Track One: Boozoo and Leona

"Boozoo Chavis was a dear friend of mine. I produced three albums for him. During that time I got to know his whole family really well. After he died his wife Leona and I continued to be friends. She often told me how lonely she was and how much she missed Boozoo. Years later when a friend of mine told me that she had now passed, by saying, 'Leona has joined Boozoo,' I wrote this song instantly. They were a great couple, true folk heroes." -Terry

Track Two: Keep This Love Goin'

The title track was written by Terry, Scott, and Pete.

Track Three: I'm Satisfied

Written and sung by Pete. Recorded in Louisville, KY.

Track Four: Here I Am

"During a walk in the park one day, I wrote three songs. Two of them are 'Here I Am,' which Scott helped me finish, and 'Sweet and Petite.' Tom plays drums on both." -Terry

Track Five: Let Go

"This is a song that I had been struggling with. I had written the music and one verse, but couldn't finish it. One night as I heard Pete sing, I realized his voice was perfect for this song. I asked him to sing it but I still didn't have it finished. I tried and tried, but had some kind of block. Eventually I asked Pete to try. His contribution to that song was way more than I expected. Funny thing is, that song wasn't going to be finished until I let go." -Terry

Track Six: Gone With the Wind

"I've always loved Dave Brubeck's recording of this song. The very first time Scott and I got together at my house, I played it for him. When we started to record Keep This Love Goin', it was Scott's idea to do the song. That's his arrangement. Conrad and Pete have really got the groove on this." -Terry

Track Seven: Sweet and Petite

See Track Four.

Track Eight: My Life With You

This is a song of Terry's that he had recorded as an instrumental with former Sun Ra Arkestra member Tyrone Hill and Dave Gordon, which was used for the Duplex Planet Hour CD. It turned out to be one of Scott's favorite songs, and when they met, he told Terry how much he wanted to sing it. Together they wrote the lyrics and through the talent of engineer Norm Demoura, the original tracks of Tyrone and Dave were added to this recording.

Track Nine: In Every Dream

"I like to sing along with motors. My espresso machine has a motor that produces a pure G. So while I was making an espresso, I sang harmony with it, which soon turned into Tchaikovsky's 'Concerto in B-flat Minor.' I reached for a note and it felt like country music to me, so I decided to write some words." -Terry

Track Ten: The Animal Life

Written by Scott and recorded in Madrid, Spain. Pete played the bass and engineered the session simultaneously.

Track Eleven: Talk

Recorded in Louisville, KY. "When I see a harpsichord, I have to play it." -Terry

Track Twelve: Red's Piano

"Piano Red is one of my favorite musicians. I love his style and I might be the only guy that does it. Whenever I was on tour in Atlanta, I always made sure to go catch Red whenever I could. One night in 1973 he told me he had two weeks off coming up, and so I invited him to come play with us in the northeast. He stayed at my house for a few days and while there, he sat at my piano and showed me this song. I never forgot it." -Terry

Press for Keep This Love Goin'

"Not to sound all cornball, but if anything embodies the spirit of rock 'n' roll, this music does."
Dave DiMartino, yahoo.com

"The spirit of the Q remains strong. The trademark wry humor remains, the ability to groove like no other band on the face of the planet, the ability to move from jazz-inflected rock and pop-inflected jazz and who-knows-what-else does too. Yes, Terry, please do keep this love goin.' Thanks."
popmatters.com

I didn't believe in miracles, but I am now sure about reincarnation. When we all thought that NRBQ had its best days behind them they make a roaring comeback with Keep This Love Goin'. Wonderfully tuneful love songs, hard driving rock 'n' roll, Terry Adams's still so inventive piano playing, one more song about zydeco-legend Boozoo Chavis and a humorous tribute to all animals. The best album so far this year."
Mats Olsson, Expressen (Sweden)

"The arrangements are lean and fairly live-sounding, usually pushed by a swinging backbeat; the vocals aren't fussy, even when they blossom with Beach Boys-like harmonies. Terry Adams's piano playing is as sly and pithy as always, placing chords or spiky clusters just behind the beat, where they arrive like punch lines."
Jon Pareles, New York Times

"The best thing about this CD is that it's timeless and fun . . . Adams and his cohorts, old and new, have always tapped into something that makes their music never sound dated and never sound dull. I hope Terry Adams VIII is leading NRBQ in the year 3010!"
Roctober

". . . sounds like vintage NRBQ. The new CD has many of the elements of the best NRBQ albums - rhythms that swing, a thumping backbeat, sneaky guitar, sweet vocals, and Adams's jazzy, chiming piano . . ."
The Boston Globe

