The world of music is a mighty force that shifts so often that up can quickly become down. Styles change and what was once desirable is abandoned for the new and popular. This kind of ebb and flow shows who the truly talented, multifaceted ones are. Allen Aucoin is that kind of person. His gentle nature and full-force, hurricane-wind style playing make him hard to match. As drummer for the Disco Biscuits since 2005, he has seen it all. His newest project, DrFameus, is a one-man, break-beat, dub, and electro spectacular. On May 11th, he will be showcasing just that at The Ciderhouse in Knoxville, Tennessee, with Psibionic and J-MO.

Becoming a touring musician is a hard road. Long hours, lots of practice, years of trying different things—and then there is trying to get noticed. Aucoin came from a musical background and the bug bit him early.

“I had a grandfather that played guitar and sang. He was a blues guitar player, country singer. He would always talk about music, talk about the old days. It was kind of before I played any music. And then when I started to play music, he had already stopped. I never got a chance to jam with him. He is probably the reason I got interested in music. And then I heard the drums, I gravitated towards that. I had a passion for it. And after playing drums for a few years, I heard electronic music and I got obsessed.”

In the whirlwind that was his tour, with Break Science and Paul Basic, Gramatik took a few minutes to explain his jump in popularity and the road that lead him there. With so many artists emerging every day, it is a tough thing to stand out and be noticed. Gramatik is doing just that. With the release of his album, #digitalfreedom, now available at http://plmusic.pl/digitalfreedom, and a rousing tour, his name will soon be common place in the world of electronic music.

“I'm 5-foot-8 so I never really grew that much (He says with a wink), but believing in yourself has a lot to do with it,” says Gramatik. “Working your ass off helps as well. I'd say Beatport is one of the main reasons I have a career today. Charting good on that site does wonders for EDM artists.”

Bringing Gold Out of the Mire

Knoxville may be scruffy, but it has some class acts.

The March 22nd debut of Scruffy City Roots was a notable demonstration of the ability of Knoxville’s entertainment sector to coordinate and deliver just what many of its music followers want: a dynamic mix of familiar and new, local and visiting, refined yet humble, that invokes an ostensible sense of home.

Hosted by the Square Room in downtown’s Market Square and broadcasted live by WUTK’s 90.3 The Rock, Scruffy City Roots is a new monthly musical event created to celebrate the sonic character of local parts and Knoxville’s rich radio history.

The event highlights native favorites as well as foreign acts that nonetheless foster a sense of community as they share similar musical ethos and onstage collaborations.

The unveiling of Scruffy City Roots featured Rayland Baxter, Delta Rae, and the Scruffy City All-Stars: Cruz Contreraz, Erick Baker, Jill Andrews, and Robinella. Between-set interviews conducted by local icon of Knoxville history, Jack Neely, and commentary by radio icon, Benny Smith, of WUTK, reinforced the notion that the night was about the town, by the town, for the town.

Amberland Festival: Back in the Groove

Original Keyboardist Matt McDonald rejoins Perpetual Groove

Annual Amberland festival to take place over Memorial Day Weekend

Fans of Perpetual Groove (or PGroove, as the fans like to call them) are known to follow the band from state to state, night to night, to experience their euphoric live show that features an ever-changing set-list. But in late 2008, original keyboardist Matt McDonald left the band. The band would play on, but the dynamic would be forever changed and the sound that fans had grown to love would never fully return.

Or would it?

Last November, McDonald rejoined the band after a four-year hiatus and has officially gotten back in the groove.

BLANK caught up with the newest old member of Perpetual Groove recently and asked about his return and the upcoming Amberland festival that will take place in the band’s home state of Georgia during Memorial Day Weekend.

BLANK: How has the return to the band treated you?

Matt McDonald: For me it’s been a unique perspective stepping back into it and getting back into the swing of things. Back in January and February, I think I spent the majority of that time trying to get the dust off and now I’m starting to get back into the swing of things.

BLANK: What is the story behind Amberland Festival?

We’ve been doing this for a while now, I think this will be the 11^th Amberland overall and we came in on about year three or four. It was just a buddy’s backyard barbeque and it’s turned into this nice little festival that we do. A couple of years ago we started adding a few other bands. It’s always bands that we genuinely like. It’s over Memorial Day weekend (May 25-28) at Cherokee Park in Lafayette, Georgia, which is where it’s been held since 2006. It has kinda turned into this gigantic family gathering with people from all over the world there too. People have come from Europe and Hawaii and everywhere in between. It’s our chance to do six sets of music over the course of two days. The other bands play in between and late nite so it’s a really unique opportunity where we get to do our own thing and make the rules. It’s really fun.

BLANK: Who will be joining Perpetual Groove at Amberland and what else can fans expect for 2012?

This year we will have Moon Taxi from Nashville, The Heavy Pets (Florida), Consider The Source (New York) and Under the Porch (Atlanta). We look forward to this every year. Friday night will feature these bands playing and the four of us will be jumping up there with them from time to time. We try to keep it relatively loose but scheduled. On Saturday there will be a band pot-luck with the fans which should be pretty cool and Brock, our guitar player, does a solo-set called Brockfest every year. Having fun is the number one activity.

Each of the three bands joining P Groove are exceptional and on the rise in the music world. More information and a limited number of tickets can still be found at http://www.amberlandfestival.com/

Here is the current schedule of events.

Friday May 25

3pm – Gates Open
6pm – Under the Porch
9pm – The Heavy Pets
12am – Superjam

Saturday May 26

9:30am – Morning Yoga
12pm – Perpin’ Potluck
1pm – Lawn Bowling Preliminaries
2pm – Perpetual Groove
4pm – Lawn Bowling Finals
5pm – Moon Taxi
7:30pm – Perpetual Groove
10pm – Perpetual Groove
12:30am – Consider the Source

Sunday May 27

9:30am – Morning Yoga
10am – Brockfast
12:30pm – Laser Tag Preliminaries
2pm – Perpetual Groove
4pm – Laser Tag Finals
5pm – The Heavy Pets
7:30pm – Perpetual Groove (2 sets)