VIDEO PREMIERE: Cindy Lee Berryhill Explores Relationships via Quirky Cat-Loving Video

“To talk about the video for ‘I Like Cats/You Like Dogs’ I first have to address the song. The song came out of a conversation I had with a girlfriend who was beginning to date again after a very long marriage, kids and a divorce. I watched her go through the online dating and meeting guys for coffee. We talked about the types we liked and decided some folks are easy going, dependable “dogs” and some were aloof, unavailable “cats”. That all said, as Peter Case said after hearing the song,  “sounds like its about politics”. And well, that is the truth. Can cats and dogs get along in this political climate? The question is more relevant than ever. 

The footage of me singing the song was filmed by gifted and very experienced cinematographer, Joe Murray.  A friend since he first filmed my son and I for an ACA/Covered California Health Insurance PSA. He invited us up to his home on the mountain above Palo Alto, where he lives in a redwood forest and next to Neil Young’s ranch. The “barn” Im filmed in is actually an old rusty burn-house for a saw-mill and was the inspiration for Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps. That place has vibes. 

Joe suggested I find an animator to do some of the cat and dog storyline but I don’t know a whole lot of  such fancy people.. so I decided to just act out the parts. Before my first album, way back in 1988 on Rhino, came out, I was in a small vaudeville group. You could say we were like a local, dinner theater version of Saturday Night Live. So I got my performing and acting chops from them-there days. I found a cat mask and found a friend that found a dog mask (Christopher Hoffee). And then we needed someone to film…

Jeff Wiant is a San Diego independent film-maker that’s filmed many local music videos and has his own company that makes professional films for corporations and firms all around the U.S. Ive known Jeff since my indie Cargo Records days and he was up for the challenge. With Nena Anderson over seeing the storyboard and look of the scenes we filmed in a few hours at the world famous punk rock club The Casbah. Some of the friends of the Casbah joined us in the scenes. 

I saw that a few of my musician friends were coming to town at the time of the filming and so I asked if they’d be up for a little comedy and slapstick while playing out some “bad date” scenarios. I asked John Doe first. John Doe was fun, and I’ve been a huge fan of his and X’s since I was a teen. The moment we started filming we had a good thing happening. He has all that experience acting and that was fun playing off of his classic bad boyfriend straight man. 

Dave Alvin, one of my guitar and songwriter heroes, had a gig nearby and I was able to talk him into a couple of scenes. When I handed him the kitty feather-on-a-stick he said “oh I know what to do with one of these, I have one at home!” That was a blast. And fun improvising with him on the cigarette scenes. 

Steve Poltz long known for his great songs and funny faces and antics was a natural for the flag waving-good ol boy-too kooky to date- Skype date. The whole thing came together with Jeff Wiant’s great editing skills. Piecing together the saw-mill footage and the cat/dog scenes. The result is a weird look at differences and how we might find a way to come together whether we are a Capulet or Montague, a Democrat or Republican, a cat or a dog.”