Al Beyer - Band History - Al Beyer

Al Beyer - Drummer of Montazh - Al Beyer -Al Beyer - Band History - Al Beyer - Al Beyer

Al Beyer
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I started learning to play drums at the age of 6. My first opportunity to play for a live audience came when I was 11 years old, and was asked to fill in for my Dad's Polka Band. That was a great experience and the beginning of the desire to play more live "dance jobs" as we called them. Also at 12 years old, I started learning to play the trumpet. Throughout my teenage years, I played drums or trumpet for weddings and bars in the band with my Dad. We called our band "The Beyer Two" or "The Beyer Two plus One" depending how many people we had for a particular job. Go figure!

Lorri's family got together occasionally and had a "Hootenanny", otherwise known as a jam session. They found out I was a drummer and I hadn't been playing much for about a year so I accepted the request to join in. Before long we were getting requests to play bars and weddings. We called ourselves "The Hootenanny Band". We started out as a 7 piece band but after Lorri's Dad died we ended up being a 4 piece band with Bob Heckendorf, Mark Fugate and Lorri & I. My learning and playing ability really progressed in that group besides the fact it was non-stop FUN!

After a friendly band break up, Lorri & I decided we weren't ready to quit playing. We knew that there was a demand for a band that could play a variety of music so we set out to find 2 new people and form our new band. After a few months of tryouts and searching we finally had our new group put together. Russ Vasilovich would be our bass player and Tom Stefonik would be our lead player and also cover a lot of the lead vocals. Lorri came up with the idea for the band name to be "MonTazh". We quickly agreed that the name fit what our group and music was about.

Two years later, Russ would be replaced by Ward Bennett on bass. We would continue to entertain for the next 5 years. In 1999, Tom and Ward both decided to retire from the MonTazh band. Once again, it was a friendly band break up and once again, Lorri & I were left with a decision to make. We decided we wanted to continue playing and keep the name MonTazh. Dan and Gunnar became our new band members, and if you have seen and heard them play, the rest speaks for itself. Dan decided to quit the band in early January 2004 and Rick Lynch joined us in mid January of 2004. We played together for a year and a half and we had a good time together. The summer of 2005 brought a change for the band when Dan Dalbey rejoined Montazh. We had a fun summer together and even had the opportunity to open for Starship at the Jaycee's 4th of July Celebration! Dan went back to Minnesota in early December and Jim Wood helped us out on all our gigs in December. Thanks, Jim!

January 2006 brought yet one more change up in the band lineup when Mark Mittlesteadt joined Montazh! We're very happy to have Mark in the band.

The summer of 2007 made history for Montazh when we decided to become a five-piece band. Montazh welcomes back Tom Stefonik to the band. We're looking forward to our new band adventure with Mr. Stefonik. Look for some fun changes in the band as we learn new songs now with five vocals and two guitars. We are having a lot of fun in this band and look forward to performing for you. Keep checking our website for more updates and other tidbits of info.

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you soon!

Al Beyer - Drummer of Montazh - Al Beyer -Al Beyer - Band History - Al Beyer - Al Beyer
Al Beyer		Home


	I started learning to play drums at the age of 6. My first opportunity to play for a live audience came when I was 11 years old, and was asked to fill in for my Dad's Polka Band. That was a great experience and the beginning of the desire to play more live "dance jobs" as we called them. Also at 12 years old, I started learning to play the trumpet. Throughout my teenage years, I played drums or trumpet for weddings and bars in the band with my Dad. We called our band "The Beyer Two" or "The Beyer Two plus One" depending how many people we had for a particular job. Go figure! Lorri's family got together occasionally and had a "Hootenanny", otherwise known as a jam session. They found out I was a drummer and I hadn't been playing much for about a year so I accepted the request to join in. Before long we were getting requests to play bars and weddings. We called ourselves "The Hootenanny Band". We started out as a 7 piece band but after Lorri's Dad died we ended up being a 4 piece band with Bob Heckendorf, Mark Fugate and Lorri & I. My learning and playing ability really progressed in that group besides the fact it was non-stop FUN! After a friendly band break up, Lorri & I decided we weren't ready to quit playing. We knew that there was a demand for a band that could play a variety of music so we set out to find 2 new people and form our new band. After a few months of tryouts and searching we finally had our new group put together. Russ Vasilovich would be our bass player and Tom Stefonik would be our lead player and also cover a lot of the lead vocals. Lorri came up with the idea for the band name to be "MonTazh". We quickly agreed that the name fit what our group and music was about. Two years later, Russ would be replaced by Ward Bennett on bass. We would continue to entertain for the next 5 years. In 1999, Tom and Ward both decided to retire from the MonTazh band. Once again, it was a friendly band break up and once again, Lorri & I were left with a decision to make. We decided we wanted to continue playing and keep the name MonTazh. Dan and Gunnar became our new band members, and if you have seen and heard them play, the rest speaks for itself. Dan decided to quit the band in early January 2004 and Rick Lynch joined us in mid January of 2004. We played together for a year and a half and we had a good time together. The summer of 2005 brought a change for the band when Dan Dalbey rejoined Montazh. We had a fun summer together and even had the opportunity to open for Starship at the Jaycee's 4th of July Celebration! Dan went back to Minnesota in early December and Jim Wood helped us out on all our gigs in December. Thanks, Jim! January 2006 brought yet one more change up in the band lineup when Mark Mittlesteadt joined Montazh! We're very happy to have Mark in the band. The summer of 2007 made history for Montazh when we decided to become a five-piece band. Montazh welcomes back Tom Stefonik to the band. We're looking forward to our new band adventure with Mr. Stefonik. Look for some fun changes in the band as we learn new songs now with five vocals and two guitars. We are having a lot of fun in this band and look forward to performing for you. Keep checking our website for more updates and other tidbits of info. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you soon!