After growing up in his native New Jersey and graduating from Harvard he has lived in several areas of the United States working as a tour guide, a travel writer and a teacher among other employments.

His parents gave him the middle name Berkeley—which he later picked as his stage name—after having been graduate students at the University of California-Berkeley in the early 1970s before they moved to New Jersey.

[8] David Berkeley lived in Alaska, where he contributed to the Let's Go Alaska travel guide;[9] Idaho, where he was a river-rafting guide; Santa Fe, where he worked for Outside magazine; Santa Cruz; Brooklyn (New York City), teaching creative writing in a public school in an impoverished area; Atlanta and Tralonca, a small village in Corsica, while his wife worked on her PhD in anthropology.

[1] His debut came in 2002 with the mostly acoustic The Confluence, in which David Berkeley already displayed the characteristic traits that still identify his style: elaborated lyrics about personal topics, complex song construction, varying chord patterns.

This live release displays not only David Berkeley's heartfelt musical style, but also his sense of humor in the intermissions between songs.

[21] When released, the album was enriched by the production of Brian Deck (Counting Crows, Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine, Josh Ritter).

[22] In late 2009, David Berkeley announced on his website and through his mailing list that he was working on a new album called Some Kind of Cure, mostly written while living in Corsica where, in his own words, he had the chance to listen to whatever surrounded him[23][24] and take in the silence around.

[3][9][33][34] In this album Berkeley is accompanied among others by Peter Bradley Adams of Eastmountainsouth on piano, Kim Taylor of Over the Rhine on background vocals and by long-term collaborator Jordan Katz of Common Rotation on horns and banjo;[35][36][37] it was produced by long-term collaborator Will Robertson, who had also produced the song "Fire Sign" included in After the Wrecking Ships and has also worked with Shawn Mullins, Clay Cook, Pat Sansone and Peter Ostroushko.

[33] Some Kind of Cure features much more electric guitar than Berkeley's previous works,[39] alongside the church bells of Tralonca and a Corsican choir.

[46] During his stay in Corsica, David Berkeley took part to the recording of a cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" with local artists[5] which has not been released yet.

"Fire Sign" from After the Wrecking Ships has been remixed by Steve Brian into an electronica trance track and released in September 2010 by Enhanced under the name of "Agulo feat.

[57] In an interview, David Berkeley mentioned as his influences Paul Simon for the lyrics, Nick Drake for the mood, and then Neil Young, The Band, Elliott Smith and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.

[6] He insists, however, that most of his inspiration derives from poetry (he is especially fond of Yeats and Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn is heavily quoted in "A Moon Song" from The Confluence), passages of prose, people (his parents and his wife and sons especially), the outdoors, art and most form of visual images.

After having spent most of 2008 in Corsica with his family keeping his musical profile low, in 2009 after the release of Strange Light David Berkeley toured with Katie Melua accompanied by Jordan Katz of Common Rotation.

[6] Besides the artists already mentioned, David Berkeley has toured with Billy Bragg, Don McLean, Nickel Creek, Rufus Wainwright, Ray Lamontagne, Howie Day, Gary Jules, Dido, Vienna Teng, Joseph Arthur, Hem, Mason Jennings and Ben Lee.

David Berkeley's live concerts, both those with a full band and the solo ones (not to mention the dates in which he has performed in duo with Jordan Katz), have been praised for their gentleness and richness.

Their intention was to gather as many musicians from Atlanta as possible once a month, on a Wednesday, in a café in the Old Fourth Ward area to cover whole classic albums.

[9] David Berkeley's debut album, The Confluence, received very positive reviews that compared him to such great artists in his field such as Donovan and Nick Drake.

[76] His delivery has been defined delicate and tasteful, sober but not cheap, sweet and sour,[78] his songs are considered rich in texture and poetic,[79] and his voice confident and reassured.

[82] The Pittsburgh Pulp defined David Berkeley one of the best examples in the resurgence of folk rock, praising the American taste of his songs along with his melodic and melancholy voice.

[83] The already mentioned Rob O'Connor, on Harp Magazine, noticed a superficial resemblance to the quieter side of Eddie Vedder paired with wanderlust and bravado, in the finest troubadour tradition.

[85] To highlight David Berkeley's perception by the general public, it is interesting to notice that once he has been hired (and flown cross-country) to help a fan serenading his ex-girlfriend.

[96] This record suggested comparisons with Steve Reynolds, Josh Ritter, Eastmountainsouth, Rosie Thomas, Ray LaMontagne,[97] Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie,[56] Joseph Arthur,[98] Dan Fogelberg and John Denver.