UNDERCOVER Band Members
Brief Biographies
JASON RIEK
Vocals
Jason has been singing and performing music most of his life. After returning from the LA music scene in 2013, Jason being a perfect fit, joined UNDERCOVER, adding to the already established band. He said, "UNDERCOVER is talented, hard-working, and he is not just a member but he is also a fan!"
Hailing from the Johnstown, PA region, Jason is a locally famous singer best known for his 90's band, Inside Out, that used to tour up and down the east coast in support of their own original music.
Jason has a great voice and stage presence. He has an innate ability to engage each audience, transform every show into an exclusive party, and bring the crowd on our musical journey with us... He is experienced, energetic, charismatic and commands the stage with every show! UNDERCOVER has always been happy and excited to have him and look forward to the future together!
DEAN MINERVA
Drums
Dean is a talented and professional drummer with an established resume. In late 2017, the stars aligned and Dean auditioned for UNDERCOVER - Within the first few measures, everyone knew he was a perfect fit. Since then, UNDERCOVER has been accelerating and growing stronger and tighter as a group and they are happy to have Dean in the band!
Dean has been performing for decades with many accomplished acts including, Chris Higbee, Into the Arena, as well as original acts Chronic Groove, Negative 13, Camp Element & Downside. Dean has had the opportunity to tour with bands who have opened up for some of the country's most popular bands through the years such as: Kid Rock, Bif Naked, Murphy’s Law, Living Colour , RUN DMC, Coal Chamber, Orange 9mm, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Papa Roach, 40 Below Summer, 36 Crazyfists to name a few. His musical career started taking off at the age of 21 when he began touring with Chronic Groove, who toured on the 1997 Vans Warped Tour. Dean has been influenced by many different styles of music from Hip Hop, rock, metal and everything in between. Some of his biggest musical influences are Buddy Rich, one of history's most prolific drummers from the big band era, Stewart Copeland of the Police, Gil Sharone, and John & Jason Bonham to name a few. But the biggest influence who Dean would like to thank is his family, not just from a musical standpoint but also for the encouragement to be the person that he is today.
JJ MASON
Guitar / Vocals
JJ Mason has always had an innate sense to perform. Music attracted him initially and he began playing guitar in 3rd grade and honed his craft throughout his life performing in bands, acoustic groups, and as a solo act. After graduating college with highest honors with a degree in education, JJ became a certified elementary/middle school teacher and used his classroom as his stage. Realizing that more time was required to properly pursue music, he soon devoted more time to his music career. Since then, UNDERCOVER has grown to be one of the best and most popular cover, rock, dance bands in the area and his solo act, Just JJ – Acoustic is equally acclaimed. Both acts combined perform over 100 shows each year. JJ Mason is native to the Pittsburgh area and now resides just outside the city. His business, Starving Artist Entertainment.com houses all his music endeavors.
JJ was also recently cast in the iconic role of Woody Guthrie in the upcoming film, 116 MacDougal the Movie. JJ recorded 2 Woody Guthrie songs, "This Land is Your Land" and "Vigilante Man" for the soundtrack of the film at the Vault Studios with 6-time Grammy winner and producer, Jimmy Hoyson! JJ is honored to part of the project and is thankful everyday for all the family, friends, and fans that continue to believe in him and support his hard work in this challenging business. He is especially thankful for his wife and daughter who continue to be his foundation of love and support!
BARRON SHIPLEY
Bass / Vocals
Barron has been performing in bands since his high school days. Graduating from Music Tech, he toured most of the country with his college colleagues in "Leg Hound" before returning to his native PA mountain region. From there he met up with JJ Mason via chance and joined UNDERCOVER (then known as Justinhale) and he has been a vital component ever since.
With his innate ability on the bass and his training as a guitarist, Barron has always delivered thundering, popping licks that compliment the music and fill out the songs. His amazing backing vocals and harmonies accent the songs perfectly and his stage presence and experience shine through with every performance. Always fun and funny! Barron is a true asset to UNDERCOVER and we are thankful to have Barron in the band!
The FRIENDS and FANS
Dancers/Party People
UNDERCOVER has been fortunate to with stand so many years of performing. We hope to continue to grow and evolve and always try to find time between tours to learn new songs to play for our returning friends and fans! Thank you to all of you for being there for us and for your constant support. Without you, clubs and bars would not hire us no matter how good we thought we were... We NEED our fans and friends and we hope to continue to grow our fans into our friends as we continue to tour to new towns and new places and find new people and new faces. But we cannot thank all of you enough and know we are aware of your vital role in all our performances! We Love you!
CHUCK "Cheese" SLOAN
Drums / Percussion
R.I.P.
Chuck "Cheese" Sloan performed music with JJ for 25 years and with JJ & Barron for almost 20 years until he lost his life in a tragic accident on Wednesday, July 22, 2015 while driving to work.
Cheese was more than our drummer. He was our friend, our family. Although we still perform, not a show goes by without us remembering him as we quote his favorite phrases and utter his meaningful mumbling.
Charles Beatty Sloan Jr. was a Latrobe native, he was accepted into Berkley for his perfect meter and solid beats. He performed in all versions of UNDERCOVER over the years.
Always consistent, powerfully precise, the left -handed drumming Cheese always pushed to keep the show on track from behind his custom dw kit.
We will miss him...
Thank you for reading our Bios Page and as aways,
"We'll see you at the Show!"
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