David Cloud Berman (born David Craig Berman; January 4, 1967 – August 7, 2019) was an American musician, singer and poet. In 1989, he founded the indie rock band Silver Jews with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, and he was its only constant member until its dissolution in 2009. Berman wrote Silver Jews' lyrics; further, with Malkmus, he developed the simple country-rock sound that characterized their early lo-fi recordings. His abstract and autobiographical lyrics, which he extensively labored over, were his creative priority. His only published volume of poetry, Actual Air, appeared in 1999, by which time heroin and crack cocaine addictions loomed large. His struggle with substance abuse, depression and anxiety overcame his career, and he attempted suicide in 2003. Afterward, he underwent rehabilitation, and engaged with Judaism. Alongside his wife Cassie Berman, he toured for the first time, though soon dissolved the band. Returning to music following a hiatus, he later adopted the band name Purple Mountains and released an eponymous debut album in July 2019. Although he had planned a tour to pay off a $100,000 credit card debt, he died by suicide in August 2019. Although Berman believed his work was unappreciated, he cultivated a passionate following and is regarded as a significant and influential indie rock cult figure. Biography Early life David Craig Berman was born on January 4, 1967, in Williamsburg, Virginia. At that time, his father Richard Berman worked as an attorney practicing labor law for the United States Chamber of Commerce, while his mother was a housewife. He came from a secular Jewish family, who he said had no literary or artistic inclinations. Raised mostly in Texas, he did not personally know or interact with many other Jews. He later said he had identified with Jews because he "felt like an outsider" in his youth. For most of his life Berman identified as "ethnically Jewish" but not religious. His mother had undergone conversion to Judaism without the supervision of an Orthodox rabbi, and for that reason neither she nor he would be considered Jews under certain criteria. Berman's parents divorced when he was seven. Thereafter, he split time between each parent's household until he entered college. His father relocated to Dallas for a position as a lobbyist on behalf of foodservice businesses, while his mother moved back in with her parents in Wooster, Ohio, and became a teacher there. He later