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Byron D. Cancelmo
Byron Cancelmo
was born September 6, 1968. Byron's interest in music began at the early
age of two. His first memories are of singing to his mother in their
car. To this day, his passion still remains strong ... he never turns
down an opportunity to sing.
Byron has varied
experience and training in music. In high school, he sang and played the
guitar for four years. He performed at several high school dances
and talent shows in France and the U.S, as well as at a banquet in Moscow,
Russia (singing "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "Jail House Rock"). He headlined
the Summer Rock Festival in Worcester, Massachusetts for three years.
Following high
school, he sang in the bass section of the Assumption Worcester College choir
from 1992 - 1995. In 1994, Byron toured throughout Italy with
the choir. The tour included a performance for Pope John
Paul II at the Vatican. Byron also took classical voice lessons from
1993 -1995.
In 1993, Byron founded
the cover/original band, Mr. Hyde. During the four years he was lead singer
with the band, they professionally recorded eight original songs. They
also performed live at Sir Morgan's Cove, Mama Kins (the Aerosmith owned
club in Boston), and Plantation Club.
From 1997 - 1998,
Byron was lead singer for Isengard, an originals only band.
They performed live at clubs in Massachusetts (Worcester, Amherst,
Boston and surrounding cities) and Rhode Island. Isengard also professionally
recorded 12 original songs and performed acoustically during a live
radio broadcast in 1997 (94.1FM HJY, Providence, Rhode Island).
Byron's first child was
born in 1998 and at that time he began focusing more on family and his
work in sales and marketing. He continued, however, to pursue
opportunities in music/voice work during his free time. In 2002, he
had voice over training with Jane Schaffmaster and he did several voice over
projects. He worked with RMS Productions in Birmingham,
Michigan, singing "Tool Box Hero", a parody of "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner,
for a Ford Motor Company industrial ad. He did a voice over for the
Kanter Creative, Inc. company CD. Additionally, he did a Comcast
tag as well as other voice over/fill-in actor work for the Talent Shop in Bingham
Farms, Michigan.
Byron is currently
collaborating with Russ Epker, an accomplished guitarist and song writer.
Russ has toured nationally with Ted Nugent, opened for Bon Jovi, and performed
with well known Detroit artists Robert Bradley, General Clusterfunk, and Bittersweet
Alley. Together, Byron and Russ have a wide array of experience
and talent and they are developing a CD of 14 original songs. Byron's
goals are to build his music portfolio, perform live, and gain
national recognition with a record label.
Russ C. Epker
Russ Epker was
born on July 25, 1960. His parents introduced him to music at an early
age by exposing him to their extensive record collection. From age
5, Russ was a student at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
The private school offered daily lessons in music - singing, and playing
glockenspiel and the recorder. At age 10, Russ began playing the
coronet and he played it throughout high school at concerts and with
the marching band.
Russ was introduced
to the guitar at 14. He took guitar lessons for one year with
Dan Mayer, guitarist for The Sun Messengers. Russ then played
with the band Exodus from 1975 - 1978. They performed at numerous
high school "Battle of the Bands" concerts and private parties. One
party was particularly memorable for Russ - approximately 2,000 people attended from
five area high schools to watch Exodus and friendly rival band, Paradise,
play. The drummer for Paradise was Chad Smith (of Red Hot Chili
Peppers). Chad remains good friends with Russ today. In
fact, Chad helped Russ to launch the band General Clusterfunk in the mid
1990's.
During the mid
to late 1980's, Russ played with Bitter Sweet Alley, a Detroit band. They
backed up the likes of Joe Walsh, Bon Jovi, and many other famous acts.
Shortly after, Russ began playing with an offshoot band of Bitter Sweet Alley
- Skeleton Crew. Skeleton Crew was an all acoustic band and
it placed 3rd (out of 150 bands) on Ed McMahon's television show Star Search.
As mentioned previously,
Russ founded the band General Clusterfunk during the 1990's. General
Clusterfunk won the Best Michigan Band contest in 1994. The
contest was sponsored by none other than Ted Nugent. The band then went
on to do a short tour with Mr. Nugent and played New Year's Eve at Cobo Hall
in Detroit.
In 2000, Russ was
recruited to tour with R&B singer Robert Bradley. Robert Bradley had
a record deal with Vanguard Records (owned and operated by the family of
the famed Lawrence Welk) in Santa Monica, California. Russ toured
with Robert Bradley for four years. The tour schedule consisted of
three weeks on and one week off. They headlined and shared the bill with
many of today's best acts, performing all over the U.S. at large outdoor arenas
as well as small intimate venues.
While Russ toured
with Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, Carson Daily of "The Carson Daily
Show" (NBC), asked them to perform "Born in America" during a
special one year anniversary tribute for September 11th. The band appeared
on Carson's show on other occasions performing "Baby" on one episode and "Train"
on another. Video can be seen at www.bellybone.net.
Russ continues
his musical journey with a studio in his home "Rock Villa". There, he
records, writes, and produces music for various artists. He is currently
working with singer and lyricist Byron Cancelmo. They are planning to
release a CD of approximately 14 tracks in the near future.
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