bitter
pearl
a genre-hopping grab bag
of musical goodness
Bitter Pearl was created to play all kinds of music, with all kinds of friends, in all kinds of venues. Something folky? Yep! How about a pop-punk tune? You bet! Maybe a hipster sea-shanty? Sure!
Freedom, baby, freedom.
Our friend described us best as "a musical co-op" featuring Serge & Mary of Beneath You plus a rotating lineup of musical friends we've met along the way.
upcoming shows
Songwriter Showcase
An acoustic set with Nate Walker on guitar and Mona Dena on keys
Little Green - 1101 Main Street, Redwood City
Sat. June 7, 2025 (6 - 6:25 pm set, 6 - 8 pm show)
Sat. July 12, 2025
"Bitter Redemption" at LouStock '25
Bitter Pearl + Redemption Breaking team up for an unplugged collab set
Freewheel Brewing Company - 3736 Florence Street, Redwood City
Fri. July 18, 2025
Bitter Pearl
An acoustic set with Nate Walker (Redemption Breaking) on guitar
Little Green - 1101 Main Street, Redwood City
past shows
Japan '25
A hard-rocking mini-tour with ember's Minami (guitar) and Shoma (drums)
what's in a name?
We've been asked where the name Bitter Pearl comes from. Okay...here's the story.
Imagine our singer as a young girl excitedly flipping through a name-meaning book with her school friends during recess. When it was her turn, she expected them to find something lovely like her friends Jenny ("beautiful") and Sara ("princess"). Instead, they found:
Mary - From Herbrew meaning bitter.
Wait...what? Bitter? Well, that sucks. So they tried again with her middle name.
Margaret - From Latin meaning pearl.
Okay...at least there's that.
So Mary learned to embrace the "bad" with the "good." And hey...Bitter Pearl is a way better band name than Beautiful Princess anyway, don't you think?