WesFest 7 Raises $25,000

WesFest 7, the seventh annual WesFest benefit concert, took place at the Roxy in Los Angeles on March 4. More than 300 attendees enjoyed a four-hour concert that was memorable not only for its energy but also for its record-breaking fundraising results.

The WesFest concert series is the centerpiece for a continuing fundraising drive for the Wes Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship Fund, which honors the legacy of Wes Wehmiller ’92, a Berklee graduate and highly accomplished bassist, athlete, and photographer who died of thyroid cancer in 2005.

The March concert was headlined by rock-fusion supergroup the Aristocrats, comprising guitar-
ist Guthrie Govan (Asia, GPS, Dizzee Rascal), bassist Bryan Beller ’92 (Steve Vai ’79, Dethklok, Mike Keneally), and drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, UKZ, Adrian Belew). The band’s set also featured special guest guitarist and keyboardist Mike Keneally, on three roof-raising tunes. Keneally was the headliner at the very first WesFest concert and has participated in nearly every subsequent show.

In a long-standing WesFest concert tradition, the 2011 Wehmiller Scholarship winner performed at WesFest 7. London-born Berklee student Hayley Jane Batt wowed the crowd with her superior bass chops and vocal prowess. She anchored Danny Mo & the Exciters, featuring legendary drummer John “JR” Robinson ’75 (Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Madonna, Eric Clapton), as well as singer/songwriter Kira Small ’93 (Peter Frampton, Martina McBride) on lead vocals. The band was led by Bass Professor Danny Morris ’78, Wehmiller’s teacher and close friend. “John Robinson summed it up,” Morris recalls, “when he said to Hayley, ‘You can play, you can write, and you look great!’”

Among other performers at WesFest 7 were musicians who knew and worked with Wehmiller during his 12 years in Los Angeles, including alumni Colin Keenan ’93, Joe Travers ’91, Griff Peters ’93, Matt Rohde ’91, and Chris Golden ’95. Also joining the group was the first Wehmiller scholarship recipient, Will Snyder ’06. Snyder and all the past recipients exemplify the continuing growth in the scholarship that honors the memory of Wehmiller. This year, the concert and related efforts raised more than $25,000 for Wehmiller’s scholarship. Since the concert’s inception in 2006, the show has generated more than $120,000.