"Adams has proven that it's the passion inside the sound that matters as much as who is playing the instruments . . . Terry Adams doesn't call this new aggregation NRBQ lightly, and knows the bar is set up near the ceiling for any group using that tag. The mind flips, though, for how much fun all involved sound like they're having, and the way they take right up where the original quartet left off. When the songs are flowing and Adams and his musical buddies are rolling, they let the pride in one of America's all-time great bands fly high."
Bill Bentley, The Morton Report

"Happily, the new quartet has captured the eclectic mix that made the original band so intoxicating . . . you have to appreciate the band's reach . . . [Fans] will find spontaneity, humor, breadth, and musical know-how . . ."
No Depression

"Terry Adams, Scott Ligon, Pete Donnelly, and Conrad Choucroun make music that is undeniably their own. They take all the musical waters that they have bathed in and made a record that you can feel in your bones and in your feet. NRBQ is back and just in time for the heat of the party season. It's time to dance, folks."
popshifter.com

"NRBQ has always had a reputation for being quirky no matter who was in the band, but the underlying idea behind things like improvisational free-jazz covers of middle-of-the-road pop standards, or angular miniatures about The Three Stooges, was not to be silly, it seemed, but to be honest about inspiration wherever it was found, to be fearless, searching for possibilities, taking chances. Keep This Love Goin' might seem unusually straight-ahead, but its pure pop heart and directness is fearless in a different way."
Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA

"The current lineup continues the band's rich history of being flexible enough to play multiple musical styles, and Keep This Love Goin' is a shining example: from the folk-rock of "I'm Satisfied," the rockabilly of "Sweet and Petite," the torchy jazz of "My Life With You," to the honky-tonk piano of "Red's Piano," this band does it all seamlessly and with a relaxed confidence. On the whole, this is a supremely joyous and lovely effort. The love is palpable on this album, and it's apparent that NRBQ loves what they do and have passed that emotion on to their fans. Welcome back, NRBQ."
awaitingtheflood.com

"The band sounds fresh, joyous and energized as it certainly does keep this love of rock, and its myriad styles, goin'. One of this year's top rock releases."
Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA

"Keep This Love Goin' has all the hallmarks of a classic Q album, from Adams's ever-unpredictable Monk-meets-The Killer piano and clavinet chording to the crisp pop-a-billy guitar licks, unrelenting rhythm section and sweet vocal harmonies. Most of all, though, it's got great songs. With the majority written by Adams, the standard mix of quirky humor, unabashed romance and good ol' rock and roll good-timin' saturates Keep This Love Goin'. Chalk it up as the end of an era, but thankfully not the end of NRBQ."
Relix

"This is now the real NRBQ, rightful heirs to the legacy . . . Adams is what makes NRBQ more than just a very spirited bar band. He's why they have lasted. As a virtuoso keyboardist schooled not just in rock 'n' roll stylings but also progressive and improvisational jazz, he can take any familiarly structured pop song and make it fly to somewhere new and transcendant, tossing off solos that alternate bluesy or rockabilly chording with discordant, atonal asides that build excitement and power. He is Thelonious Monk meets Jerry Lee. Or Sun Ra (an Adams hero) recast as a rocker. And he has so much fun doing it it's as if he's inventing music right before our ears. That power is intact on the new album."
Blurt

"Keep This Love Goin' not only sounds like a real NRBQ album, it may be the best one in about 20 years. The pop songs sparkle, the rockers are loose and lively, and there's plenty of freewheeling spirit . . ."
Brett Milano, Sound & Vision

"Keep This Love Goin' is the usual - that is to say, pretty unusual - diverse, veering romp through the sprawling musical territory that a previous edition of NRBQ claimed as 'omni-pop.'"
Schenectady NY Gazette

"[The new CD] has the trademark ambition, groove and harmony of an NRBQ record . . . The joy that underlies every NRBQ record is present on Keep This Love Goin' and nowadays that joy comes from a real-world place."
Providence Journal

"The eclectic and immensely talented keyboard player, songwriter and singer is the sole remaining original member of the fabled roots rock band . . . Adams has assembled a new quartet . . . These guys do more than just fly under the banner. Scott Ligon and Pete Donnelly contribute to the songwriting in addition to singing and sharing bass and guitar duties. And drummer Conrad Choucroun shows great taste at the kit . . . This is NRBQ by the book, new guys and all."
Colorado Biz

"'Boozoo and Leona' . . . is absolutely brilliant and already belongs in the classic canon . . . As does 'Sweet & Petite' . . . Another song that scales the heights is 'The Animal Life' . . . The rest of the album is full of subtle charms . . . The best songs are splendid, regardless of who's on board."
The Noise: Rock Around Boston

"All this sylistic mash up is hitting me like a bag of Halloween candy; I don't know what to taste next."
Ink 19

