NHS..... Music ........ Express: NRBQ - New Rhythm & Blues Quartet (c .1970's) is our FEATURED BAND of the week, along with Joey Spampinato our FEATURED ARTIST of the week.

Here's a sampling of some of the music your parents were fortunate enough to grow up with, and here's a great review of the 'Q' from a fellow music blogger:

Now if you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll recall that it was roughly 12 months ago that I waxed poetic over the visceral power of NRBQ's music. For me, the 'Q' (as they are affectionately referred to) have always been the great equalizer; their joyous sound and off-the-hook stage shows contained just the right amount of irreverence and master musicianship to effectively put the world on hold for a few hours at a time, allowing me to recall a time when life didn't feel so damn complex and messy. Since the band has now regrettably called it quits after a long 37 year run, I must rely solely on their recorded output as my legal drug of choice for suppressing nervous tension in a scenario that might go something like:

"Dr. Howard! Dr. Fine! I'm a mess! Can you give me some sort of prescription for this holiday malaise?"

"Well, Miles, are you getting any exercise? Why don't we try that in combination with a Vitamin B12 shot and some NRBQ? Let's start out with 'Tiddlywinks.' I'll give you a script for it that you can fill at the record shop. And do call me if your symptoms worsen, but the 'Q' should do the trick. Now roll up your sleeve."

Here's....Terry, Al, Joey, and Tommy

NRBQ have amassed a fanatical cult following over more than two decades of recording and touring with their incredibly versatile eclecticism; their music might veer from country to rockabilly to pop to bar-band R&B to blues to free jazz, all in the same album. The group's wacky, sometimes corny sense of humor and in-concert unpredictability (the band sometimes vows to play whatever song audience members request) have endeared them to fans.

What shows they put on!
Here's Carlene Carter talking to NRBQ -- they performed Johnny Cash's "Get Rhythm" on Nashville Now, June '93.

Joey Spampinato is one of the founding members of NRBQ, and one of the most in demand session bassists.
Check him out (at 3:00) on stage with Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, Etta James, Eric Clapton..... and more.