Featured Live Music Artist of the Week - Nobody's Business

Yeah, that's right it's Nobody's Business who the featured live music artist of the week is!!!

I slay me.

No, seriously, the featured artist is an amazing rock & roll (with some country) cover band called Nobody's Business, based in the Chicago Southland.

Nobody's Business didn't just cover standard "classic rock" covers, but many different genres of classic rock, from Nugent, to Skynard, to Hendrix, to southern rock, to country, to Stones.  This band actually medleys from The Doors into The Who - and it sounds perfect.  In all my years watching bands, I've seen a lot of medleys - but Doors to The Who???  And it worked - it totally worked.

There are so many aspects that make this band great - a large song selection, many genres (all rockin' though - no snoozing songs, that's for sure), high energy on stage by all the band members, top notch musicianship, and they are fun!  A band that is having fun is a band that is fun to watch.  In addition, when talking to them - and when watching them perform - it is obvious they have respect for the greats, they know what went before them, and respect it.

Individually this band is amazing. 

They have a bass guitarist, "Matt Claypool", who rocks the bass the way a lead guitarist rocks.  Matt is not one of those stand-around bass players, which was way too common in the 70s and 80s.  No, he is, as his nickname suggests, more like Les Claypool and Mike Inez.  This guy is physically all over the place - it's hard to stop watching him rock!  And, he's talented on top of it, keeping that solid bass line through some real heavy rockers by The Who and Nugent and Hendrix and so on.  He's one of those bass players that might actually break a string on stage - and that's a good thing!

Their lead guitarist, "Randall Paisley", is phenomenal.  When he is playing the licks of Hendrix and Nugent and Townshend, if you closed your eyes, you'd think the original artists were playing.  Seriously, he is that on-the-mark!  And this guy can shred, but yet not a showboater.  His playing is rock solid and he get into into it, no question - but doesn't showboat.  During Hendrix songs, he casually swings the guitar around his neck and starts playing behind his head.  It's so casual, that the audience goes "Hey Joe, he's playing behind his head - how long has he been doing that?"  And he does it effortlessly - and hits the mark perfectly.  Fun to watch!   Hard to look away.

The lead vocalist, "Chase Diffie", is a frontman extraordinaire, filled with talent AND charisma.  AND, he can play harp  (no, not the thing with strings, you know a harp, blues harp) - and he nails it on songs like Roadhouse Blues and others.  In addition, his voice is in that perfect register to hit the songs by Jagger, Morrison, Van Zandt (either of them), and Nugent.  But you can spot his country roots, with the boots - yes, the boots.  How did I notice the boots - when the mood hits this guy, he has some big time foot shuffling going on up there - keeping the crowd watching!  Also, it's hard not to watch this guy rock out - he's having fun - and he's nailing it.

And the drummer, "Joe", when I interviewed them years ago, with some brewski's, I was told "That's Joe." "Joe who?" "Just Joe".  Solid solid solid drummer.  This is the perfect drummer for any band.  A consummate pro, as they say.  He knows all the songs, and respects the greats of the past and the current.  Technically sound, and able to keep a perfect beat moving right along with the band as spontaneous solos occur.  This guy is exactly what a band needs in a drummer - knowledge, skill, and steadiness.  Rock solid!  And, it's a blast to watch those sticks flying from drum to cymbal to drum to cowbell and so on!

As you can tell, it's hard NOT to watch this band.  This is not a band that a person goes to see, and then has a conversation or watches some sports game in the background.  This is a band that is WATCHED.  A perfect combination of musicianship and stage presence.

And, sorry, Ted Nugent, but I honestly like Nobody's Business's version of Stranglehold best of all!  A song that truly embodies everything I said above - this is the song to see the band play.  Everything mentioned above comes through on this song.  Honestly, when it comes on the radio - I picture these guys playing it - not Nugent.

If you get a chance to catch these guys - DO IT!