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Riding a perpetual wave

10•20•2006

American jam band Perpetual Groove is riding a wave of momentum with its improvisational rock and energetic live shows. The band will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at The Mobius, 281 Fourth St., Ashland. The momentum for Perpetual Groove began in 1997 when two of its founders, guitarist Brock Butler and bassist Adam Perry, met after their freshmen orientation at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. To the dismay of their dorm mates, the two spent many late night sessions jamming with other musicians. The original band lineup was formed, and Perpetual Groove performed at venues in South Carolina and Georgia. The group's favorite haunt, though, was J.J. Cagney's, a local bar in Savannah. The new band put together a demo recording that later became known as the "Jungle Funk Demo." Butler and Perry were both taking minors in sound engineering at Savannah College, so they decided to utilize the school's studios and record a studio album. Their self-titled album featured eight tracks, and just five hundred copies of were pressed. The original band lineup dissoved when two of the members graduated college and left Savannah to pursue employment. Butler and Perry continued to pursue music, and the two spent time writing, playing and working on ideas for new projects. Each worked various jobs and hosted open mic nights at J.J. Cagney's as a way to earn a little money and get to know other musicians. It was at one of the open mic nights in 2001 that the two boys met their future band mates, drummer Albert Suttle and keyboardist Matt McDonald. The new quartet quickly became a regular act at Cagney's. The band members began to connect and be comfortable with the music they were creating, and together a new sound emerged. Things took a professional turn for Perpetual Groove when it took on its manager Ben Ferguson. The band began picking up a fan base in 2001 and 2002 while performing in Atlanta with C. Robie and The Dunhams, landing a gig at the city's Annual Music Midtown Fest. Things were rolling for the Groove members, and it was time to put a marketing approach together. The group started distributing free live CDs and hired a booking agency. Soon Groove was touring and performing full-time in the Southeast. In 2003, the group recorded its first release, "Sweet Oblivious Antidote," at a friend's studio in Atlanta and headed into the Midwest to tour. Groove finished the tour with a sold-out performance at The Georgia Theatre in Athens on New Year's Eve. The band toured harder in support of its new album and got a lucky break when its members were invited to open for rock band The Big Wu on its Northeast tour that spring. Groove began its own national tour later in 2003, performing at venues across the country, such as the High Sierra Music Festival in California and the Berkshire Mountains Music Festival in Massachusetts. The band is still ridin' the wave with its second CD release, "All This Everything," in 2004 and a third studio recording — yet to be titled — to be released this year.

Original Article: http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/1020/life/stories/20oct_groove.htm

Perpetual Groove vibes through Ashland

10•19•2006

On Saturday Oct. 21, at 9 p.m. The Mobius welcomes funk/ jazz/ trance group Perpetual Groove. Admission is $10 for this all-ages show. Simply put, Perpetual Groove is the perfect jamband. So it makes sense that "All This Everything," the quartet's sophomore studio effort, weaves a hodgepodge of styles and sounds into a single, slightly manic statement. This quartet from Savannah, Ga. has a long list of accolades. They were named one of the top ten bands to watch in 2005 by Relix magazine, they performed to over 20,000 people at Bonnaroo, have made appearances at High Sierra and been have selling out the Georgia Theatre since New Years Eve '04. Perpetual Groove throws down a funky blend of reggae, tribal-style trance rhythms, heavy funk, jazzy improvisation and synth loops, intertwined with inspiring and sentimental lyrics. Their high energy and meticulous craftsmanship keep their songs fresh and surprising. With veteran producer Robert Hannon at the helm, P-Groove successfully synthesizes the source genres of jazz, rock, funk and trance into a series of tight, polished compositions. In the process, the collective also manages to create a studio-sounding document, still fluid enough to be filed under jam. "All This Everything" (Harmonized Records 2004), produced and recorded by Hannon launched the band out of their home in the south and onto the national radar. Based around the euphoric guitar solos of Brock Butler, "All This Everything" often favors melody over funky grooves, linking its well-charted jams together with government precision.

Original Article: http://www.dailytidings.com/2006/1019/stories/1019_revels_mobius_a.php

ABC Pick: Perpetual Groove

10•15•2006

Regardless of whether your head turns in the genre's direction, or you'd just as soon let the dead bodies pile up before taking a glance, Perpetual Groove is making it difficult to not notice the jamband realm. Granted, vehicular catastrophes make even the most narrow-minded folks rubberneck, but this Savannah band is no freeway sideshow carnival. The group's instrumental arrangements (okay, "jams") are well-suited for the lazy landscapes of sleepy South Georgia. A (s)low country boil, the rusting tin roof, the goats peeking through the barbed wire fences, the u-pick-'em peach orchards and the Baptist fellowships offering church-endorsed words of wisdom on signboards: these are the images that flash by the passenger side window and litter the listener's mind. Don't get me wrong, this is not outright Southern rock - or even Southern-tinged rock for that matter - but Perpetual Groove does provide a fitting score to the South's sweeping and aging landscape. In the towns where men use John Deeres and haven't a clue how fashionable their ball caps are, and in the towns where the same last names run for sheriff or commissioner year after year, the band's latest effort All This Everything comes through my speakers. It's a perfect audio pairing to my rural, real-life Sunday drive. Down South where nicknames like Bud or Big Dave stick for life, and if you have a son he's expected to be a Junior, I receive subtle doses of Taoism and a heavy ladling of kaleidoscopic guitar licks. The cinematic experience reaches new heights at the Georgia Theatre this weekend as P-Groove unleashes new tunes and the road-tested mainstays in full Dolby 5.1 surround sound, a feat rarely attempted by live acts. David Eduardo

Original Article: http://flagpole.com/Music/ABCPick/PerpetualGroove/2004-10-13