"A super record."
Pittsburgh Daily News

"A peachy comback . . ."
Philadelphia Daily News

"Music no one can make anymore."
Detorit Metro-Times

"NRBQ piano man follows up his killer Holy Tweet with another raucous run through a selection of songs that really...might as well be NRBQ."
Huffington Post

"Rollicking rock 'n' roll: elemental, humorous and hot, made from fresh ingredients by fresh players."
Schenectady NY Gazette

"Crazy 8's is a cool ride, funny, a soundtrack for a lost Jay Ward and Bill Scott cartoon, but 'Imaginary Radio,' with its sweet dreams of Sun Ra holding court, a new song by the Beatles and enlightened record label execs playing fair, is the biggest winner, sounding for three or so minutes more charming and confessional than we ever thought a night of rock & roll could."
Shakinglikeamountain.com

"Adams' newer rhythm and blues quartet continues to establish itself as the kind of perfectly imperfect joyful noise making machine that T.A. has been tinkering with for the last hundred or so years. It is rare for someone as jaded and over-rocked as I to want to spin a disc over and over, but putting this one on repeat really makes me feel so happy and goofy..."
Roctober

"NRBQ's wildman keyboardist delivers this superb live set with his Rock & Roll Quartet...it's locked into Adams' lovable pop leanings with just a trace of his avant-garde jazz tossed in for good measure. Adams' mates...complement his style with exuberance and impressive musicianship throughout."
Springfield MA Republican

"Few musicians, regardless of genre or instrument, can communicate the pure joy of being caught up in their music the way Terry Adams does, and Crazy 8’s, a live collection from Adams’ Rock & Roll Quartet, is a wildly enjoyable reminder of why Adams is still one of the most irrepressible figures in American music four decades after NRBQ cut their debut album. . .listen carefully to this band in action, and you’ll notice plenty of smart, adventurous things going on beneath the sunny surfaces…"
All Music Guide

"...pop-oriented rock & roll energy...built around Adams' sly but sunny vocal personality, buoyant melodies, and superlative keyboard work...First-rate pop from one of music's true originals, and when Adams decries musicians who have turned on their muse for a paycheck on 'Never Cop Out,' he can take pride in the fact that he's never done that, and if this album is any indication, he's not about to any time soon."
All Music Guide

"Who else makes a record with the '68-Beatles bounce of 'My Girl My Girl' and a few songs later does a country-swing version of the operetta standard 'Indian Love Call'? Only Adams."
Hartford CT Advocate

"On the excellent new Holy Tweet, you can hear plenty of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, twang, and more, but this is no retro trip; the shit is in Adams's blood. And unlike many a musical polymath, he manages to keep it simple, fun, and raw – never 'pro.'"
Chicago Reader

"... a charmer, 11 helpings of unkempt pop with whiffs of '60s garage-rock, Beach Boys sweetness and an adolescent innocence."
Creative Loafing, Tampa, FL

"Miracle of miracles, 40 years later [after NRBQ's first LP release], NRBQ pianist Terry Adams has released Holy Tweet, a record with all the joy of early NRBQ in its heart and in its sound."
Schenectady NY Gazette

"Kind of unexpected at this point in his career, Holy Tweet is quite simply, Adams' best solo album by far. 4 Stars"
Springfield MA Republican

"The disc runs the gamut from 'Key To My Pants' to 'Not Tonight, Hon' – both classic-sounding Adams romps – to a hoot-and-a-half rendition of the vintage 'Indian Love Call.' As always when Adams is at the helm, expect the unexpected."
Albany NY Times-Union

"...the confluence of Adams' pop gifts: shiny keyboards, one-of-a-kind quirks in the musical phrasing and sweet, funny and innocent lyrics, never goes out of style."
Shakinglikeamountain.com

"...these days Adams seems more prolific than ever, and if his solo albums continue to maintain this level of grin-inducing fun, the 'Q's absence may not be quite as big a problem as it seems."
Nippertown.com

"...we should all be grateful for the latest resurrection of Terry Adams...His new album's called Holy Tweet. And even if you don't grok it at first, even if it seems too silly or too poppy, too accessible or even too willfully obscure, you'll eventually discover that you've not only had a good time, but learned something. And then you'll see the genius of Terry, the Hohner Clavinet-slapping heart of the Q."
duncanchannon.com/noise

"Terry Adams is best known as the founder and leader of NRBQ. His madcap antics, manic piano playing and encyclopedic knowledge left 'Q' fans entertained for over 30 years. Rock and Roll piano may have begun with Jerry Lee Lewis, but it never got better than Terry Adams. His new band, Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet, picks up where NRBQ left off."
post on marah-usa.com

The Best Jazz of 2008
Top 10

"Terry Adams' Love Letter to Andromeda: The brilliant pianist in the sadly defunct cult band NRBQ comes out of left field for a passel of irresistible live solo improvisations on prepared piano and celeste. Adams is the exception to the rule that these instruments are best left to antiquity."
San Francisco Chronicle

