http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2014/mar/13/270395/

Advances in technology bridge communication gaps between people across the country and overseas everyday, and now it seems musicians are reaping major benefits.

Lawrence-born progressive rock band Patriarch recently had their first jam session in 28 years and only three of five members were in the same room in Kansas City, Mo. Thanks to Jamlink and Google Fiber, the band reunited via the web and have been given the opportunity to perform a special reunion show at Uptown Theatre on March 13.

Formed during the early ’80s, keyboardist Chuck Huels and violinist Gregg Anderson rounded up members for Patriarch after Anderson overheard Huels working on a Shooting Star song in a Murphy Hall practice room at Kansas University. They gained much popularity and success but after graduation, ended up disbanding because of career opportunities and miles in between cities they ended up raising their families.

“We tried everything to try to become a band,” Huels says. “We played a lot of gigs, warmed up a lot of people, made a record, went to L.A. and New York. We tried really hard to be musicians.”

Since then, they’ve played weddings and other events for friends and family, but never all five of them. The distance and schedule constraints didn’t let up as time went on. They had been talking about the logistics of getting back together with their former sound guy, Jay Waller, who is now the founder of sound and light company Stage Pro.

One of Waller’s tech employees found the technology to create a Jamlink box, an app that facilitates a virtual band practice.

“The problem with Jamlink was the distance,” Huels says. “It worked but you had to be within 100 miles or something like that.”

Google Fiber was excited at the opportunity of putting a band back together when Woller and a colleague reached out. After inviting Patriarch to play together at their Fiber Space, they were able to synchronize its sound with the bandwidth-intensive app Jamlink by using Google’s high-speed fiber optic network. With Anderson in Naples, Fla., and Huels in Atlanta, they played through six songs continuously and it was as clear as playing in a studio, Huels says.

“Our expectations weren’t very high, but it was surreal,” he says. “I haven’t played with these guys in 28 years and the quality just was absolutely ridiculously good. It was as clear as if we were in the same room. No latency, we were just shocked.”

Google also decided to turn the successful innovation into a documentary on Patriarch, and surprised them by sponsoring a free reunion show at Uptown with Shooting Star.

“That was the first song I was playing, coincidentally, when Gregg walked in,” Huels says. “Gregg was playing the violin part. Here we are 20 years later and we are on the same bill as Shooting Star.”

In the process of five weeks they have managed to practice together for the first time since disbanding, prepare for one of the biggest gigs of their career in an almost sold out venue (at this point), and all are on board to make themselves present for this event. It’s probably about time.

“I’m just like, ‘How is this happening so quickly?'” Huels says. “We haven’t been able to do this in 28 years and it’s only been five weeks. It’s crazy.”