Verona Grove was an American pop punk band from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The band is signed to Pat's Record Company, a subsidiary of Universal Records.[1] Members include singer/guitarist Tony Anders, bass guitar/background singer Charlie Wilhelm, and drummer Josh Helm.[2] The Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards nominated Verona Grove for their 2009 artist of the year,[3] and it won the 2009 Rock Artist of the Year.[4]
History
The band formed as high school students in Fond du Lac in early 2000.[5] In 2003, the band beat around 100 bands to win the "Big Gig Competition" hosted on Summerfest.com, which led to a set opening for Sum 41 at Summerfest 2003.[6] The band released their first album "Half Tanked" in 2003,[7] after they were students at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.[2] They recorded a track at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.[2] The track was sent by the studio's engineer to record labels which led to the group getting signed in early 2006 to Pat's Record Company in Hollywood.[2] The trio moved to Hollywood and recorded the album The Story Thought Over with production from Jamie Arentzen of American Hi-Fi.[2] The album was released in August 2007.[2]
The song "Revolution" was picked up by area radio station WIXX.[8] It was the radio station's first song by a local band to hit on their nightly "Top 9 at 9" request show.[9] The band performed the song live on the night that it hit #1 video.[9]
