Biography

A 60’s and 70's Music Extravaganza

Beyond the Fringe formed in 1997 as a 7-piece group. Instantly the group began stunning and wowing audiences and over the years has performed a musical selection that remains both groundbreaking and revolutionary. No ordinary cover group, Beyond the Fringe takes on many musical challenges while at the same time keeping the dance floors packed and audiences wide-eyed at the variety and dynamics of the show. A wide variety of vocalists and players striving for authenticity enable Beyond the Fringe to cover an astounding array of 60s and 70s classics. The success of Beyond the Fringe has spawned similar local groups who also endeavor to faithfully reproduce amazing Classic Rock that has up until now never been attempted in the commercial market. Beyond the Fringe is available for Summer Concerts, Casinos, Private Events and other Venues.

Beyond the Fringe specializes in accurately covering a wide variety of 60s and 70s Album Rock classics from artists including The Moody Blues, Santana, Chicago, The Who, Boston, Canned Heat, and much more! Audiences on a regular basis reveal their shock and surprise at how just ONE band can accurately reproduce such a wide range of retro music and audio dynamics.

Judith Card (flute, vocals, electric/acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards)

Played with Radio Flyers and many eclectic combos and rock and jazz cover bands. Judith is a very talented artist coming from a very musical family. Judith's vocals, guitar, and percussion plus her ability on flute add a unique dynamic to Beyond the Fringe. She is a seasoned studio artist having done her own originals and theme music for TV and movie scores. She is a crowd favorite, band manager and accomplished multi-intrumentalist. Judith likes to garden, read, write, play with her cats, hang out with her daughter, sell real estate and do crafty things.

John Marino (keyboards, acoustic guitar, vocals)

Band founder and musical director. Played with Tangent, Damascus, The Brittns, and Shambala. John is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist providing Beyond the Fringe with the ability to accurately reproduce entire orchestras, horn and string sections, organ, piano, etc. without the use of programmed or canned music of any type. John “magic fingers”Marino: John loves prog-rock, plays stride and ragtime piano and is absolutely one of the best around at what he does. John works weekdays as a seeing-eye human for blind German Shepherds.

Russ Bright (Lead Vocalist)

Beyond the Fringe would like to welcome our new singer, Russ Bright. Born and Raised in Seattle, Washington, Russ Has spent most of his life in front of an audience. A singer since age 2, he has performed onstage with many bands, in musicals and operas, has sung on soundtracks for TV and film as well as commercials and also sang backup on nationally released albums. His passion for music (and a degree in Audio Engineering) has led him across the country with stops at recording studios in Orlando, Nashville and Detroit. Musical influences are too many to count, and you are just as likely hear him listening to Pavarotti as to Pantera. Favorite singers; David Pack, Michael McDonald, Steve Perry, Burton Cummings and David Clayton Thomas (to name a few)

Mark Black (lead guitar, vocals)

Played in Radio Flyers, RedAx, Nova, Ictus, and Rudy and the Tubeshakers. Mark is a very unselfish, team player (rare for lead guitarists!) who accurately covers many guitar styles during a Beyond the Fringe performance. Also a fabulous rhythm guitarist, Mark Black, as our lead guitarist, is nicknamed “Fingers of Fire”. He is an electronic tech who got that way by being too cheap to pay OTHER electronic techs to fix his stuff. His favorite saying is “owning vintage gear is easy, buy it new, never sell it and have a whole LOT of birthdays”.

J. Tobiason picture credit

Josh Hollingsworth (bass, vocals)

Josh is the newest member of Beyond the Fringe and a very accomplished bassist fluent in many styles. Josh also brings his high and clear 1st tenor voice to Beyond the Fringe which is utilized in material by ELO, Boston, The Turtles, etc.

Josh is currently studying for a masters degree in Music at the University of Washington, and enjoys teaching music almost as much as performing.

Doug Peters (drums, vocals)

Doug comes from a musical family and has been playing on stage for over 30 years. Equally fluent in all styles of Rock (Metal, Rockabilly, Prog, etc) as well as Swing, and Modern Jazz; Doug's style is influenced by Rock greats such as Carl Palmer, John Bonham, Ian Paice as well as Jazz greats such as Louie Belson and Dave Weckl. He accurately covers the wide range of styles required to pull-off the unique Fringe playlist, and for this reason he is in constant demand by both original and tribute groups of all types. Doug has performed with Tangent, The Brittns, Decade, and currently performs with The Wright Brothers and Tracy Allen Moore.

Beyond the Fringe Past History: too many to thank! Here we will include pictures of past members and our Fans! We can never thank you enough, those of you who made us who we are today!

Pamela Tobiason: our regular special guest (below)

she brings down the house with her Janis Joplin!

Kirk Riley:

Soundman

The most

underated

and often

most

important

honorary

member!