Perpetual Groove

Infobox musical artist
Name = Perpetual Groove


Img_capt = Brock Butler performs during PGroove's acoustic set in Charlotte, NC on 12/31/07.
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Origin = Savannah, Georgia, USA
Genre = Rock, Jam Band
Years_active = 1997-Current
Label = Tree Leaf Records
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URL = [http://pgroove.com pgroove.com]

Perpetual Groove (or PGroove) is an American jam band that originated in 1997 in Savannah, Georgia. [http://www.pgroove.com PGroove] incorporates a blend of traditional Southern rock, funk, jazzy improvisation, indie rock and synth loops. The band now operates out of Athens, Georgia.

= Band members =

The band's founding members include Brock Butler on the guitar/lead vocals, Adam Perry on the bass guitar, Joe Stickney on drums and Brett Hinton on the keyboard. The four met at Savannah College of Art and Design during their freshman year. At graduation, Stickney and Hinton both left the band. In 2001, drummer Albert Suttle and keyboardist Matt McDonald, both then active-duty members of the US Army, met Butler and Perry at a Savannah open-mic night and soon joined Perpetual Groove.
John Hruby replaced McDonald on keys in June 2008. Current lineup is Brock Butler on guitar and vocals, Adam Perry on bass, John Hruby on keyboards, and Albert Suttle on drums and percussion.

Keyboards Change

McDonald played his final official show with the band at an annual festival called Amberland on May 25, 2008. Leaving on amicable terms in order to focus on his family, McDonald continues to compose and produce music independently under the moniker M.S.M. (while those happen to be his initials, in this case it actually stands for My Subversive Media).

On June 16, 2008 the band announced the addition of a new keyboard player, John Hruby, formerly of Ohio jamband Guest. A long-time friend of the band, Hruby has a history with PGroove members, having been part of a side project called The Ruins with Butler, Perry, and drummer Travis Cline of Atlanta's Captain Soularcat. Hruby's addition will certainly bring a different flavor to the band, as he's spent the last few years working as a producer with Atlanta's Zone Studios where he had a hand in albums from hip-hop acts such as Ciara, Ludacris, David Banner and The Ying Yang Twins.

Lights

PGroove has had a long relationship with Lighting Designer Jason Huffer, a self-taught production artist whose work with intelligent lights and experimental stage set-ups has garnered much attention throughout the fan community as well as the music industry. While he no longer tours full-time, Huffer continues to work closely with the band, designing the lighting and working behind the light board for some of the larger shows in the Southeast.

= On Tour =

Over the years, PGroove has toured almost incessantly, playing all over the U.S., along with gigs in Japan, Amsterdam, and aboard Jam Cruise and Xingolati (music festivals on cruise ships in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, respectively). The band started out playing small venues in and around Georgia, with deep roots in places like J.J. Cagney's in Savannah and Jake's Roadhouse in Atlanta. In 2003, PGroove headed out west for their first real tour across country. Since that tour, the band has basically been going non-stop, gaining more fans particularly on the West Coast and in the Northeast, while still playing to an ever-growing home base in the South.

Savannah

The band began gathering a following at the original JJ Cagney's on Savannah's Bay Street, which closed and eventually reopened on River Street. After their crowds outgrew that new establishment, they were forced to find other gigs around Savannah. The [http://www.locosgrill.com/locations/15/Savannah Loco's] on Broughton Street provided one of the band's most common new stages, but they also played several other places including the [http://www.scad.edu/venues/lucas/history.html Lucas Theater] (for New Year's Eve 2003), SCAD's [http://www.scad.edu/venues/trustees/ Trustees Theater] , the Armstrong Center at Armstrong Atlantic State University, and [http://railga.com/oddend/roundhouse.html The Roundhouse Railroad Museum] . For the last three years, PGroove has played hometown benefit concerts for the Jolly Foundation, in honor of Butler's childhood friend [http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary_Ellen_McKee/526624318 Mary Ellen McKee] . Their first benefit show was in 2006 at the Trustees Theater, which moved to the Roundhouse for 2007, and bounced back to the Trustees for 2008.

Athens

In 2007, PGroove relocated from Savannah to Athens, Georgia, an appropriate home base, as a college town known for its musical offerings as well as the historic Georgia Theatre, which had become the band's "home venue" of sorts even prior to the move. Now settled in Athens, 2008 has seen the band put the brakes on the heavy tour schedule, as they go through some transitions, work on new material, and take some time away from the road. The break will be short-lived, however, as all members are eager to begin work on the new incarnation of Perpetual Groove with keyboardist John Hruby.

Amberland

Additionally, the band hosts their own gathering every Memorial Day weekend known as [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=135315779 Amberland] . Amberland began as a party exclusively for friends and family on the Jefferson, GA property of Mark Day, but has long outgrown it's Jackson County roots, and has since been relocated each year. Both the 2007 and 2008 Memorial Day festivals occurred at Cherokee Farms in northwest Georgia. The band has a history of playing many long sets over the weekend, of which they are the exclusive act. Also, a crowd favorite is when frontman Brock Butler plays his annual acoustic-style Brockfest one morning during the early breakfast hours.

For tour information, refer to the band's [http://www.pgroove.com/index.php/tour/ official tour page] .

= Discography=
*Perpetual Groove (1999) The first recording under the Perpetual Groove name with the original lineup.
This self-titled is not currently available for sale or circulation.
* [http://pgroovemerch.inticketing.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=35977&i=&l=&sid=b6f5a0aa73f35b6a911de3772c2b191b Sweet Oblivious Antidote] (2003)
* [http://pgroovemerch.inticketing.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=35978&i=&l=&sid=b6f5a0aa73f35b6a911de3772c2b191b All This Everything] (2004)
* [http://pgroovemerch.inticketing.com/catalog.php?act=view_prod_info&id_prod=35979&i=&l=&sid=b6f5a0aa73f35b6a911de3772c2b191b LIVELOVEDIE] (2007)

= Popular Songs=Three Weeks. Stealy Man. Crockett and Tubbs. So Much as Goodbye. Sundog. Teakwood Betz. Sweet Oblivious Antidote. Aim. Free Ride to the Show. TTFPJ. Lost Connection. Two Shores. Robot Waltz. Astro Monkey. TSMM. Playground. Astro Monkey. All This Everything I & II. Walking in Place. Echo. Speed Queen. Space Paranoids. Save For One. The Noise. Witness to the Rest. Green Tea. Andromeda. Mayday. It Starts Where it Ends.

=External links=
* [http://www.pgroove.com Official Website]
* [http://www.pgroove.com/index.php/forums/ Talking In Place] message board.
* [http://perpetualarchives.mongoosecommunication.com/ Song Archive]
* [http://www.myspace.com/pgroove MySpace]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/PerpetualGroove Perpetual Groove collection] at the Internet Archive live music archive.
* [http://www.jamlive.org Jamlive.org]
* [http://www.honesttune.com/content/view/1009/30/ Amberland 2008 from honesttune.com]