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 Verkhovsky (Limp, Ken Band, Beneath You) & Mary Diridon (Beneath You, Mary Diri) plus a rotating lineup of musical friends we've met along the way.
upcoming shows
Bitter Pearl returns to Japan!
Spring 2027
We'll rejoin Blaster Kid and ember for another round of our Friends!Friends!!Friends!!! tour. More cities! More shows! More songs! More special guests! More details to come...
Little Green - 1101 Main Street, Redwood City
past shows
Little Green After Dark
An acoustic set with
Nate Walker on guitar
"Bitter Redemption" at LouStock
Bitter Pearl and Redemption Breaking teamed up for an acoustic collab set
Songwriters' Showcase
An acoustic set at Little Green Plant Bar featuring guests Nate Walker (guitar), Mona Dena (keys), and Jeff Redlawsk (drums)
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?