)

Dixie Chicks2001 #3 country,#38 pop

"Lying to the Moon"

(written with Ron Santaniello)

Trisha Yearwood1993 
Robin & Linda Williams1993 
Matraca Berg1993 
 

"Nobody Drinks Alone"

(written with Jim Collins)

Keith Urban2004  
 

"On Your Way Home"

(written with Ronnie Samoset)

Patty Loveless2004 #29 country
 

"Still Holding On"

(written with Clint Black, Marty Stuart)

Clint Black & Martina McBride1997 #11 country

"Strawberry Wine"

(written with Gary Harrison)

CMA Song of the Year

Deana Carter1996 #1 country,#65 pop
 

"The Last One to Know"

(written with Jane Bach)

Reba McEntire1987 #1 country
 

"The Things You Left Undone"

(written with Ron Santaniello)

Matraca Berg1990 #36 country
 

"They Call It Falling for a Reason"

(written with Jim Collins)

Trisha Yearwood2008 #54 country
 

"Walk On"

(written with Ron Santaniello)

Linda Ronstadt1995 
 

"We Danced Anyway"

(written with Randy Scruggs)

Deana Carter1996 #1 country,#72 pop
 

"Wild Angels"

(written with Gary Harrison, Harry Stinson)

Martina McBride1996 #1 country
 

"Wrong Side of Memphis"

(written with Gary Harrison)

Trisha Yearwood1992 #5 country
 

"XXX's and OOO's"

(written with Alice Randall)

Trisha Yearwood1994 #1 country

"You and Tequila"

(written with Deana Carter)

Kenny Chesney & Grace Potter2011 #3 country,#33 pop

"You Can Feel Bad"

(written with Tim Krekel)

Patty Loveless1996 #1 country
 

"You're Still Here"

(written with Aimee Mayo)

Faith Hill2003 #28 country

Other Media

Matraca Berg

Induction Year: 2008