Hampton Roads - Grooveline 757 starts the day out hot.  With tons of people inside a tiny area like the Farmer's Market, it was known early on that it was going to be sweaty, but that didn’t stop anyone from getting down with the sound and enjoying themselves.  The day was marked with various genres of music, everything from funk to reggae to rap, and in between the day was riddled with talented young singers gracing the mic stands in front of an appreciative audience.  Grooveline is the last band to play, but they tragically only receive a smattering of applause.  By my guess, there will be a lot more by the end of the show.

 They take it in stride, however, taking a minute at the start of their set to get the crowd into the fold with a few spirited shout-outs.  The set bursts energetically with “Fantastic Voyage” of Lakeside fame, a song that helps the crowd  understand just what kind of band Grooveline 757 will be.  It’s full of bounce and funk, an all out tribute to having a good time and enjoying life.  Lavarr and Zachary supplement it with dual keyboards skillfully, while Tony keeps the guitar fast and groovy.  Ben, the bassist, is moving around more than the singers half the time, and you can tell he’s having a good time.  His bass riffs are meticulously played effortlessly, and his highly refined style shines through every riff.  Reggie belts out the main lyrics using his strong singing voice, with Towanda and Dawn providing a bit of soul and clean sound with their own vocal chords, accenting his in perfect harmony.  Rick, the drummer, is the backbone of the entire band.  He keeps them in time with highly precise drumming, and has fun doing it.  As the song fades out to the vocalists soothing the masses, they enchant them into the land of funk.  Needless to say, the response from them is much better now that they know what they are about.

The next song “Window Seat” (of Erykah Badu fame) allows Towanda to take the lead using her well-trained voice.  Erykah Byadu has a very unique voice that’s hard to top, but this singer doesn’t falter in her determination to succeed, and she does a fine job.  Her voice is full of the heart that made the song possible in the first place, and even an untrained ear can tell that it holds some personal meaning to her.  The pianists play soothing riffs the set the tone, while Ben keeps the mood with his bass, slowing it down just a bit to let the song meet his stride.  Towanda’s voice has a visible effect on the crowd, warm, inviting, not lacking in power. This is truly a standout song for the band and shows a deeper side compared to the rest.

Not one to stay serious for too long, Reggie’s trademark charisma shines through as he introduces the next song, as well as showing some love to Dawn.  Her and Reggie take a lead role in the vocals for this song, intertwining their unique voices while Towanda provides backing vocals beautifully.  The band responds in kind, playing fast and funky to the tune of “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by A Taste of Honey.  This one in particular has a lot of fun parts for them, starting with a slow bass before twisting into the fast song we know and love.  Tony has a searing guitar solo in the start, each note planned and practiced to perfection.  Whatever emotions he needs to express, he does so on the fret board.  Dawn emerges as the driving vocalist in the song, showing that Grooveline 757 understands each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  If Reggie or Towanda sung this song, it just wouldn’t be the same because of their natural voices, but Dawn can tackle it gracefully.  The singers encourage Ben, asking the crowd to listen to their bass while he slaps his strings like there’s no tomorrow, followed quickly by another screaming solo from Tony.

Well, it’s time to stop and the heat is truly the antagonist of the day, but as they start to put their instruments away and say their farewells, the crowd screams for an encore.  They respond with the ever famous “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” of McFadden & Whitehead fame, letting the crowd know that they are slaves to their whims, and if they show them love they’ll respond in kind.  Reggie really gets into a groove on this one, unable to stay still as his powerful voice shakes the Farmer’s Market, everyone able to feel the music through vibrations in the stone floor.  Towanda and Dawn do their steps as they sing, creating a truly complete show and song.  By this point people are up and dancing together, getting faster and funkier with each beat of the song.  The song slows down to give the band a moment to provide some information about who they are…which of course leads to a person by person introduction that allows each one of them to show off their honed skills.  Ben slaps and pops his bass like a madmen, whil e Rick shows some fun drum lines that hint of his true skills.  I can’t wait to hear this band's original tunes.  Once the introductions are done they end the song with that groovy tone the crowd has learned to love, fading out in the end.

