Coming straight out of the cultural melting pot that is Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton..s up and coming funk collective the Whitmo'deans are out to put the groove back into live music. Guitarist Matt Rogers and keyboard player Sam Davis first squeezed the original line-up into the front room of Sam's terraced home in Hordern Road, the rhythm section comprising Danny Jenks on drums and Gavin Lloyd on bass. With a support slot for drum and bass pioneers 4hero at local place-to-be The Halfway House on offer, the foursome went about constructing an instrumental set. This incorporated a broad cross section of styles, from Sugar Hill Gang hip-hop to Primal Scream licks, with a bit of their own bluesy funk improv thrown in.

Five rehearsals later, a nervous looking Whitmo'deans were jamming away to the assembled Halfway crowd, and were relieved to receive some seriously encouraging feedback. By chance, Devonshire diva Jo Palfrey was in the audience, and was keen to add a bit of vocal flair to the grooves that the lads had been laying down, and it only took one rehearsal with their new addition for the 'deans to realise that they had gained an enormous extra dimension.

The five worked hard at creating a new set, with influences such as The Meters and Quantic Soul Orchestra helping shape their nevertheless unique live sound. As the house band for the Halfway and a series of appearances at venues around the Midlands, the Whitmo'deans have supported the likes of Norman Jay, Fingathing, DJ Cash Money and Bentley Rhythm Ace, generating a reputation as a band guaranteed to get your ass shakin...

Other recruits have been picked up along the way, local sax supremo Richie Fingers becoming a regular, along with percussionist Joel Essex. Hometown rapper Dass also collaborates with the band, whose sound has been looked after since the early days by Bill Hague.

2004 saw the band get into the studio and lay down five of their own tracks for their ..To The Bridge' E.P. which is still available via their website. Last year the band recorded a 6 track E.P. entitled 'Halfway Home', and most recently 'four small tunes' (2007).

• Funk