Country singer John Berry will perform Christmas show Sunday in Jackson

Grammy-nominated country singer John Berry said Sunday's concert in Jackson won't be just another Christmas program.

"It's a Christmas show, certainly," he said. "But it's about as rockin' as Christmas can be."

About half the show will be dedicated to Christmas music, but the numbers will be up-tempo versions of what people typically are used to.

"It's very band-oriented," Berry said. "And we've got a pretty rockin' band. Although it is very Christ-centered, and this particular concert will be in a church, it's not a church service. We rock the house."

The rest of the show will consist of a number of Berry's hits, spanning his entire career.

The cover of John Berry's album "Christmas."Photo courtesy of John Berry

Berry started out playing clubs in Athens, Georgia, for eight years. He recalled his first attempt at recording in his parents' house.

"It was a horrible record," he joked. "Horrible. Hope nobody ever hears it."

But it was 1979, and he'd only been playing guitar and writing music for about seven years.

He soldiered on through the club circuit through the '80s but decided he needed something more in 1992.

"I was coming home from playing a gig in Athens," he said. "It was 2 o'clock in the morning, and I heard this song on the radio that I had never heard before."

It was Joe Diffie's "Ships That Don't Come In," a melancholy tribute to failed efforts.

"I was really moved," he said.

For the first time, he said, he confronted the notion if he kept doing what he was doing, he likely would end up a big fish in the small Athens pond, and the thought left him feeling dissatisfied.

When he got home, he woke up his wife, Robin.

"And through tears, I said, 'That's not going to be good enough,'" he said.

So together, they came up with a plan to court a record deal and a big break. They sent out 250 invitations to record companies requesting their presence for a meeting event. One came.

"And because of that one person, I got a record deal, and here we are," he said.

In 1993, Berry released his major-label debut record and started touring, or as he puts it, "drivin' the train."

The next year, he was hospitalized with a brain tumor, and after having it removed, he found himself itching to get back on the road.

"I was so obsessed with touring and being on the road, I didn't think anything of it," he said. "I didn't want to lose any momentum if I didn't have to. The industry'll forget your name in two seconds if you let 'em."

But the surgery to remove the tumor had left him with short-term memory troubles.

"It was a really strange time," he said.

He found strength the same place he'd found it in Athens years earlier -- in his wife, Robin.

"My wife is remarkable," he said. "She helped me get through all that stuff, and there would be no way I could have (gotten through it) without her."

A song on his new album, called "There Could Never Be Another Love (For Me But You)," is dedicated to her.

"It's very old-school," he said. "It sounds like something out of the '40s."

Tickets for the upcoming concert at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 223 W. Adams St., in uptown Jackson are $30 and are available at Berry's website, www.johnberry.com.

The show will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday.

All profits from the event will go to Lutheran Family and Children's Services.

"It's Christ-centered, not Santa-centered," Berry said. "I just want people to come and have a great time and be with friends and family and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ."

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

223 W. Adams St., Jackson, Mo.