GROOVA SCAPE

Groova Scape is a jam funk rock band. Its members are

Adam Bryant drums
Jay DeCicco bass
Chelsey Grey vocals
Henry Lazenby guitar, keys, vocals

The band also includes Jamiel Allen of The Alliens as a regular special guest.

Over the past four years Groova Scape has played about 300 shows.

Groova recently played the Day Glo Music Festival in North Carolina. It is scheduled to play the Junk Jam in Kentucky and the Crozet Music Festival in Charlottesville.


If we're a sum of experiences, well, that would have to begin with the highlights. Playing with Michael Travis of String Cheese Incident/Eoto fame would have to top the list. Travis said he'd never played with an opening act before but he said he liked that thing we do. He must have. Jammed with us for 15 minutes, playing bass on "Power Down," one of our fav original jams.
We've opened for crazy guitar god Tim Reynolds and his electric band TR3 twice. TWICE! So far we haven't mustered the courage to ask him to play a song with us, but we're workin' on it.
Another blast was jamming with Hash, the bassist for Thievery Corporation (we opened for Rob Garza of TC at 202 Market). Hash played and played with us and said we were an amazingly creative band, but we must admit the dude was pretty high at the time.
Openers, tho, has been a big thing for us. In that regard, we've supported RAQ, the Bridge, Booty Band, U-Melt, Parachute Musical, D. J. Williams Projekt, and others.
The "name" acts are all really big fun, but some of the best generosity comes from the local bands we've done things with. Hard to beat Kerosene Willy, Polarity, Half Moon Band, Lazy Man Dub Band, Always Morning, Mitch, TJ, Robert among many others. We even did an early gig with those hard-workin' fellas from Electric Chameleon, Mohamed, Mason, Scott and Joey, and a couple of shows with Soul Man James Wise and keyboardist JKeys, all who've helped us along the way to figure things out.
Somewhere higher on this list should be the venue owners and event managers that have helped us along and shaped what we are. Sweet Jackie Brown used to have us play all the time at the Cellar on Brambleton when it was open. Lots of rockin' shows there. Plenty of nights we kept the whole neighborhood awake. And guys like Jason Martin at Martin's Downtown Bar and Grill or Barry at Awful Arthur's or them boys up at the Lantern in Blacksburg, guys who give peace a chance by supporting and nurturing local music, guys like Gary Jackson who set up the great music format at 202 Market and allowed us to play big shows in a big venue. Gary's not just a master event guy, he's a sound genius with more than 40 years in the biz. Heck, he even used to live with Mary Chapin Carpenter. He knows everybody. Speaking of sound, you gotta get with Tony Esplange who has done so much for our growth. Or Jake at AOS Lighting, the brilliant designer who taught us what a real show is. Or Tad over at Roanoke.com (and the other media folks too, at Channel 7, which has had us on twice and exposed us to thousands, or the folks at WUVT who are about to have us on twice this spring). Thank god the RT got wise and hired a real music man like Tad to write about music, one who understands all these fine bands around here.

We do things best, by the way, when the stage is set and the sound works and the mojo is risin'. We've found these moments, and we're finding them more and more lately. If you've been at our shows, you've seen 'em, heard 'em, shows like Martin's at New Years or a recent Saturday night at Kirk Avenue Music Hall in Roanoke. Shows where we got sumpin' for ya, sumpin' for us too.
That's when the thing we do revs up, and retreats a bit, then revs and rises again and heads off into the sweet hereafter. It's live and it's real and it's us. Our original sin, all right there for ya. We know when we get there, cuz ya tell us. We see it in your faces. Just as we know if we don't. Thing is, more and more we're getting there.
We can't stand not to.
That's the place of the shine in your eyes and the shake in your fanny. We want the moment when it's all good, usually that sweet spot just after midnight, when it's all going tight and tasty and the mojo is risin', when you love us and we love you and there ain't nothin in the world better to do.
Come on out and see us sometime if ya get the chance.

Peace, if you can find it.

