Playing for the Cure

Cameron Byrd,18, and Brett Byrd, 16, of Camas, Wash., (pop. 12,534) have been writing and playing their own music since they were in elementary school. In 1996, the brothers and two other boys started a rock band called Mindframe, with Cameron serving as lead vocalist and writing most of the band’s lyrics and Brett providing the band’s powerful drumbeat. In the fall of 1998, they had just booked Mindframe’s first big concert, in Portland, Ore., when their mother, Carol House, told them that the breast cancer she’d received treatment for several years earlier had returned.

Cameron and Brett thought of canceling the Portland concert. Then they came up with the idea of turning it into a benefit to raise money for breast cancer awareness, in honor of their mother.

Despite aggressive treatment, she succumbed to the disease a few months later, but the boys went on with the Portland performance in April 1999. The concert was so successful that the band decided to continue to dedicate the proceeds of their concerts to breast cancer awareness. Since then, they have played more than 60 concerts nationwide, contributing about $400,000 to breast cancer organizations—about half of it to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Craig Byrd, the boys’ father and Carol House’s husband of 16 years, says that Cameron and Brett are steadfast in their goal to raise money for breast cancer organizations. Even though they both have packed schedules—playing baseball and basketball and practicing karate—their goal is to earn $1 million to fight the disease.

“It feels really good to be doing this in my mom’s memory,” Cameron says. “We’re raising all this money in her name, and it feels like we’re doing something to make the world a better place.”

Their efforts to fight breast cancer have brought the Byrd brothers national attention. In 2000 and 2001, Brett and Cameron, respectively, received the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, which included all-expense paid trips to Washington, D.C., and $1,000 each, which the boys have stowed away in their college funds.

“The most important thing for me is reaching our goal of a million dollars for breast cancer research,” Brett says. But he also harbors high ambitions for Mindframe. “I think it would be a lot of fun if we could become famous and go on tours throughout the world.”

And they just might. The band has played all around the country, including appearances on the Fox TV network, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and NBC’s Today Show. In 2000, they played at opening ceremonies and served as grand marshals for the 92nd annual Portland Rose Festival. In 2001, they signed a contract with Gamelan Interactive Group (G.I.G.), a music management company in Boston, and last year they released their second CD.

“We jumped at the opportunity to work with Mindframe,” says Howard Turkenkopf of G.I.G. “Their music is honest, powerful, and relevant to today’s music industry. And their devotion to their mother and breast cancer research shows compassion and integrity, which is not always easy to find within the music industry.”

“We want to land a major record deal and get as big as we can,” says Cameron, who may attend college until his brother graduates from high school. While he’s definitely enjoying Mindframe’s success, Cameron says the music is its own reward, because he feels closer to his mother when he’s playing it.

Here are a few lines of I’m Okay, a song that Cameron wrote for her. You can hear Mindframe playing it on their website, www.mind-frame.com.

Sometimes I’m shaken looking at your picture
Smiling everyday
I look out through the window
I look out through the gray
I call out your name, I call it out
and I hear you say, I hear you say I’m Okay

Laurel Holliday is a frequent contributor to American Profile.

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