Joe Cass, Drums & Vocals

"Little Joey", as referred to by members of YES, such as the late Chris Squire and Alan White, is a life-long YES fan and attended his first concert/YES show on the TALK Tour in 1994.  At 7 years old, Joey met the band and has since been on an amazing journey, attending YES concerts on every tour since, and friendships with many members of the band.  

Joey is recognized as one of the most passionate YES and Alan White fans in the world.  He brings Alan's fierce, energetic and powerful performance style to life to the degree where Alan referred to Joey as his "grasshopper".

In addition, Joey exudes the technical prowess and complex finesse of original YES drummer, the legendary, Dr. Bill Bruford, making Joey one of the most recognized YES tribute drummers in the world.  

On top of driving the rhythm for TMR, Joey sings Squire and Howe harmonies respectively throughout, as well as Trevor Rabin's lead vocal parts. 

"I have been in love with playing YES music since I started on pots, pans, and pillows while watching live YES videos as a young child. " 

Terry Dey, Lead Vocals

Terry Dey began performing publicly at the age of 19. Although schooled in classical piano earlier in life his passion turned to singing from almost the very beginning. "I remember hearing an awful lot of incredible bands at that age. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Kiss. But I was also exposed to other more progressive bands like ELP, Rush, and of course YES. When I heard YES, my life changed."

"YES seemed to be telling a beautiful story in their songs. Stories of higher learning, of harmony, of the Universe. It was a very spiritual message and I gravitated towards that. The purity of the vocals was mesmerizing to me and I did my best to learn those songs as they were released."

Primarily a classic rock singer later in life, Terry was offered the chance to sing once again in the YES tribute band Total Mass Retain and jumped at the opportunity. "It was the dream of a lifetime, and I've never looked back".

John Rittweger, Keyboards

John began studying classical piano at the age of 7.  Since then, his life has been immersed in music.  Throughout high school he performed with local bands, then earned his BA and MA in Music Education from Montclair State University. 

After College, John found himself performing in many different bands.  He was hired as a recording session musician for the first 10 years of his career. You may have seen John on one of his regular weekly appearances for over 10 years on the show ‘Sound Waves’ with host guitarist-extraordinaire’ Steve Chirco.  The show featured John’s & Steve’s collaboration in writing and production of original music, as well as John’s vast knowledge of different genres and styles of music.

John has worked with Annie Haslam (Renaissance), Dennis Ray (Sam Cooke show), the Crests (“Sixteen Candles”), the Drifters (“Under the Boardwalk”) and Tim Houser from Manhattan Transfer.  Area performances include The Bottom Line, PNC Bank Arts Center, Club Bene’, Central Park, Keswick Theatre and performed with acts such as the Romantics and Blackfoot. 

John has a collection of vintage keyboards, including a Mini Moog Model D, Prophet 600, Yamaha DX 7, Fender Rhodes and a Hammond Organ.  

John is co-founder and co-owner of Platinum Band Music.

Johnny Bruhns, Guitar/Vocals

Johnny was born and raised in Philadelphia. His family was quite musical. He got serious about music at the age of 16, studying piano and music theory and soon picked up the guitar. Johnny was essentially self-taught, but after moving to California in June of ’77, he also attended Beginning Classical Guitar at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California. Johnny befriended a guitar professor there and quickly learned a lot about theory and technique.

After many years directing church music groups, Johnny found himself a sought-after tribute musician. It was during that time he came upon the idea of doing a Tribute to Yes. He joined San Diego based Yes Tribute “Roundabout” and recruited Yes’ current lead singer, Jon Davison. Together, they played regularly at The House of Blues, theaters, and major casinos in Southern California, earning praise from Yes fans and even Yes members alike.

Having caught the attention of Yes’ management, Johnny was called to fill in for Steve Howe when Yes were rehearsing for the “In The Present” tour. And that was just the beginning! Soon after, Johnny was recruited by Yes’ current bassist Billy Sherwood to join him and Yes original Keyboardist, Tony Kaye on the YOSO Elements World Tour. After the YOSO tours, Johnny joined Billy and Tony in their Yes offshoot band, Circa: and recorded with them on their third studio album “And So On”. He was also chosen by Chris Squire to play guitars when Chris was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at Bass Player Live in 2012.

Johnny is a long-time friend of TMR’s beloved drummer, Joe Cass, and the two appeared on the Yes 50th Anniversary Tribute album along with current Yes keyboardist, Geoff Downes on “Machine Messiah”, which Geoff originally recorded.

Johnny brings an authenticity to the style and sound of Yes’ guitarists beginning with Steve Howe.

Randy Dembo, Bass

We are excited to announce that Randy Dembo of NEKTAR The Legendary Rock Band has joined as our new bass player. Randy has a rich history in the world of classic and prog rock, having been a co-founder of the Genesis Tribute Nursery Cryme (dating back to the 80s) and various local original and cover bands throughout the years. Chris Squire is one of Randy’s bass heroes dating back to when he first heard Yes in the early 70s.

Randy has had an illustrious career spanning local and international touring. In 2004, Randy joined Nektar and has since toured the USA, Europe, and parts of South America, as well as recorded multiple studio and live albums with them. Randy continues to write, record, and tour as a member of Nektar. As if summer 2023, Randy has played live with TMR and continues to wow audiences with his incredible bass playing!!

Joel Simches, Sound Engineer

Joel was surrounded by music at a fairly young age. His uncle was a drummer in a dance band and would tell him tall stories about playing "dance hall joints.” From that moment Joel wanted to be a musician. He heard his first Yes song at age 6 and instantly became a lifelong fan. Joel started taking drum lessons at age 9 and by age 14 was playing drums in a number of bands. A few years later he taught himself the bass by listening to Fragile, Close To The Edge and a variety of Beatles, Hendrix and Police albums. A few years later Joel became a keyboard player and one of the most in-demand studio/live engineers Boston. Joel has been playing in bands around Boston for nearly three decades. His current bands include Count Zero, What About Naomi, Gramlins and Butterscott.

He has toured the world as a sound engineer as well as a musician. As a wedding gift from his mom (a huge prog fan), he attended the very first Cruise To The Edge and met a community of Yes and prog fans from around the world he had only previously known from online music sites. It was here that he connected with Drummer Joey Cass and thus a musical kinship began. They played together on the Cruise’s Late Night Live Prog Jams with other fans from around the world, playing such classics as Close To The Edge, Ritual, Wondrous Stories (with Jon Davison), Sound Chaser, and Cachaca (with Patrick Moraz)! The first time the two got together to jam in early 2015, Joey had invited his friend Mark Gonzales along and immediately the three launched into an impromptu version of Close To The Edge. This planted the seed for Total Mass Retain’s powerful rhythm section.

Joey soon extended the invitation to Joel to join a new Yes tribute band he was forming with his former Yesterdays bandmates John and Terry. The initial rehearsals came together so quickly and naturally. “It’s been a pretty cool ride so far. It’s so gratifying to get to play with such gifted people who love this music as much as I do,” enthuses Joel, “Terry can memorize pages upon pages of Anderson lyrics in a matter of a couple rehearsals. It’s crazy to see how much he puts into it. We all do. Everyone is a great listener and we really like to dig into our favorite Yes moments and try to channel that energy on stage. Getting to play our second gig in front of Yes and hundreds of their most hardcore fans (and our friends!!) was a dream come true. It was an incredible experience. I’m glad we set the barre high. There are so many cool things we want to do with this band and we hope people will dig it!”