Album Notes

ALAN BERNHOFT

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Alan has spent over twenty years creating music. A serious drummer at the age of eight, he had his first band in grammar school, playing parties and school dances through makeshift P.A. systems. As a young boy drawn to the many blues clubs and honky tonks around town, Alan developed quite an array of fake I.D.'s in order to get in to hear his favorite old players. The "little white boy over in the corner" became a familiar fixture at intimate performances by legends such as Little Richard and Leadbelly. He was soaking in the experiences like a sponge.

His Beatles records were seldom off the turntable. "I heard John Lennon's voice and it was all over with...I knew that he knew what I knew...you know?"

Alan's punk-art band, The Wedgeheads, created a lasting local impact with outrageous performances like "Puppy Slicer" and a dead-Elvis parody that made for great press. It subsequently, however, got Alan thrown out of The Sundowners, a country group he was gigging with on the side, who didn't get the humor.

He and songwriter Jaxon Baker then formed The Mice! a Beatlesque, harmonizing pop group whose self-produced first single circulated on college radio throughout the south, grabbing the ear of Electra A&R man Kevin Patrick in New York. Alan moved the band to L.A. to release a second single with Greg Shaw's Voxx Records, only to re-form with some locals as Mary Kelly. They received extensive airplay on independent radio in the U.S., Canada and Europe with a four-song EP. It was penned and produced by Alan and recorded with producer and friend Brett Gurewitz (of Bad Religion) at his Westbeach Studios.

After leaving Mary Kelly, Alan pursued several solo projects. He wrote and recorded a series of rock musicals, including "The Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde" (based on the classic novel) on which he produced, played all the instruments and created all the vocal characterizations. The independent film version, The Jekyll & Hyde Rock 'n Roll Musical, starring Alan and directed by Andre Champagne, is currently being distributed internationally by Bruder Releasing of Los Angeles. The film features a cameo by Alan's friend and mentor, studio legend and Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famer, Hal Blaine.

Alan has also been heard on the internationally syndicated Dr. Demento Show, with a series of novelty tunes recorded at his home studio. Around L.A., Alan enjoys a certain amount of notoriety for his uncanny John Lennon impersonation. He has performed with Ticket To Ride, Forever Fab, The Psychedelic Rockers, Cold Turkey- A Tribute to John Lennon, and Two of Us, an all-Beatles duo, at nightclubs and parties including numerous performances in Las Vegas and at the International Beatlefest. He also played drums for the LA-based band, Theory, who had a tune on TV's Party Of Five.

Alan's song, "Chocolate Chip Cookie Rock" from his children's release, PLAYDATE, can also be found on volume three of the "Are We There Yet?" CD series for kids, entitled "Zade's Little Shop".

Latest release: the bluesy and soulful "MRS. SIPPY BONE" -the L.A. rock 'n roller returns to his Southern roots with this blues-infused collection, reminiscent of early Stones and Zeppelin!

On The Web:

www.cdbaby.com/cd/bernhoft4
www.jekyllandhyderock.com
www.zadeslittleshop.com