Rocking the Earth and Rocking with PGroove

This past weekend I was in Denver, Colorado - home base of Rock the Earth, the environmental non-profit that I've been involved with since 2004. It was started by my good friend Marc Ross who I met on Phish tour a billion years ago. Now we all growed up (sorta) and are saving the planet (workin on it...). This weekend was our annual "retreat" aka lots of meetings, brainstormings, and action itemings. I've been on the Board of Directors for the last two years, just started my second term as of this weekend and as of Sunday am now the Vice President of the organization. Should Marc meet his untimely demise (Marc, be careful!!!), I'll be the head honcho.

These weekends are always good for refueling the organization and getting people excited again, a rededication. Since the org is made up of music freaks, we always have some event to go to. Lo and behold, who happened to be in Denver over the weekend? Well, it was my honey bunnies, Perpetual Groove. They were kind enough to welcome Rock the Earth at their show by letting us set up a table and collect a dollar from folks on the way in. Brock made a nice lil' speech from the stage. Brad didn't even blink an eye when I gave him a guest list of 20 people. Thanks Brad!!!

So, PGroove... Oh PGroove, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... One, you tug at my heart strings with lyrics like "I never had the thing I thought I had, the thing that made me think I had it made"; two, you rock my retinas with the cwazy intelligent lights you got blaring out from the stage; three, you make me laugh when Brock does his Wutang thang (remember when he didn't even open his eyes?); four, you are just lovely people - warm, honest, and you leave the bullshit at the door.

I saw all of Saturday's show and the first four songs of Sunday's before having to jet to the airport. There's a lot of new material coming out in the sets - new gems like "Two Shores," "Beyond the Veil," and "Old Friend" - and some newer of the ragers for the kids to freak out with - "Suburban Speedball" and "Speed Queen". They passed along an almost finished version of their new album (coming out this February) of which I've been digesting ever since Sunday night. It tastes delicious and thankfully showcases my new faves "Only Always" (All the saddest things I’ve seen / Don’t come close to what has been / All the great things left to be / Things that keep me in between) and "It Starts Where It Ends" (You live you love you die). I can't wait for the world to hear it and love it!

Adam suggested I jump in the bus and go on tour to California with them. Man... man, man, man... I seriously sat there and pondered that for a second. We'd just stop and pick up a violin along the way. We'd figure out the meaning of life, write brilliant music and stories. As the bus rolls through the forests of Oregon, SuperDee would cry, "I have to go home!" You are home...

Okay, a little daydream there... sorry.

I'd like to share some video with you all. Here is a snippet of their "Naive Melody" cover - a staple in their set these days. They closed the set with the classic "Three Weeks." Here we've got the troubled and disheartened first verse and then the ridiculous climax into the optimistic and hopeful conclusion of the last verse. Enjoy!!!

Ok, JamBase calls... Time to make the emails...