33: How did Grooveline come together?
Rick Williams: Actually, Grooveline was first put together by me, Tony, and a guy named Dave.
Anthony Askew: Yeah, I was coming out of the IRS building and Rick called me.  [Laughter from Rick and Tony] I was playing with some other guys and he was like, “Well, what about playing with two bands?”  So I said “Yeah.”  The other band didn’t work out, so I rolled with him.  He put an ad on craigslist and we got the whole band from there, and that was the first installment of Grooveline.  We got some of the members playing in other bands.

33: What are your roots in the local scene?
AA: I’m from Hampton.
RiW: I’m from North Carolina.
Dawn Godfrey: Seven cities, that’s why we’re called Grooveline 757.

33: What is Groovlines motto or statement to the world?
RiW: We’re saying we’re coming to groove you!  That’s why we got groove in our name, we want you to groove when we come in town.

33: Tell us about the upcoming tour slot that you guys got in.
Reggie Williams: The one with me is a world wide tour covering Atlanta, Minneapolis, North Carolina, all the big cities.  It’s in promotion for the album that’s being released by Moiko Records, the name of the album is Keep Your Head Up.  The artist is Reggie Williams featuring Grooveline 757, and we’ll probably be opening up for whoever has the hottest record at that particular time.  We’ll end up being the beginning band for whoever is out on the road at the time.  Once the record company gets it all set up and sends us an itinerary, which would be in the next 30 days, then we’ll be able to give that information to you.
Towanda Hudson: We went up to four of the sons of the Temptations, the Dramatics, not only to open for them but to perform with them.  They’re coming from Detriot.  They’re coming from Toledo to everywhere, and we’re fortunate enough that they know about Grooveline and they want us to be on their tour.  Maybe it will go further than that once we play with them.
ReW: Also, this Monday I will be boarding a flight to Atlanta, and I will be doing an interview at Hot97.  They will be playing the album and I’ll do my interview there, just setting up the hype and start our record into rotation so we can get it playing, and people will be familiar with it before.  We should have some appearances in Atlanta within the next 30 days.

33: What was your most rewarding show you’ve played?
TH: All of them.
AA: Yeah, all of them.  We enjoy them all.
RiW: Yeah, we enjoy them all.
ReW: The one that I think was really nice for us was the one for the city of Newport News, we were able to do that festival.  June 19^th, Juneteenth symbolizes the release of slavery.  That was a good thing for us to do for the community, which all of the young kids and everybody was there to participate, as well as other entertainment factors at that time.

