Album Notes

Southbound Suarez is the most recent incarnation of brother Charlie and Manny Bernardo's musical vision.

Blessed with a love and skill for music from their Cuban-American roots, the brothers have spent the last three years writing and performing together.

After selling 300 independently released copies of their last CD, Southbound Suarez split up and the brothers recruited all new musicians.

The current lineup is the strongest yet and this new five song EP is the first offering buy this talented new group.

Mike Tasevoli, the new drummer, trained in both classical and jazz percussion adds a level of versatility and creativity unmatched in most rock bands today.

The bassist, "funky" Chuck Evans, brings a background as a classical violinist of ten years who four years ago switched to the bass guitar as his main instrument. Though his main style is funk, playing with Southbound as given him a chance to explore the more melodic side of the bass, freeing him to use his classically trained ear to his advantage. Always deep in the pocket and never crowding the space Chuck is every songwriters dream.

Finally, Chad Dinzes completes the band on keyboards. Unfortunately he was recruited after the making of the album and did not get to add his touches. All keyboard parts on the album were played by a friend of Southbound Suarez's. However, Chad has helped the group take their live performances to the next level. A piano player at heart, Chad's style is extremely fluid yet melodic. As gifted in improvising as writing the perfect part for a song, Chad completes the Southbound Suarez lineup for good.

As well as sharing the lead vocal duties, brothers Charlie and Manny also double as the main guitarists in the group.

Charlie's expertise with ambient textures, effects, and well-crafted solos add his signature playing style to the band as well as fill out the live sound.

Manny on the other hand focuses his energies more on songwriting and producing, often the role player with the guitar, he switches easily between vintage strat tones, tube driven leads and acoustic guitar.

As a unit, Southbound Suarez definitely delivers.

Though the vocal harmonies and the songwriting have always been the groups focus, with the new lineup, the supporting musicians have brought each song and the sound as a whole to a new plateau, often diverting the crowds interesting and adding dimension and technical mastery to an already impressive sound.