Hello there!

It's been a while since I reached out to you. April was slow, but now the weather is getting warmer and things are picking up some. It's time to get out and play!! Bring it on! Firstly, some live dates for May (kind of last minute, I know)...

* THIS SUNDAY, May 12th - The Berends Brothers Band at John & Peter's in New Hope, PA
Our regular bassist Tim had to call out on this one, so we're bring in our good buddy and original BBB bassist John Benussi to handle the low end chores. It's always a joy to play with John, so a good time will be had by all! Showtime is around 9pm-ish and there will be a small cover charge. We all hope you can make it out!

* NEXT FRIDAY, May 17th - - Treasures of the Spirit at The Flash in Kennett Square, PA
We haven't had a gig since January, so everyone is raring to rip into some Mahavishnu with a vengeance! Something of an upscale venue, tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Hope to see you there! As always, check my schedule page for links, maps, and more info... http://billberends.com/schedule.html

Some cool news... my solo album In My Dreams I Can Fly made the April radio play charts in JAZZWISE Magazine in the UK. Very cool! The British clearly have impeccable taste!! The album also picked up another nice review on the aptly named LOUD GUITARS web site, you can check it out here! There's also a nice review in the new edition of PROGRESSION MAGAZINE (#65). Very cool!

Although it's been slow on the live side, I've been busy in the studio recording some guest guitar tracks for a Russian band way out in Siberia called AzaZello. Really out there, intense Russian prog-metal with one very lyrical classic type track which I really liked. I also just finished up an epic solo for an Italian electronic music artist who calls himself Jampy. As soon as these tracks are online somewhere I will be sure to invite you for a listen, I am quite pleased with them!!

Did someone say guitars? I played my 2012 Les Paul Standard on both of these recordings and expect to be playing it quite a bit more! I've been buying and selling and trading a lot of guitars recently, searching for my voice, and I finally settled on a Les Paul. This thing sounds awesome!! So, I sold most of my other guitars (not the old '68 SG) and picked up a Les Paul Traditional as well. Being an SG player all of my life, I am more than a little surprised by this myself! But the sound says it all, so this weekend at J&P's will be a shootout of the Les Pauls... come hear how great these classic instruments sound and tell me which one you like better!!

In Mastermind news... no news really. I have been working on some of the new material in the studio, but it is taking shape v-e-r-y slowly. Hopefully that will pick up now my quest for the ideal guitar has settled down and getting out to gig gets my juices flowing. Mastermind drummer Rich Berends is playing some gigs this weekend with the metal band Frost Giant, so all you metal heads might want to check that out.

That's it for now! Hope to see you at a gig and have some new music for you to listen to very soon.

Hooray for Spring!! It's about damn time!

Bill Berends

In My Dreams I Can Fly available on CD Baby

billberends.com
mastermindband.com
berendsbrosband.com