Meet The Reasons
The Reasons are based out of Prince Edward County, Ontario and are a 4-piece 50's to 80's rock n' roll party group, featuring the vocal and lead guitar talents of Peter Rea. Their upbeat dance material also features John Sharkey with his amazing vocal skills and continuous bass groove, the solid and totally rockin' drumming of Mike Bond and the dazzling keyboards of Steve Wilson. This group will keep the dance floor up and jumping all night!
Peter Rea (Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals)
Peter has been performing on stages around the country since the age of 18. His musical roots stem from 50's & 60's artists, primarily the songs of Dion, Elvis, and The Beatles. He was weaned on the powerful ballads of Paul Anka, Jim Webb, and the pop genius of Brian Wilson. Peter is the only constant member of The Reasons as some of the other members also play in other bands or head south in the winter. Peter was born in Arnprior, Ontario and now resides in Picton with his wife, Jackie. He has two AMAZING children, Terena and Brandon and a stepson Dylan. Peter enjoys nothing more than being on a stage, singing and playing to his friends and fans!!
John Sharkey (Bass, Lead & Harmony Vocals)
John Sharkey has been playing music his entire life. A multi-instrumentalist, John has played thousands of live shows in his career on lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums. Venues and events played include The El Mocambo, Nathan Phillips Square for Toronto's 175th birthday celebration, The Beaches Jazz Festival and the C.N.E. Influenced by artists such as The Beatles, The Jam, Sam Cooke, Al Green, Steve Winwood and B.B. King, John also is a classical music aficionado. John is also the co-founder of K-Shark Audio, a full service audio production house, where he is the lead engineer and composer. John has a small but perfectly curated collection of instruments, mostly built by his partner Kristin. Born in Scotland and raised in England, John happily calls Canada home.
Mike Bond (Drums, Harmony Vocals)
Born and raised in Prince Edward County, Mike was exposed to all genre’s of music including the early Rock & Roll greats. A self-taught drummer, his first real gig was New Year’s Eve 1968 playing many Buddy Holly hits. Early influences were Hal Blaine (The Wrecking Crew), Floyd Snead (Three Dog Night), Danny Seraphine (Chicago), Michael Shrieve (Santana). He has a special place in his heart for all those great un-named session men of the 1960’s. Since early high school Mike has played extensively in the Quinte/Kingston area and has toured the New Jersey coast & Long Island area. He has sat in with bands in England and Europe and continues to be active with musicians in Prince Edward County, Belleville and Kingston. An avid sailor and skier Mike lives on the water near Picton with his wife Brenda.
Steve Wilson (Keyboards, Harmony Vocals)
Born and raised in Prince Edward County, but now resides in Belleville. He started playing music at a very early age and is now loving it more than ever. Growing up with country music, but now has broadened his interests to many other genre's. Steve has been playing keyboards for many years, but still likes to pick up a guitar once in a while. "Being able to play out with good friends is very rewarding!".
The Reasonettes
Jackie Rea, Arlene de Vries, Darlene Eldridge, Brenda Bond, Judy Sanders
In Loving Memoriam
Mike Rea (Drums, Harmony Vocals)
Peter's younger brother Mike Rea was the original drummer/vocalist in The Reasons. Together they started the band in 1980. They toured together all over the province of Ontario and many times to the east coast of Canada. Brother Mike was an integral part of The Reasons. He was an avid Beatle fan, and was a great singer of John Lennon songs "Imagine", "This Boy", "If I Fell" and "You're Gonna Lose That Girl", among others. We lost Mike after a long battle with cancer on March 2, 2016. He was only 56 years old. R.I.P. Mikey! God bless you....
Meet some other members of The Reasons
Jake de Vries (Bass, Harmony Vocals)
Jake de Vries grew up in a small town but he had a big imagination. He loved music and wanted to spend the rest of his life with his friends playing in a band. So he went on the road and the band got great reviews and was signed by Capital records. Some dreams come true and some don't. The band broke up and Jake got a day job but he still spends the rest of his time making music with his friends. His early influences include Hank Williams, Elvis, the Ventures, Beatles, Stones, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Jake is also a talented guitar and mandolin builder and decoy carver.
Ben Smith (Drums, Harmony Vocals)
Born and raised in the Lennox & Addington area, Ben became interested in music at a very early age and after trying out many different instruments he settled into the drums. In high school he had the opportunity to study with the best drum teacher around and attributes a large portion of his success to him. He started to play gigs at 17 backing teachers from his school as well as playing in his own blues/rock band. After playing for numerous groups in clubs between Toronto and Ottawa, Ben currently resides in Peterborough and is part of their very active music scene.
Fraser Hardman (Bass, Harmony Vocals)
Fraser draws on a broad musical background from both sides of the Atlantic, and enjoys playing an eclectic repertoire of jazz, roots and popular music as well as his own original songs. Residing in beautiful Prince Edward County, Ontario, Fraser regularly performs throughout the County and surrounding areas. In demand as a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, electric and upright bass, mandolin, ukelele, keyboards), at any point in time Fraser is usually involved in a variety of different projects. Catch Pete and Fraser most Thursday evenings at Coach's Pub and Grillhouse, Picton - a great evening of dancing to 50's/60's/70's rock and roll.