"I like to think my Reunion Blues Continental Cases are like the Continental Hotel chain from the John Wick movies. The Continental is not only luxurious, but it will do everything it can to protect its investments. My Continental Cases are no different with my guitars. Thank you Reunion Blues for creating what I've been searching for to meet my needs."
Bart wasn’t your typical high schooler -- student by day, and at 14 he was regularly playing clubs at night as a Lead singer/Lead Guitarist/Songwriter with his mom by his side as his band's manager. By the time Bart reached his senior year he and his band were working with producer Tim Minor (Steve Perry/Paula Abdul), showcasing for Sony Records, won Z-Rock’s National Battle of the Bands for Texas, had their song on Q102 - Texas Best Rock, and had opened for several National Recording Artists such as Atlantic Recording Artist Stuttering John from the Howard Stern Show, Epic Recording Artists Arcade (featuring Stephen Pearcy from RATT and Fred Coury from Cinderella), Arista Recordings Artists Every Mother’s Nightmare, Grand Slamm/IRS Recording Artists Lillian Axe, Sony Recording Artists Dirty Looks, and more as the next few years followed.
Fast-forward to the end of the 90’s and Bart and his band would enter their piano and guitar driven track, "Something (Afterglow)", into the VH-1 Rock Across America Best Unsigned Band/Artist competition in the U.S. Little did they know that their song would take home the Grand Prize - an all-expense paid trip playing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening for rock and roll legend John Fogerty. This would ultimately lead to a management deal and an entertainment lawyer. This competition would later inspire the popular VH-1 series Bands on the Run. Bart and his band would go on to work with Grammy nominated engineer / producer Chris Bell (Destiny's Child, Fuel, Polyphonic Spree, Erykah Badu, Don Henley, Kenny Wayne Shepherd) before they unfortunately fell apart.
As the years passed, Bart would go on to work with some of NSYNC's production team in Orlando, Florida, on pop country demos - a direction that came from hearing his VH-1 winning song. Later, Bart would team up with producer Alex Gerst (Ellie Goulding/Epic Records/BMI Record/Warner Bros./Atlantic Records) for some songs that gained some traction. Some of these songs would end up landing him invites to play several festivals including SXSW; Breaking records at Garageband.com with his band's song "Bird's-Eye View '', Securing top spots in songwriting contests; Being offered two recording deals and a tour with MTV2 bands. However, Bart came to the realization that perhaps the music industry was not for him due to some of the infamous pitfalls when it came to the business side of things and retired from the dream.
After a decade of not writing, playing, or performing (Bart sold almost all of his gear), he decided to dip his toes back in the water and have fun performing music again without the pressures of chasing record deals and started to pursue the tribute music scene. Bart focused on forming a tribute to his favorite band – Duran Duran, where he would portray their long-time guitarist role of “Dom Brown" in the Wild Boys: The Duran Duran Experience. Bart’s hard work helped him work alongside some of Duran’s actual team, as well as forming a special friendship with Dom Brown himself. Bart's journey back into music was published by Yamaha Music for their website: "What Guitar Means to Me: One Musician’s Journey” and was invited to Winter Namm in California by several companies. With the Wild Boys eventually taking on a different direction, Bart and some of the other members decided to focus on other projects. With Bart it was his next dream: to become his favorite solo artist -- Bryan Adams.
And here we are today. Becoming Bryan in Run to You – the Ultimate Bryan Adams Experience, has been a dream for Bart. From the sound, the raps, the look, to the gear – Run to You is considered the most authentic Bryan Adams tribute here in the United States. Getting to meet the real Bryan Adams in the summer of 2023, as well as Bryan's guitarist Keith Scott and his longtime bassist Solomon Walker, was a dream come true.
Bart is an artist with Fender Guitars, Godin Guitars (Canada), Pig Hog Cables, Reunion Blues Gig Bags, SIT Strings, In Tune Guitar Picks, Lock-It Straps, and Chromacast Music.
