Nimbit Artist of the Week: Roomful of Blues!

Nimbit Artist of the Week: Roomful of Blues! January 2,2015

Cards, meet table: Roomful of Blues formed in 1967, and are currently celebrating their 45-year anniversary. Think about that for a second-how many bands can you name that have been around for 45 years and are still kicking?

Hmm, let's see. Motorhead? Nope, formed in '75. Cock Sparrer? Close at 1972. The Rolling Stones? Well, they formed in 1962, so they check out OK but that means when it comes to finding a contemporary for Roomful of Blues, The Stones are the only fair comparison?

Seriously. The Stones? The Stones? Yep. Wow.

While lineup changes are to be expected in an outfit of this vintage, Roomful of Blues is currently a horn-heavy octet fronted by powerhouse vocalist Phil Pemberton. They've been known to draw from blues of all shades, and as a result have developed a sound that incorporates swing, soul, and some New Orleans flavor that keeps even blues aficionados guessing as to what the band will do next. Critics have taken note as well, and to date the band has earned five Grammy Award nominations, seven Blues Music Awards noms-including a win.

45 Live was just released on July 30, 2013, in celebration of the aforementioned anniversary. The band packed a three-day party at Mantunuck, Rhode Islands' The Ocean Mist, and played their hearts out evey night, recording every note. The best performances from the anniversary show make up the 45 Live disc-which sounds a lot better than most live records, BTW.

I understand that some might argue that it's not about the years, it's about the mileage-and if so, RoB is the blues' equivalent of an unstoppable Mack truck that has steadily, reliably been shipping music lovers up and down Highway 95 for a lifetime. The Roomful of Blues Nimbit store boasts a handful of T-shirts, but the real star here is the discography-SEVENTEEN full-length albums available via CD or HD download! In the time I've been writing these Nimbit Artist of the Week Posts, that's the most I've seen a band offer. It sets the record for number of records.

Click here to keep up with Roomful of Blues on Nimbit.

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