Album Notes

Fern Viola
Fern Viola has been singing all his life to the enjoyment of his various audiences. His booming baritone voice is familiar to anyone who has heard him sing his stirring renditions of the Canadian and American national anthems at football, baseball and hockey games in Hamilton, Toronto, and Pittsburgh. He has sung his bilingual version of O Canada in front of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau who nicknamed Fern “Mr. O Canada”.
Fern has developed a repertoire of both classical and modern contemporary music and has performed a variety of musical styles including church hymns and other spiritual music. Fern sings in many languages and is featured in the DJ Companion Records releases ITALIAN FESTIVAL in which he sings signature versions of several traditional Italian songs as well as original compositions written by Al Bachmann with whom he also collaborates on the MY FAITH as well as ANTHEMS and another album FOREVER YOUNG which is being planned for a late 2009 release.
Fern has had a long-time love affair with the songs and singing styles of crooners Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Tony Bennett to whom he paid tribute and offered a musical salute performing at Hamilton Place and Theatre Aquarius to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, City Kidz and autistic children.

Al Bachmann
Al Bachmann is a truly amazing man in the musical field whose artistry is simply phenomenal. He is a multitalented and unique individual, a composer, writer, arranger, producer and musician. There is a wide variety of music in Al's compositions, from ballad to polka, from waltz to serenade, everything well written, performed and recorded.
Al started playing the piano at the age of 6 and never looked back. Originally from Germany, Al moved to Canada in 1956 and has lived in Caledonia, Ontario most of those years. One of the highlights of his career was on June 28, 1997 when he was commissioned to play music for Queen Elizabeth II while she was visiting Canada. Al has recorded a number of LPs, tapes and CDs some of which were produced or re-released by DJ Companion Records. For 4 years Al hosted his own “REVERIE” program on CKLH-FM and he appeared on CHCH- TV 11’s The Best Is Yet To Come for 2 seasons. Al’s own love of music is obvious as you listen to him play.