Hello!

Hi all! If you're reading this, you probably know that our fellow Q-lister Stacey Sandler is planning an ambitious weekend-long event around a performance by the Terry Adams Rock and Roll Quartet, scheduled for April 24-26, 2009 at Clarion Inn and Suites, 161 Bridge Street, East Windsor, CT 06088. Among the weekend's festivities will be a Q-tenanny, an open sing- and play-along devoted to the music of NRBQ.

The first Q-tenanny took place in 2007 in between NRBQ's two 38th anniversary shows in Northampton, MA. By popular acclaim, it was a surprise highlight of the weekend. We expect the 2009 Q-tenanny to be every bit as much fun!

I'm starting this blog to communicate news about the Q-tenanny and to solicit comments and suggestions. Posts will probably be sporadic at first, possibly increasing in frequency as the event approaches.

I'm already excited about this event, and I know that others are as well. I've started revising the songbook that we used in '07 - tidying it up a bit, tweaking some of the chord changes, and in some cases adding detail to the arrangements. There will also be more songs in this "edition" of the book than in the previous one.

Stacey has entrusted me with "organizing" the '09 Q-tenanny. However, I feel that the last one essentially organized itself! Although there might be more participants this time, I don't see the need to do much of anything differently. Obviously most of us know the songs pretty well, having seen the 'Q perform them numerous times.

While I don't want to set any rules for this gathering, I would like to make one...suggestion, let's say: One of the aspects of the last Q-tenanny that I particularly enjoyed was the fact that it was all-acoustic (with the exception of Michael Bonner's wonderful Huffinator electric bass, played by Gary Hobish). This made it easier for people to sing along without having to raise their voices too much, and helped keep the overall volume at a comfortable level. I would prefer to retain the same format for this event, and to stick with acoustic guitars, mandolins, recorders, woodwind and brass instruments, percussion, etc. I gather that the room where we'll be is not all that large, so keeping the sound pressure level as low as possible would be a good thing.

In particular, I'd like to avoid using electric guitars, if at all possible.

Exceptions:

1. The Huffinator turned out to be such a welcome element in the sound of the last Q-tenanny, and made such a striking visual impression, that a return appearance certainly seems in order, provided that Michael wants to bring it again. If not, someone else is welcome to bring a bass. (Acoustic bass would be great, although I don't know if anyone among us has one; otherwise, electric bass should fit the bill again, as long as the volume is matched to the rest of the instruments.) I'll probably bring a small bass amp for whoever would like to use it - 30 watts, with one 10" speaker.

2. Unfortunately, there won't be a piano in the room in which we'll be playing. If anyone wants to play keyboard, an accordion would be ideal. Barring that, an electric keyboard and a small amp will do, again as long as the volume is kept comparable to that of the acoustic instruments. (My own preference would be for "old school" keyboards; for example, one of those old Wurlitzer electric pianos with built-in speakers would be very cool, and obviously a Hohner Clavinet would fit right in! However, I know that instruments such as these are becoming increasingly rare, so a digital keyboard will be fine.)

As for drums, last time Glenn Firester brought a snare drum, which I thought fit in nicely. Since drums aren't my area of expertise, I don't want to dictate what drums people should or shouldn't bring; for example, perhaps some drummers might feel more comfortable with a kick, snare and hi-hat than with just a snare. However, again it should be borne in mind that this is primarily an acoustic event, and perhaps a full kit might overwhelm the sound of the group. I'll leave this detail to the discretion of the drummers among you!

I suppose that to some it might seem arbitrary to exclude electric guitars but not electric bass and keyboards. However, I hope that most of you will understand the reasons for this. Not to be discriminatory, but in my experience it's often (albeit not always) the presence of electric guitars that pushes an ensemble's volume level and overall timbre into "rock band" territory. Anyway, we were able to rock out just fine last time with mostly acoustic instruments!

I'm looking forward to seeing and making music with you all again.