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Bill Berends & the Berends Brothers Band
[ mastermindband.com || billberends.com ]
Bill Berends (guitar & vocal), Rich Berends (drums), & bass * | |
Begun in February 2007 after the last live Mastermind
performance [due to loss of bassist] the brothers Berends return to their roots of blues & old school psychedelic blues rock jamming to cleanse the spirit and essentially "forget the music, forget the message, and just play..." Recruiting various local bassists and selecting a repertoire of personal favorites, the band hit the stage for the first time in March 2007 to a very warm & positive response. They saw it was good & all were pleased.
Does this mean the end of Mastermind many have asked? NO! ... but currently without a bassist combined with the difficulties of the record industry at large, Mastermind has been in suspended animation for a while. There is a new Mastermind album in the can and new recording is now in progress, but this isn't new in our history as Mastermind... there have been large gaps of activity over the years. Sooner or later the beast will raise its head again, wait and see!
Bill & Rich both live to play, so getting out and playing for the sheer exuberant joy of the experience, making a few bucks, and simply keeping active is more than enough for the moment. It's a breath of fresh air compared to the survival struggle of an original act. If you enjoy Mastermind it is the same guys playing their asses off and having a good time with it. At this point in time, it simply feels good.
Tracy McShane sits in Dec. 19, 2008 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK3YLx0WNTs)
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Some recent video (summer 2008): Cosmic Hoedown: video 1 // video 2 // video 3 Links with streaming music: www.myspace.com/billberends www.myspace.com/richberends youtube.com/mastermindband Upcoming live shows // repertoire * The bass players: John Benussi Stephen J. Burke Jerry Monk Ed Wilson Recent guest performers: Joe Kramer - guitar Magic Tim - harmonica John Bushnell - guitar Jeannie Brookes - vocal Garland Lamb - vocal Tracy McShane - vocal
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