oh man oh man oh man, big al anderson is coming to northampton on new year's eve

this from yesterday's cal section of the hartford courant
(thanks beth-y for telling me about it).

oh do i love nrbq something fierce! i crank up their cd's and cruise the hoods of the state. r c cola and a moon pie, drivin' in my car, it was an accident, me and the boys. and who can forget ain't no good to cry by the wildweeds? gotta LOVE it


Big Al Anderson Comes Full Circle From Wildweeds To NRBQ To Nashville and Back
By ERIC R. DANTONCourant Rock Critic
December 29 2005

It was New Year's Eve 1993 when guitarist and songwriter Al Anderson decided to begin the third phase of his career.First, though, he had to end Phase 2: A 22-year stint playing guitar and singing for the eclectic bar band NRBQ, a cult favorite that had attained almost mythical status in Anderson's native Connecticut. The man known as Big Al, though, was ready for a change, and he made his move during a show at a club in New York City."I quit at Tramps, on New Year's," Anderson says over a glass of apple cider during a wide-ranging interview at a Windsor hotel. "I don't remember whether it was before or after - it was either 11 o'clock or 1 o'clock. It was after the first set. I told Joey [Spaminato, the bassist and singer], `I think that's going to be it for me.'"And it was.Anderson sold his house in Windsor and moved to Nashville to build on the success of "Every Little Thing," a No. 3 country hit he had written with Carlene Carter a few years earlier. Soon, Anderson had racked up writing credits on albums by the likes of Hank Williams Jr., George Jones, Alabama, the Mavericks, Charlie Daniels, Jimmy Buffett and Asleep at the Wheel. Although he does studio work as a guitarist, his departure from NRBQ effectively meant the end of Anderson's days as a live performer."I'm really done with the road," he says. "The Red Roof life took a toll. Thirty years of that is enough." Finally, though, in a nice piece of full-circle symbolism, his rare concert appearances include a pair of shows in Northampton, Mass., on New Year's Eve. His band, the Crumbs, includes NRBQ drummer Tom Ardolino, bassist Glenn Worf (who plays with Mark Knopfler), Double Trouble keyboardist Reese Wynans and West Hartford guitarist Jim Chapdelaine. Anderson, 58, says the shows will span his career, including, of course a few songs by NRBQ."I'll do four or five things," he says. "We'll do a little acoustic set, and a Wildweeds song and some new stuff." The Wildweeds was Anderson's first serious band. The group had a regional hit in the summer of 1967 with "No Good to Cry," which was the third song that Anderson, then 20, had written. "It's patterned after `Paint It Black,'" Anderson says. "That's where the idea came from."Chess Records, the Chicago label known mostly for blues, released the song on its Cadet imprint. Subsequent Wildweeds efforts, including a few singles and an album on Vanguard in 1970 (recently re-issued), were less successful.........