Friday, May 29th // The Gus Factor LIVE at The Rosebud // $15 // 21+ // Doors 7pm, Show 8pm // Swampcore Funk, Funk-Rock, Jam // Buy Tickets Here

The Gus Factor is a funk rock powerhouse that plays with edge and dynamics.

The Gus Factor plays dank grooves in danceable funk, indie, jam, and heavier musical styles, all with New Orleans swing and heartfelt soul.

The Gus Factor was formed in a haze of one dollar Rolling Rocks, bong hits, and Buddy Guy, Black Sabbath, and Allman Brothers records at the University of Connecticut in 1988 by Pete Gonda (vocal and guitar) and Mark Axel Tveskov (guitar). Bryan Caudle, who had played snare with a fife and corp with Mark years earlier, was recruited to play drums. Bassist Matt Parker, fresh from playing Washington D.C’s 930 Club as part of the legendary mid-Atlantic punk band The Maytags, had moved to Connecticut for life as a graduate student, but after answering a bulletin board add, inexplicably found himself playing bass with a bunch of hippies; the first song the band rehearsed being Dave Mason’s two-chord Feelin’ Alright. 

The band got off to a reasonable start, playing in front of girlfriends and roommates at The Fallout Shelter, an ambitious but short-lived venue run by veterans of the recently defunct Shaboo Inn that soon would become one of the most notorious strip club/brothels on the I-95 corridor. The dry ice machine was cool, but something was lacking until, a few gigs later, Scott “Scooter” Van Dyke (keyboards) and John Morello (percussion) showed up and set up their gear, with no one remembering inviting them. Without further comment, The Gus Factor was complete.