NRBQ stands for New Rhythm Blues Quartet, This 6-piece group has a mixture of rock: to jazz in their music. Formerly on Mercury Records, their new album Kick Me Hard can be found on Red Rooster/Rounder Records.
We spoke with NRBQ member Terry Adams.
Q – The critics all seem to like this group, but commercial success has been slow in coming. Why is that?
A – I really don’t know. I think of things as always getting better.
Q – Is it hard to please an audience today without using some kind of theatrics?
A – It depends. We did a tour with Alice Cooper and it was hard to reach his audience.
Q – Would you change your music in order to reach more people?
A – We wouldn’t do that. We’re not consciously setting out to play one style of music.
Q – A New York Times critic once said, “NRBQ would be as big as the Beatles.” How can any group hope to live up to that image?
A – That statement has been misinterpreted. Nobody ever really said that. What he said was he hadn’t been as excited about a song of ours since listening to one of the Beatles’ songs.
Q – How long has the group been together?
A – The current lineup — 5 years.
Q – What keeps the group going?
A – Just the love for the music.
