Jonathan Grooves profile picture

Jonathan Grooves

I Just Wanna Pluck On The Bass All Day.....

About Me

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, I started out on clarinet around age 11 or 12 and at the age of 15 picked up the bass guitar and haven't put it down :-) Earliest musical influences were my parents' 45's and 78's played on my little record player consisting of 50's and 60's pop, blues and classical music. Then I started to hear early 70's AM Radio where the sounds of Chicago, The Carpenters, Jim Croce, Hall&Oates, The Eagles, Queen, BTO and others caught my ear. Later on I got into Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, The Who, RUSH, Motown and and just about every movie soundtrack I would hear.

First influences on bass guitar were John Entwistle, Geddy Lee, Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, Walter Becker, Chuck Rainey, and Berry Oakley. A few years later I was exposed to James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius and Marcus Miller and was profoundly influenced by those players and their music. I was also exposed to quite a bit of jazz and became a big fan of Charles Mingus, Ray Brown and Milt Hinton.
I started out in local Cincinnati bands during High School @1981-83, moved to Florida in 1984 and played in several Bradenton/Sarasota bands before being "discovered" by a music agent from Orlando who promptly removed me from my band and put me on the road in early 1988 with a touring Top-40 act that went all over the country. During that time, I was fortunate enough to play in Atlantic City for several months at Trump's Castle and The Showboat, and was able to see a lot of great musicians and especially bassists. It was a tremendous learning experience for me, epecially at age 22-23.
After many years on the road and brief stays in Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, I settled down on the Gulf Coast of Florida near Pensacola around 1992 and have played here in local bands including Miss DeMeanor, Automatic Johnson, Hubba Hubba, RoShamBo, The Lynne Campbell Band, and Mike and The Micros, and have done studio work for the past 14 years or so. In the meantime, I've become a father to three wonderful kids, and continue to work on improving my skills as a bassist and musician.
I'm currently working on songs for a solo CD which I hope to complete sometime this year. I'm also working on a childrens book and a horror novel which is complete and in the process of polishing and revision.
I currently play with the FunkReggaeRock Band "Ba'Nana Republic" on Pensacola Beach. It's a band with some great musicians and I love every minute of it. I also play bass with a side project consisting of Ba'nana Republic's guitarist, drummer and myself, called SIGNAL-SEVEN. We completed our CD of original songs in June of 2007 and the CD should be release at the beginning of 2008. We're already starting to get some air play on 99Rock and TK101. Check us out at: www.myspace.com/signalsevenband


HERBERT


I WANNA BE LIKE YOU



My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/17/2006
Band Members: I currently play with the band Ba'nana Republic consisting of:Conrad Days-Vocals/percussion, Jerry Dawson-Guitars/vocals, Doug Stiers-Drums/Vocals, Jonathan Grooms-Bass guitars/vocals, Mark Smith-Keys/vocals, Jocelyn Reed-vocals/percussion. Donnie Beall-Sound Engineer/guitar

Influences: Ba'nana Republic's Influences:FUNK, Reggae, Classic FUNK, Classic rock, Reggae, R&B
My influences and listening preferences: Steely Dan, AC/DC, The Allman Brothers, RUSH, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, The Who, Stevie Wonder, Journey, Todd Rundgren, Level 42, The Beatles, Marcus Miller, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Jaco Pastorius, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan, MAZE, Victor Wooten, Charles Mingus, , Bob Marley, Steel Pulse, Ben Folds Five...I could go on and on.....
As far as TV, movies, comedians and actors go, I love STAR WARS, old horror movies, Vincent Price, The Flintstones (cartoon), the old Warner Brothers cartoons (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck etc...) Tom & Jerry cartoons, Eddie Murphy, Marty Allen (remember him?), That 70's Show, The Sopranos, NYPD Blue, Lon Chaney, most any TV show from the 70's (my era growing up) and probably too much more to be listed here..... ;-)
Sounds Like: US
Record Label: Sure! Would love to be on one!
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Instruments and Gear for 2008 Season

For those interested (and yes, there are a few of you....hah hah hah) here is a rundown of the basses and gear I will be using this season at Bamboo Willie's on Pensacola Beach. I will be posting pics...
Posted by Jonathan Grooves on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:14:00 PST

FINISHED MY FIRST NOVEL

Well, after a year and some very difficult times, I finally finished my first novel. It started out as a brief story idea and kind of evolved into a life of it's own. It's a horror/mystery/suspense no...
Posted by Jonathan Grooves on Wed, 18 Oct 2006 09:07:00 PST

Basses on TOONZ Posted

"Master Blaster" Jammin was recorded live at Pensacola beach with Ba'nana Republic. Band: Joz Massey and Conrad Days on vocals, Doug Stiers on drums, Jerry Dawson on guitar, Groomsy on bass The ...
Posted by Jonathan Grooves on Sat, 15 Apr 2006 01:30:00 PST

Groomsy's STAGE GEAR For 2006

For any and all interested, here is a list of the instruments and gear I will be using this season with Ba'nana Republic: BASSES: Sadowsky NYC 5 String, 1969 Fender Jazz Bass, 1977 Fender Precisi...
Posted by Jonathan Grooves on Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:37:00 PST

WELCOME TO MY PART OF THE WORLD

Welcome one and all to Groomsy's webpage. It's a slow start, but I'll be posting details about my current band, Ba'Nana Republic, as well as pics of my basses and amps and will be offering m...
Posted by Jonathan Grooves on Tue, 24 Jan 2006 08:46:00 PST