Bill Berends & the Berends Bros Band
Bill Berends (guitar & vocal), Rich Berends (drums), & John Benussi (bass & bkg vocal)
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 blues rocker John Benussi on bass from a local Hendrix tribute act 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.

The Berends Bros Band (abv. BBB) differs from The Berends/Wilson Trio (abv. BWT) which was a journey into the music of Cream with Ed Wilson on bass & vocals (watch some BWT live video on youtube.com). BBB has a wider range of material, features guest performers when the situation allows, and is a tight unit personally which allows for more rehearsal and a constantly evolving repertoire. BBB still plays some Cream tunes, and Berends/Wilson will surely make the occasional appearance in the future, but for the moment this line up works.

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 may be in suspended animation for a while. There is a new Mastermind album ready to go, but this isn't new in our history as Mastermind... there have been large gaps of activity over the years. So sooner or later the beast that is Mastermind 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. So come & see the show! If you enjoy Mastermind it is the same guys playing their asses off and really having a good time with it. At this point in time, it simply feels good.

More Berends Bros (& Mastermind) video at youtube.com/mastermindband




    Some recent video (summer 2008):
    Cosmic Hoedown video 1 // video 2

    Links with streaming music:
    www.myspace.com/billberends
    www.myspace.com/richberends
    youtube.com/mastermindband

    Upcoming live shows // repertoire

    Recent guest performers:
    Joe Kramer - guitar
    Magic Tim - harmonica
    John Bushnell - guitar
    Jeannie Brookes - vocal
    Jerry Monk - bass & acg (duo)
    Garland - vocal