33: How about you guys go through and tell us a little bit about the people behind the music?
ReW: Starting with the drummer, Rick Duane Williams.
RW: I started out playing drums at the age of 14, got into my first band at 15 and pretty much have been playing ever since.  I started out listening to a lot of James Brown, a lot of fat R&B.  That’s my background, I love it.
AA: My father was a guitar player for the Dells and the Persuaders.  He also mentored a guy named David Williams who went on to become Micheal Jackson’s guitar player.  Music was always around the family and around the house, so I picked up it probably around the ninth grade.  When I went to high school I participated in the band and stuff, and by the time I graduated I learned how to play ten instruments.  I went to school for recording engineering in Atlanta, Georgia.  For awhile I used to work as an assistant for Bobby Brown back in his hayday.  Then I worked promotion with a marketing division in Atlanta, then I moved back here to start playing in local bands.
ReW: Ben Stokes, the bass player.
Ben Stokes: I’m just an old country boy from Kentucky.  I’ve been playing bass since I was 14, so…I ain’t gonna tell you how old I am now.  I caught on to Grooveline off of…craiglist. [Everyone laughs] I just had to come over and holler at them.  Pretty square bunch of guys, they work hard.  If they don’t I ain’t gonna be around here long. [Everyone laughs again]
ReW: Zach Bridges, keyboard player extraordinaire jazz man.
Zachary Bridges: Well, I started playing when I was about 13, and most of my playing background is mostly choir, church, that kind of stuff.  I really only started playing out in bands the last couple years around here.  Reggie and I, we’ve done some things together as well as Rick, and even Dawn, Tony, definitely Tony.  They asked me if I could, you know, come aboard so I said, “Well, sure, we’ll see what’s up.”  So here I am.
ReW: Dawn Godfrey, lead and background vocals.
Dawn Godfrey: Hi, I’m just a lifelong lover of music.  I love just about all types of music, my favorite being, of course, R&B.  I grew up overseas so I heard a lot of different artists, but I always have a love for old music, old time music.  So just a lover of singing.
ReW: Towanda Hudson, lead and background vocals.
Towanda Hudson: Well I’ve been singing since I was seven, everywhere.  I’ve had the opportunity to play behind Anita Ward.  I was one of her background vocalists.  I’ve done some gospel, traveled a lot.  Went to New York, did a lot of bistros, open mics, and this is my home and I love it, so I’ve got to bring the soul back to Newport News.  I’ve been doing it for awhile, so I’m not going to stop until they make me stop.
ReW: And we have a professional photographer, Erika Samson.
Erika Samson: I was very blessed to come across this wonderful group of people, two of which I’ve known since my childhood.  That is Towanda and Reggie.  It just so happens that I ran back across them because I was invited to the CD release party, which was May 26.  I didn’t answer the RSVP, I just showed up and surprised both of them.  I have a great love of photography and graphics arts, I have a history of editing from Maryland called the Troubadours Digest.  I was the assistant editor, I did the ad copies, all the logos for people and things like that, so I’ve always had a love for art.  I’ve been blessed with an eye for photography to go beyond just the point and shoot.  My goal is to bring out the character in each member of the group so that we can know what we’re showing the public.  Image is our number one thing, how you go out, you have to be ready and clean cut.  Also I have a history in dance, I’ve taken jazz, tap, ballroom, every kind of dance you name.  I used to be in a performing group, the High Image Dancers on WHRO.  So I have an extensive background in choreography.  So all together, all the experiences, our goal is to bring you the best group possible.
ReW: One member that is not here with us is Lavarr Taylor, keyboard player.  He’s been with Grooveline 757 for about a month now.  He’s one of the hottest keyboard players I’ve had a chance to play with.  I also want to mention the album is available at Moikorecords.com.  Myself, Reggie Williams, I’ve been entertaining and performing for 20 years.  I’ve opened up for Celine Dion at Rupert’s Nightclub in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I’ve had the pleasure of touring along with a lot of great acts during the time, and landed my first deal in 1989 with the Funk Club, CBS Scotti Brother’s Records.  Scotti Brother’s Records at that particular time was home of groups called Survivor who had a hit single called “Eye of the Tiger,” and James Brown was also on the roster.  We ended that relationship maybe two years later.  Five years after that, I landed a solo deal with Moiko Records, and it’s being promoted and on its way now to being distributed worldwide, and the band that will be playing alongside me is Grooveline 757.
TH: And we rock!

33: So what would you guys say we should expect from you in the future?
TH: Great things.  Great things, records, um…household name.
ReW: Right now we’re playing cover tunes, as a majority of the bands do, but we are soon going to deviate from cover tunes to strictly originals and hope to have an album out in the near future.

If you can’t walk down the street without a little funk in your step, Grooveline 757 is the cure.  They turned an uninterested crowd into dancing fans in just one short segment and will have no problem doing it to you.  Unfortunately, a bit of band drama has torn the band in half.  Ben Stokes, the incredibly energetic bass player, Tony Askew, the amazingly talented guitar player, and Reggie William’s powerful vocal chords are no longer lent to the band.  Never fear, however, because new members will replace them and Grooveline will be back in full force.  If you feel like helping or maybe even auditioning, be sure to contact the remaining band members on Facebook to show them some love.

Tune in to the smooth keyboards of Zachary Bridges, one of the most hardworking men in the business.  He’s currently doing solo gigs and co-producing his very own record with the Nashville producer Eric Copeland.  Check them out at CreativeSoulJazz.com or hit up the Facebook at Facebook.com/CreativeSoulJazz.  Be sure to support Zachary as well, and check him out at ZachBridges.com.

By Correspondent: Ryan Mason

Ryan Mason was born in Hampton in 1989.  He grew up listening to the generic bands on the radio before discovering classic rock and expanding his horizons.  Now you'll find him listening to just about anything, from Pink Floyd to the Sound of Animals Fighting.  Naturally this lead to him playing music himself, and he is the proud owner of a Gibson SG and a 5-string bass guitar.  Unfortunately, he sucks at them both, but hey, there is always Magazine33!  Some other bands he likes are Stiff Little Fingers, the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Incubus, Hendrix, Lamb of God, the Doors and Gorillaz.

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