Album Notes

Drawn first to the sound of the drums, Brent Berry began his musical career at the age of twelve. Hashing out rhythms on an old marching snare quickly matured into a position in the Kansas City St Andrews Bagpipe and Drum Core. Under the direction of Drum Sgt. Rick Southall, Berry developed a deep-rooted respect for traditional music of world.

After becoming one of the premier young side drummers in the Midwest, Brent began studying congas and djembe with teacher Mathew Brown Jr. formerly of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Moving from the classroom to the walkways of Westport, Kansas City, Brent flourished under Brown's instruction. In 1994 Brent was introduced to the Kansas City Traditional Music Society, a family of musicians that fostered Brent's growing love of traditional and folk music. Under the guidance of Mater Drummer Augustine Diaz, Bird Flemming, and Pat Conway, Brent was exposed to Rumba, Congo, and Bata Rhythms.

In the fall of 1996 Berry moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico to study Bomba Plena and Nyabinghi with the local elders. Continuing his pursuit of knowledge, Brent left Puerto Rico for Europe in the spring of 1997. While busking from Cadiz,Berlin,Helsinki,Paris,Cork,Dublin,Zurich and to Amsterdam (Brent's favourite town in the world), Berry's talent for singing and songwriting emerged. After returning from Europe Berry performed with Bird Flemming and Smaba Du Mau at the Kansas City International Reggae festival. This performance inspired Berry to play with a host of KC Reggae, World, and Funk groups including BGR, Common Ground, The Band That Saved the World, and the Lawrence based rocksteady/reggae group The Secondhands.

In 1999 Brent struck up a relationship with Tom Johnson, composer/arranger for The Secondhands, and began work on his debut solo recording. In February of 2001, Brent released his debut solo full-length "Inland" on St Louis based Kick Save Records. Inland developed into a superb culmination of roots reggae, rocksteady, and folk music.

From Lawrence, Kansas to Long Island, New York,
St.John,Virgin Islands to Taos, New Mexico and has performed with legendary acts such as the Slackers, Hepcat, The Skatalites, Wailing Souls, Mad Professor, Sizzla, Boom Shaka, Luciano, and Toots and The Maytals, King Django, Sister Carol and Ritchie Havens.