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OurMidland.com ran a review of the Ralph's World show from February 10th.


Eye On Chicago has a video piece on Ralph's World.


Ralph's World, with Brian on bass, was in a recent feature on Fox Chicago. Go HERE and HERE to see the videos.


Ralph's World, with Brian on bass, was in a recent feature on ABC7. We don't know how long it will be up, so go HERE to see it now.


Last month, Ralph, Tommy and Brian performed live on CW11 (WPIX) in NYC.


Brian, Tommy O'Brien and Ralph just recorded a song for a Ralph's World song that will be on a Disney Mania 3 CD which will feature a bunch of Disney artists. They did a reworked, rocking version of the Mickey Mouse Club. It was a lot of fun!


Ralph's World performed live on WGN-TV 9 Morning News on Tuesday, October 3rd! You can see the video for the next week on WGN's website.


Read about the new Ralph's World album in an article in the Chicago Sun Times.


Come on down to Disney World MGM Studios during the week of September 11-16 and catch Brian live on stage with Ralph's World at Playhouse Disney!

Please see the TOUR page for more details.


The following article ran in Pioneer press today:

Middle 8 reaches coda
BY JENNIFER OLVERA
CONTRIBUTOR


Brian Sheridan, an Arlington Heights resident, grew up listening to his mom's accordion stylings, but that in no way prepared him for the so-far-from-polka-turn his life would take.

Like so many teens, this graduate of all-boys Weber High School in Chicago had rock star aspirations, but Sheridan's story more closely resembles Raffi's than Eddie Van Halen's.

Sheridan first picked up the bass in high school and within three months formed a rockabilly band. As fate would have it, he met Andy Perostianis, a Chicago resident now living in the Edison Park neighborhood, during a rehearsal. The two not only became fast friends but instant collaborators who harmonized well together.

Sheridan eventually went on to form a pop-rock band called Secret Society with fellow students.

"Up to that point I mostly did covers," Sheridan, a marketing graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, admitted. "But in my college band, I started writing original music."

The self-taught musician found that, as with so many bands before his, all of the members started going in their own directions once they were in their early 20s. He continued to find commonalities with Perostianis, however, and the two decided to form Middle 8 in 1997.

After reading an article in Pioneer Press about songwriter Ralph Covert, who was teaching a class at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Sheridan decided to attend.

"It's a good thing I took the class," he said. "Not only did he like my music, he invited me to a songwriter's showcase and eventually ended up producing our first CD."

"Ever Since Ever" (Waterdog Music, 1998) went on to be featured on WXRT, and the band played at Taste of Chicago and opened up for Covert's band, the Bad Examples. In 2001 came Middle 8's subsequent release, "Praying for a Rendezvous."

Meanwhile, Covert was pulling together a kid's music project, Ralph's World, a series of albums and live performances now signed to Walt Disney Records. He asked for Sheridan's help.

"I started subbing on bass for live shows and was asked to perform live permanently in 2004," Sheridan, a father of two, beamed.

Sheridan -- and his kids -- went on to perform on Covert's Grammy-nominated CD "Green Gorilla, Monster and Me."

While Sheridan continues to enjoy collaborating with Perostianis, the two have decided to move their talents in another direction and will perform Middle 8's final show -- in a collaborative show with improv troupe The Autonomous Collective -- on April 8 at Village Players Theatre in Oak Park.

"We're about friends, people and memories being brought together by music," said Perostianis, a Chicago police detective.

During the band's final performance, they'll croon tunes off of both albums, including "Simple Moments With You," a poppy number about taking daily life for granted.

"Hopefully, audience members will be left with the notion of how powerful a good relationship can be, since that's what a lot of our music is about," Sheridan said. "That's true whether you're talking about a husband and wife or parent and child."

A Farewell to middle 8!!!

will be held Saturday, April 8th at the Village Player's Theatre in Oak Park, Illinois.

"All good things must come to an end"...even rock bands. Don't miss what will officially be the last show middle 8 will perform as a band.

"middle 8"...the name and the band as you know it has come to a close.

It's been a great ride from the beginning. The days when any gig at all was a good one...and the more the merrier. When playing until 3am and then going to our day jobs at 7am was a piece of cake.

As the years went on, middle 8 slowly evolved from a hard rockin'...late night drinkin' band into the more mature, easy going, family friendly group of friends that you see in the photo to the right.

Gigs came maybe once a month and ended by 10pm. Five beers was considered a hard night of drinking and had the same morning after effects as did the 25 beers we could put away in our 20's.

It was the love of music that continued to bring us out and it is that same love that will compell us to keep writing new songs and booking more gigs well into the future.

Although middle 8 has ended...something new is emerging...so don't go away.