Groova



Groova Scape is one hardworking band, writes Tad Dickens of the Roanoke Times (http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/cutnscratch/about-tad-dickens/). "Groova gets the work because it can live up to its name."
Longtime music promoter and sound man Gary Jackson is equally impressed. "They have three or four songs that are as good as any songs that have ever been written," Jackson says of Groova's original music, composed by former Groova bassist Marcus Morris and guitarist/keyboardist Henry Lazenby.
Michael Travis of EOTO and String Cheese Incident fame jammed with Groova Scape when the Virginia jam band opened for EOTO in April. Travis said it was the first time in his many years of playing that he had been inclined to jam with an opening band.
"You guys rock," Travis said after cooking through a 15 minute version of Power Down, one of the band's originals.
Another bassist, Hash, of Thievery Corporation, offered similar praise after jamming with Groova Scape last January. "Those guys are amazingly creative," he said.

In light of the holidays and tight economy, Groova Scape is making one of its originals, The Revolution, available as a free download starting noon Thursday December 18 at its myspace website;
http://myspace.com/thegroova


It WAS a busy 2008 for Groova Scape, with shows opening for Tim Reynolds and TR3 (twice), for RAQ, for Thievery Corporation, for the Bridge, for EOTO, for Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band, for U-Melt, and a host of others.

"These guys are unbelievably creative," said Hash, the bassist for Thievery Corporation, after rocking through a 30-minute jam with Groova Scape at 202 Market in Roanoke in January.
Michael Travis of String Cheese said similar things after jamming with Groova in April at 202 Market. "I had a lot of fun," Travis, who said he has never before jammed with an opening act, told Groova Scape afterwards. "You guys can jam. It was awesome."

Saying he was inspired by Groova's warm-up, Travis jumped in with the Roanoke band and smoked through one of Groova's jams, Power Down, for the sweetest 15 minutes in the band's existence.

"I've been a huge String Cheese fan for a long time," said Groova guitarist Andrew Mowles. "I was thinking, 'I'm jamming with Travis.' That was a dream." "It was pretty much unbelievable," agreed Groova drummer Robert Prescott.

Now up to the 25th ranking at jambands.com, Groova Scape also has an upcoming date with U-Melt.........FROM THE ROANOKE TIMES REVIEW OF TIM REYNOLDS AND GROOVA SCAPE: "Roanoke jam band Groova Scape opened the show with a 40-minute set full of long tunes with good guitar solos by Henry Lazenby, who also played keyboards. The band’s all-original show began with “Revolution,” which had a Parliament-Funkadelic style keyboard intro, and plenty of busy percussion from drummer Robert Prescott and conga player Chad Merson. Bassist Marcus Morris’ vocals were strong and solid for most of the set, and Lazenby tore through plenty of blues-rock inflected leads colored with electronic effects. Other crowd favorites included the instrumental “Last Monkey in Space,” and the 60s-sounding jam groove of “Just Another Ploy For The Man To Keep A Brotha Down.” Groova is young, talented, and doesn’t head into train wrecks — which is easy enough to do when you’re experimenting. Still, the band is all about its influences now. If the band sticks together and stays serious, it could become an original force.

What a blast it was opening for Tim Reynolds before a packed house at 202 Market.j The Roanoke Times offered a generous review of both Tim Reynolds and Groova Scape.

http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/147863

Thanks to all the Groova fans who came out for the show.






Groova Scape Message

To Our Friends,
The guys have been deeply touched by your efforts with the Get Groova Scape At All Good facebook group.
They've busted their tails playing a killer schedule over the past year. They did so because many of you came out on nights when it wasn't so easy and pulled them through.
They've written a lot of music and played a lot of gigs, and in the process they've burnished their sound. They've sort of cut their teeth in the bars and pubs of Southwest Virginia.
In the process, the funk/fusion/blues/jam thing they do has become fortified.
They've gotten some nice rewards for their efforts.
A big one is that they've gotten better. Way better, in fact. Hash of Thievery Corporation confirmed that after jamming with Groova recently when he described them "freakishly good" and "amazingly creative."
But the biggest reward by far is your friendship and support.
Those of you who made the push for All Good, well, it's hard to describe what that means to these guys. Nobody asked you to do it. Nobody suggested it. You just formed the group and voted.
There's no question that loading up that equipment at 2:30 a.m. and hauling ass home to go to work the next day and then loading it up and strapping it back up to play a show the next night has been hard on these guys.
But your statement has made it all worthwhile to them.
That's why they say they don't have fans — they have friends.
And they love ya for all that you've done.