Bart Van Bemmel
"I like to think my Reunion Blues Continental Cases are like the Continental Hotel chain from the John Wick movies. The Continental is not only luxurious, but it will do everything it can to protect its investments. My Continental Cases are no different with my guitars. Thank you Reunion Blues for creating what I've been searching for to meet my needs."
Bart wasn’t your typical high schooler -- student by day, and at 14 he was regularly playing clubs at night as a Lead singer/Lead Guitarist/Songwriter with his mom by his side as his band's manager. By the time Bart reached his senior year he and his band were working with producer Tim Minor (Steve Perry/Paula Abdul), showcasing for Sony Records, won Z-Rock’s National Battle of the Bands for Texas, had their song on Q102 - Texas Best Rock, and had opened for several National Recording Artists such as Atlantic Recording Artist Stuttering John from the Howard Stern Show, Epic Recording Artists Arcade (featuring Stephen Pearcy from RATT and Fred Coury from Cinderella), Arista Recordings Artists Every Mother’s Nightmare, Grand Slamm/IRS Recording Artists Lillian Axe, Sony Recording Artists Dirty Looks, and more as the next few years followed.
Fast-forward to the end of the 90’s and Bart and his band would enter their piano and guitar driven track, "Something (Afterglow)", into the VH-1 Rock Across America Best Unsigned Band/Artist competition in the U.S. Little did they know that their song would take home the Grand Prize - an all-expense paid trip playing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening for rock and roll legend John Fogerty. This would ultimately lead to a management deal and an entertainment lawyer. This competition would later inspire the popular VH-1 series Bands on the Run. Bart and his band would go on to work with Grammy nominated engineer / producer Chris Bell (Destiny's Child, Fuel, Polyphonic Spree, Erykah Badu, Don Henley, Kenny Wayne Shepherd) before they unfortunately fell apart.
As the years passed, Bart would go on to work with some of NSYNC's production team in Orlando, Florida, on pop country demos - a direction that came from hearing his VH-1 winning song. Later, Bart would team up with producer Alex Gerst (Ellie Goulding/Epic Records/BMI Record/Warner Bros./Atlantic Records) for some songs that gained some traction. Some of these songs would end up landing him invites to play several festivals including SXSW; Breaking records at Garageband.com with his band's song "Bird's-Eye View '', Securing top spots in songwriting contests; Being offered two recording deals and a tour with MTV2 bands. However, Bart came to the realization that perhaps the music industry was not for him due to some of the infamous pitfalls when it came to the business side of things and retired from the dream.
After a decade of not writing, playing, or performing (Bart sold almost all of his gear), he decided to dip his toes back in the water and have fun performing music again without the pressures of chasing record deals and started to pursue the tribute music scene. Bart focused on forming a tribute to his favorite band – Duran Duran, where he would portray their long-time guitarist role of “Dom Brown" in the Wild Boys: The Duran Duran Experience. Bart’s hard work helped him work alongside some of Duran’s actual team, as well as forming a special friendship with Dom Brown himself. Bart's journey back into music was published by Yamaha Music for their website: "What Guitar Means to Me: One Musician’s Journey” and was invited to Winter Namm in California by several companies. With the Wild Boys eventually taking on a different direction, Bart and some of the other members decided to focus on other projects. With Bart it was his next dream: to become his favorite solo artist -- Bryan Adams.
And here we are today. Becoming Bryan in Run to You – the Ultimate Bryan Adams Experience, has been a dream for Bart. From the sound, the raps, the look, to the gear – Run to You is considered the most authentic Bryan Adams tribute here in the United States. Getting to meet the real Bryan Adams in the summer of 2023, as well as Bryan's guitarist Keith Scott and his longtime bassist Solomon Walker, was a dream come true.
Bart is an artist with Fender Guitars, Godin Guitars (Canada), Pig Hog Cables, Reunion Blues Gig Bags, SIT Strings, In Tune Guitar Picks, Lock-It Straps, and Chromacast Music.