Brock Butler of Perpetual Groove House

 I was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1979 and for as long as I can remember, music has been a ridiculous part of what defines me. A piano in every house....Nana's, Mom's, etc. Even after family separations, there was still a piano in every house. I have early memories of going to Disney World, too young to work the walkman, having to get assistence to rewind "Thriller." Over and over and over as my Dad will testify.

I can clearly remember the one year both of my sisters and I rode to school together. I had already seen "Labamba" and Ritchie Valens' passion for his music and his sense of purpose were infectious. Then, my older sister had a cassette single of "Sweet Child O Mine." She played it on the way to school, changing my life forever. Nothing would be the same. Next thing I know, my grandparents are taking me to guitar lessons every Wednesday for years with teacher Rik Lawhorne. To top it off, church choir and other musically related activities were becoming more and more prevalent in my daily life. And again, nothing would be the same.

I had a student sized acoustic to start out with, with Mel Bay volume 1 instruction.After prving that I was more then wanting to continue, for Christmas 88 I got a candy apple red Dean Z Playmate with a Crate practice amp. I would use this until I got my first (in my opinion) legit piece of gear.

7th Grade. I got a blue Les Paul Studio Light. I loved that guitar more then anything. It would be stolen from a keg party at my house in Savannah some years later. Through this time, GNR and Metallica would be staples of influence and method. I believe there is more Slash then Hammett in my playing.

8th Grade and one of my sister's friends lets me join the band. "Soloman Purple." Cool name. I know. Eventually the older fellas would move on and I started the whole "Corporate Sugardaddies." We made some demos of originals which I don't think was too shabby for the life experience we had to draw from at the time. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains are now my life blood.

My transition from High School to College brought a taste to lighter fair, if you consider 311 and Sublime fair. Bob Marley, Phish, Bluegrass......all fair game now. Moving to Savannah. Meeting Adam and Joe opened me to a whole world of new music. I would be in SCAD's musical productions of Godspell, Hair, and Tommy. Perpetual Goove was beginning in that mix as well. The more experience I would get, the more gear that comes with it. I also began looping solo shows. For the record, I was never planning to sing or do solo things. Obviously that has changed. I studied sound design at SCAD which begat a need for more tone colors, obsessively. At this time I picked up my first mandolin and lap steel (Pink Floyd Pulse being the catalyst for the lap steel)

I want more! more! more! To list music I love is not necessary. I like it from the most basic raw Johnny Cash to the huge Pink Floyd to the heaviness of Pantera. All I look for is that it make an impact. I don't know the difference between a bio for a website or a memoir, so I will let this speak for itself. I still love what I used to, and I look forward to finding more moments the same as that first GNR listen with my big sister.

PS - If you ever see a blue Les Paul in a Savannah are pawn shop, lemme know!