Bob “Blue” Berry
Biography
Bob was born in the small town of Port Alberni, B.C, Canada, although coming fromA musical family (dad was a B.C. champion accordion player in the 50’s) he didn’t getInto music until High School where he started playing the trumpet.
He was fortunate to win several awards, & music was easy to him.
Around 1977, some friends were forming bands & needed a Bass player (no-one wants to learn that when they’re young, lol, doesn’t get the girls)
He started playing in a few bands, but never got to do a live show & the music of the time Just didn’t hit him right.
He sold all his gear & didn’t play a lick for around 14 years, finally picking up a Samick Bass (but no amp) & picked it up about once every 6 months.
In 1995, Mike Mallon approached Bob (having met around 10 years previously through a mutual friend) and asked him if he wanted to do a gig out at Sproat Lake, he agreed (not realizing it was only a month away) and had a great time.
A pivotal moment happened just 5 days later, when they played a gig for the local rugby club, a bunch of people where there, but 3 people took some stools & sat right in front of the band & watched the whole night, at that moment he told himself that as long as 1 person was into what they were doing, he would play as hard as he could for that person.
Mike was a hard core Blues fan and he started to turn Bob into a Blues fan, delving into Stevie Ray Vaughan & George Thorogood to start, but as time went by, the west coast scene really started to take hold (along with the old personal Fav’s Chester Burnett, Muddy Waters and all the greats) and the Blues really took hold.
I’ve been a very lucky guy, playing with some awesome musicians as the group has grown & progressed, opened up for some great bands (Doug & the slugs, Jim Byrnes, Duke Robillard, & Harpdog Brown to name a few) and enjoyed every second of it.
Along with playing in Lazy Mike & the Rockin Recliners, The Barefoot Blues Band, LOL,Storm Warning, and a few other local bands, I have had the honour & pleasure to play with Harpdog Brown & Jason Buie
Music is my life, to bring what we do to people who work hard all week & just need a few hours to forget all the hassles for a while is very important to me, as I know how it feels, I enjoy every moment on stage (it’s home to me) and want to take this as far as it can go.
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