GROOVA SCAPE PERFORMANCE ON ROANOKE.COM'S TIMESCAST;

Timescast has recast its music site. Here's the nice new format for Groova's performance from back in February:

Check it out at
http://blogs.roanoke.com/musiccast/g/


Groova Scape, a jam band with an array of original music and unique covers, was rated the No. 3 most popular band in the Times annual music poll last month. Considering the number and quality of local bands along the Virginia Blue Ridge, Groova Scape was honored to have been selected by area fans, said Morris, bassist and a vocalist for the group.
If the spirit so moves you, come on out and enjoy the shows. And be sure to click on to roanoke.com for the Timescast and Groova's show.
May the Groova be with you.


GROOVA VOTED AMONG TOP BANDS BY ROANOKE TIMES READERS

Groova Scape would like to thank all of its Virginia Tech, Roanoke College and area fans who voted in the Roanoke Times reader poll for the top bands in Western Virginia. There are many great bands in the area, which means Groova was honored to finish third in the Times poll.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS
Every time we play a gig and look out to see Stew in the house, we know the night's gonna be alright. Stew's energy and love of music help us get things jumpin' every time. Props to him and all the "Scapers" who are such a big part of our shows. Brandon. Mother Russia. Trey. Lindsay. Lovely Brooke. Jessi. Matt. Alana. Jenna and Mike. Tonia. Andy. And every one of you who've helped push us on our way. You're always there, it seems, to help us break in a new place, to pull us through the low spots so that we can be riding high by the end of the night. That's how it was for Brambleton Deli. It was a fun gig made more fun by you. This is a mere tip of the hat to let you know how much we appreciate ya and the things you've put up with (covers, surly bouncers, homicidal government agents, psychotic amps, drunk PhDs from Cornell or wherever that fool at TOTs was from). Here's our tip of the hat to the Scapers. We'd be nowhere without ya.
And by the way, the same goes for this website.
Mi casa es su casa, baby. Look at this spot as our collective home. Each and every one of your posts, ideas, etc., is not just welcome. It's needed. We hope to see y'all out there.
And, oh, yes, we're drinkin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Groova Scape

Every band is a formula, a choice listing of people specific ingredients that, when put under the pressure of a performance, create a distinct vision that can be like no other. Groova Scape is just one such vision. Having played under names like Northview, House, The Basement Project, and a short stint as Nixen Hydra, the band members settled on the current name because it very accurately describes the mission of the group: to shape the groove in its many facets. Long-time member Dave Magerkurth offers his talents as lead singer and acoustic rhythm guitarist bringing the folk feel to the band's jams and ballads, many of which he writes. His favorite artists and greatest influences include Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, Bruce Springsteen, and O.A.R. Marcus Morris, the band's newest member, holds it down as the band's bass guitarist and official TBG (that is, Token Black Guy) and his biggest influences are Bob Marley, MMW, and Vanilla Ice. Drumming for The Groova is Robert Prescott who heralds Carter Beauford as his greatest mentor and yet has adopted styles comparable to Zach Velmer of STS9 as well as Billy Martin of MMW. (He would have loved to have been the progeny of a nice English drummer to complement his heritage, but Ringo Starr just wouldn't cut the cheese.) Henry Lazenby's guitar play is a style all of its own. One may hear a little teen angst in his music owed to the fact that the Eagles didn't win the Superbowl last year. Groova Scape is self taught band. All musical trianing in the band is minimal but the vibe is strong. Together the four men create a groovescape of everything from soft jams to blues rock to electronica/experimental. You're sure to be amazed at their live shows and CD's will be available soon. Right now, the band's base is Virginia. Stay updated on upcoming shows here on facebook and on groovascape.com soon to be up and running. We look to see y'all out there...Groova Scape (read less)

GROOVA SCAPE

Groova Scape is a jam funk rock band. Its members are

Adam Bryant drums
Jay DeCicco bass
Chelsey Grey vocals
Henry Lazenby guitar, keys, vocals

The band also includes Jamiel Allen of The Alliens as a regular special guest.

Over the past four years Groova Scape has played about 300 shows.

Groova recently played the Day Glo Music Festival in North Carolina. It is scheduled to play the Junk Jam in Kentucky and the Crozet Music Festival in Charlottesville.


If we're a... (read more)