"If it's 'normal' you're after don't start here. Terry Adams, NRBQ's founding father, wildman keyboardist and lover of the avant-garde has released his first album to feature just himself as the only musician from start to finish. It's out there. Way out there . . . `Everything I Do,' finds the gifted keyboardist playing some Far Eastern flavors, then melding them into stunning classical flourishes."
Newhouse News Service

"Having worked alongside of both jazz geniuses (Sun Ra's Marshall Allen memorably collaborated with Adams) and amongst rock and roll goofs, Terry can't help make the out there stuff pretty accessible. Thus, this wonderful CD sounds about halfway between Cage and Vince Guaraldi. Imagine Schroeder on a prepared piano!"
Roctober

"Adams is rockin' and rollin' on this one, and in the process he's made the best NRBQ album that the Q never made. Adams wrote and sings everything here, and plays his trusty clavinet in multiple ways – how does he do it folks? – throughout. The songs are keepers too, some of the best he's written in years. Adams is nothing less than one of the most underrated musicians in rock..."
All Music Guide

"NRBQ as a live, touring entity is dead: Long Live Terry Adams. The band's irrepressible keyboardist for these many years has released a fine, rollicking, and surprise-filled solo album, Rhythm Spell. The old Q magic is intact, plus extra winks and twists. Rhythm Spell chugs with the energy, the carefully tended musicality – often on his signature clavinet – and the rubbery humor we've come to expect from one of American music's goofball geniuses."
Santa Barbara CA Independent

"Adams starts the disc with the weird and wacky rockabilly of 'Howard Hughes' and later locks into 'A Girl Who Loves The Stooges'." It all fits into Adams' image as the colorful eccentric who also happens to be one of the most innovative keyboard players of the past 40 years."
Springfield MA Republican

Still Creating Sparks: NRBQ's founders Adams and Ferguson still play nicely together

"When Terry Adams and Steve Ferguson met 40 years ago, the two South End kids felt an immediate kinship fueled by a love of music and shared sensibilities. ‘I remember Steve playing "Eight Miles High" on a 12-string,' Adams said. ‘He kind of played it his own way, though.' That pretty much describes Ferguson's entire career. Adams' too. That's why they began living in the Adams family basement back in the ‘60s, pushing a collection of neighborhood musicians to explore a crazy mix of rock ‘n' roll, R&B and jazz. They powered through the blues, Thelonious Monk and the Beatles, honing a sound that ultimately led to the formation of the New Rhythm & Blues Quintet. By the time the band settled in Miami – on a whim, really – they trimmed down to a quartet and called themselves NRBQ, soon to be the world's most beloved cult band. Although the band was signed to Columbia Records while living in Miami, no one has ever denied Louisville its ownership. That's because NRBQ's famously elaborate pastiche of sounds can be traced directly back to Adams, Ferguson, and that basement. Louisville Sluggers is the friends' first real album together since 1971. Recorded over three years in Louisville and Vermont, it sounds as if they never stopped playing together – or hanging out in the basement. Any fan of NRBQ or of Ferguson's solo work will find a lot of familiar ground, from the bluesy swagger of ‘Hi Heel Sneakers' to the charming swing of ‘Peanut Vendor'."
Excerpted from the Louisville Courier-Journal

"Friends since 1965 in their hometown of Louisville, Adams and Ferguson periodically made music together since Ferguson left NRBQ, and they really struck sparks when NRBQ reunited all its past members at its anniversary celebration. This inspired them to record the playful and eclectic album Louisville Sluggers – with a typically atypical songlist spanning Hank Williams to Thelonious Monk but offering the most amazing surprises in their own original tunes."
Schenectady Gazette

"...Terry Adams is one of a kind; you won't find anyone who's ever seen (or heard) anyone quite like him. Among other things, he's one of the few musicians you'll ever encounter who doesn't just say that he thinks arbitrary musical categories are irrelevant but really does think that – and whose own music reflects that notion."
From the liner notes by Peter Keepnews

"Twelve short tunes comprise this excellent CD, and there's not a speck of filler. Obviously, Adams was overdue (and a follow-up is a must), but this extraordinarily musical disc will be hard to top. Highly recommended."
All Music Guide

"No one else could have done this record. This is the opposite of music that is faceless and interchangeable (and easily pigeonholed in a genre). This is music with real personality. Terry talking out loud – chatting, mumbling, whispering, occasionally hollering, cooing, joking, lots of musical joking – and never holding anything back. It's not a confessional record, though. Just as it's not a Major Statement. It's a much rarer thing and – as purely entertaining as it is – much more meaningful: a record by a true American artist who will never b******t you."
Robert Duncan review at iTunes