FEELIN' THE GROOVE

It would be difficult to be on the road almost non-stop, moving around from city to city playing in different clubs and venues every night in an attempt to make a name for yourself. The members of Addison Groove Project have come to a point where they can barely remember what city they're in or if they've ever been there before, but it's just what has to be done, says vocalist/guitarist/trumpeter Brendan McGinn.\n"Our longevity is measured by how our tours are going," McGinn says. \nAfter spending months on the road, crossing the nation and playing shows ranging in size from rooms of 150 people to crowded festivals with multitudes of people, AGP is stopping in Bloomington for the first time ever Friday night, and playing two sets at Uncle Fester's House of Blooze at 10 p.m. \n"If you haven't seen us before, we'd love you to come and party with us," McGinn says. \nAaron Steele, owner of Uncle Fester's, says he expects a good number of people to turn out for the show. \n"I think a lot of people have heard of them or seen them at a festival," Steele says. "It will be interesting to see."\nSince forming at the end of 1996 for a battle-of-the-bands show, the six AGP members from Massachusetts; McGinn, Dave Adams (alto sax), Ben Groppe (tenor sax), John Hall (electric bass), Andrew Keith (drums) and Rob Marscher (keyboards) have meshed their own personal styles and influences to make an eclectic mix of jazz, funk, classical and rock music.\nBut, for a band in which most of the members have known each other for years -- some even since pre-school -- integrating everyone's own style is a necessity. \n"You get bored doing the same thing for eight years," McGinn says. "We just like to mix it up as much as possible." \nThe mixing of such different influences helps to bring an interesting sound to the audience, one which fans say is not easily describable. Junior Dan Ryan has been a fan for over a year, and can say nothing bad about the band.\n"I really like their sound. I hadn't heard anything like them before," he says. "I would say it's a fun, funky jazz." \nThough the band has been herded into the "jam band" genre, McGinn denounces the term in general and prefers not to be put into the category at all, although they do jam during their sets.\n"I think (the term) 'jam band' is getting way too pigeonholed," he says. "The (jam-band) scene is ruled by vibe rather than talent these days. I think people will see us as something a little bit different." \nIn the summer of 2000, AGP headed off on its first tour, where it co-billed with Boston-based band Uncle Sammy, and hasn't looked back since. The band frequently tours and releases albums, even though it really hasn't had much time in the studio.\nIn fact, AGP considers itself much more of a live act than a studio act, especially since the band is pushing itself independently -- they have no record label. \n"When you're doing everything independently, live stuff is enough of a product to push," McGinn says. "We are planning to record again this summer, but we like to make it feel as much like a live performance as possible."\nAGP's debut album, Allophone, was released in April 2002 and the second album, Wicked Live 2, which McGinn says is a good album to hear for anyone new to AGP's sound and style, was released in December of the same year. Since Wicked's release, the band consistently tours to promote the album. AGP also recently posted its Archive Cuts Vol. 3 set on its Web site (www.addisongroove.com), which McGinn says is the best representation of what the band does.\n"All of our albums are a progression," he says. "The most recent stuff (on the Web) is what we are now."\nBut AGP's live performances and eclectic mixes aren't the only things setting AGP apart from other bands on the jam band or college circuit. \n"What makes them different is how easy they make it for the fans to get copies of shows," Ryan says. \nAGP enables anyone and everyone to download its live shows and other tracks for free via its Web site, a rare service in the music industry. And unlike many bands and musicians who have labels and might be losing money from giving away free shows, AGP is just happy to get people to listen to its music.\n"We would rather have music in people's hands, than not," McGinn says. \nAnd the fans are what it's about for this hard-to-define, eclectic band. All the guys want is for people to listen to the music, enjoy it and maybe even dance a little bit.