It’s a rocking scene at the Roseland Theater, Portland, Oregon on this May night. The band MiNDFRaME is blasting away, while five hundred audience members cheer them on. Brothers Cameron Byrd, 18, lead guitar and vocals, and Brett Byrd, 16, drums, are joined on stage by John Young, 26, rhythm guitar and Jason Beito, 26, bass. Out front, the brothers’ father, Craig Byrd, and stepmother, Dana Roy, watch, beaming with pride. But there is another presence there as well, an unseen one: the brothers’ mother, Carol House, who died of breast cancer in 1999 at the age of 52.

 

“She’s always with us,” says Cameron of Camas, Washington. Brett firmly agrees.

 

Carol is the reason the brothers are here tonight, and every time that MiNDFRaME plays. In her memory, Cameron and Brett are committed to raising $1 million for breast cancer research through their concerts and CD sales. So far, they have reached $400,000, most of which has gone to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, chosen since their mother had often participated in the Komen Race for the Cure fund-raiser, even before she was diagnosed. “Mom taught us to help others in any way we could. I hope we can help find a cure for breast cancer, so other families won’t have to go through what we went through,” says Brett.

 

Craig, a financial adviser, knows that what makes his sons reach so high is not just how their mother died but also how she lived. “She was a teacher and a coach. The boys saw how she inspired and motivated so many people. She was an amazing woman.”

 

Music came easy for the Byrd brothers. Each has played the piano starting at age four. When Cameron was 11, he found the guitar. A short while later, Brett started playing the drums. Other friends joined in, and the band was born.

 

After a few years, the band won a major talent competition in Oregon, and bookings and television appearances started to come in. When two band mates dropped out, Young, Cameron’s guitar teacher, brought in buddy, Jason Beito.

 

All seemed rosy until Carol became ill in 1998. “In January 1999, I sat the boys down and told them that Mom was probably not going to make it and maybe we should cancel the upcoming concert that was scheduled for that March,” Craig recalls. Cameron and Brett thought about it overnight. The next morning, they went to their parents and asked if they could do the concert in their mother’s honor. Carol hugged her sons and said, “Yes, but please don’t do it for me forever. Play because you love your music. The best way to honor me is to follow your hearts and talents.” She died one month later.

 

Over two nights the concert raised $30,000 for breast cancer research. “Even though I was missing Mom, it was more of a happy moment because we were doing it for her. It was like bringing her back a little,” recalls Cameron.

 

The support was so strong that the brothers decided to keep going. (They now have a booking agent.) MiNDFRaME has played more than 50 concerts, sang the national anthem at an Oakland As major league baseball game, performed on NBC-TV’s “Today” show and “The Rosie O’Donnell” show, and were Grand Marshalls for the Rose Festival in Portland. Also, Brett and Cameron each won a Prudential Spirit of Community Award, which honors young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Only one could win at a time, so brett accepted in 2000, and Cameron in 2001.

 

Cameron has written one song about his mother, “I’m Okay,” which he plays at every concert. When he sings, “Our hearts are always you with now/I’m sure you’re with us too,” it’s tough not to wonder what Carol would think if she could see her boys today. Cameron knows: “She’d say, ‘Keep on rockin’!’”

Family Circle, January 13, 2003