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Thursday, August 16, 1990 Elmira Bandshell in Gore Park (across from the Post Office) 3:00 p.m.to 6:00 p.m. Constituency Office Waterloo Town Square 885â€"4900 Summer Hours: Mon. to Fri. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. . @ pay, MacDonald says it is often just enough to make ends meet. "We don‘t do all of our shows free because this is a fullâ€"time job for us and we have to eat, but most of our benefits are for a substantially reduced rate that generally only covers our basic costs." MacDonald says he is the ‘ i one”lndlometimuhutohym law. If Brother Soulis had his way, he says, the band would do nothing but benefits. But despite his pragmatic approach, even MacDonald has ‘a soft spot in his heart. For a band that started out earning $90 a week, the Beirdo Brothers have made it big. =~ |;>. ings, more gigs then they can handle, i mfl to make their music a fullâ€"time job for the E:nll years. But fame and fortune ven’tnmdthemfmmddng what they like to do best, and they don‘t mind giving it away. Having fun is the name of the game, and Sandy MacDonald, Glen Soulis and "Sister" Sheila Forrester have built their reputations on azany, energyâ€"filled sbowthubadenpntheb'ulnz,heindud- ing recorder playing through nose and a song about dead puppies. They are much in demand, playing about 250 gigs a year, but one thing they always have time for is charity. 7 MacDonald says the band has done benefit shows for the United Way, the Rotary Club, Big Sisters and Brothers, the Canadian Hearing Society, Cystic Fibrosis, the food bank, Child Find and regularly entertains for the hospitals, seniors, the disabled and "I don‘t know how many scouts, cubs, brownies and Wild, wacky and funâ€"that‘s the Beirdo Brothers While some of the shows have included OF PARLIAMENT Aunual Suamemer Hon. Walter McLean, P.C., M.P. CANADA Th opapce Prpiners, faft to riaht) OlomSoulle: Sandy MacBonald and "Stater HON. WALTER McLEAN, P.C., M.P. 1N C‘l«‘:ln«[ges g“ WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1990 â€" PAGE 5 drens music and is embarking a lihlrytour,und)anlduyltheghtâ€" "As long as they‘re having fun, we have fun, and that‘s what‘s important. Once this starts to become work, and is no longer fun, we‘ll probably quit." Musician‘s Performance Trust Fund, set up by the recording industry, that provides money for bands to play beneâ€" fits and charities. MacDonald says the fund allowed them to stay in the Kâ€"W area and become established. ‘‘This way, we could do the kind of shows we wanted to do but still manage to eat. We still use the fund and that allows an organization to book us that normally couldn‘t afford to." you and were booking us for gigs a year away . We just couldn‘t live our lives that far in advance." While wild and wacky is the Beirdo‘s trademark, they also have a serious side. MacDonald plays jazz and blues and has a university degree, Forrester has a masters degree in musical composition and is trained in classical music and Soulis played with the Kâ€" W Symphony, the Stratford Festival and studied violin in Germany. Today, the Beirdos play about twenty instruments between them, as well as including Glen‘s head." While the band *The last thing we need is more work, especially the kind that doesn‘t pay, but when they phone it‘s so hard to say no when it‘s a worthwhile cause." The band began by taking its show on the road, travelling weekends and playâ€" ing small clubs, hotels and bars. But eventually, says MacDonald, the lifeâ€" style became too much. *We‘d leave here Friday night and get back at four in the morning on Sunday. Because of the places we were playing, Because ol the we were playing, mlqy!gwldmbdiftheylikod So the band took advantage of the