Bernhard "Bernie" Herms (born March 26, 1972) is a Canadian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, and

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He has received

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

GMA Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee exce ...

s, and GMA Canada Covenant Awards and been nominated for them, due to his songwriting and music production work.

Early life and education

Herms was born, Bernhard Herms, on March 26, 1972, in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

the son of a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

minister. As a teenager he mainly lived in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

before moving to Chilliwack, British Columbia and later enrolled in

Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The ...

in Langley, B.C. He then transferred some of his university credits and enrolled in

Belmont University Belmont University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporate ...

in Nashville. Shortly after moving to the school he met classmate

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

, another aspiring musician with similar taste in music. In an interview with ''

The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a privately-held company, pr ...

'' Herms described their early friendship as Paisley being a "guitar picker from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

" while he was "this long-haired classical piano player from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

." The two men quickly built a friendship and worked with their classmates in the studio on a regular basis. Herms graduated from Belmont with his baccalaureate degree in classical composition in 1995. He was honored by the university in 2009, with their Curtain Call Award.

Music career

Around the same time Paisley was signed to a record label and brought several of his school friends including Herms, under his wing as bandmates. Herms began his own music recording career in 1997, with the

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''Nocturne'', released by Benson Records. The subsequent studio album, ''Softly & Tenderly'', was released by Brentwood Records, in 1998. Eventually he focused on songwriting and a production career, saying, "I realized my best game was having people I work with discover their best performances." He has had a successful music production and songwriting career and worked with

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

, Casting Crowns,

Natalie Grant Natalie Diane Grant (born December 21, 1971) is an American singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music. She received the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year four consecutive years, 2006–2009, and ...

, Danny Gokey, Tauren Wells, and many other artists. Herms co-wrote the GMA Dove Award Song of the Year, "East to West", with Casting Crowns vocalist, Mark Hall, at the 39th GMA Dove Awards, in 2008. The song was nominated for the Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance at the 50th Annual

s ceremony, and in 2009 at the 51st Annual in the same category. Throughout his career he has also worked with artists including Groban ("Stages"), Clarkson ("All I Ask of You" duet with Groban),

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

, and Streisand. He won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance or Song for " Thy Will" by Hillary Scott and the Scott Family in 2017. The award was shared with songwriters Hillary Scott & Emily Weisband.

Personal life

Herms lives in Nashville with his wife

and they were married on August 27, 1999. They have three daughters and the oldest two are twins. The couple has worked together on music numerous times and frequently talk about their supportive and collaborative professional relationship. Both he and Grant were separately nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance or Song in 2017. Herms won the award.

References

External links

Cross Rhythms artist profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herms, Bernie 1972 births Living people Canadian Christians Canadian record producers Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Songwriters from Tennessee