SKF NOTE: On October 11, 2021 I bought the digital format of NRBQ’s first album. I owned a vinyl copy of the album when it was first released in 1969.

For the last 52 years, in life moments when I’d sing out loud some song snippet, the snippets were often from NRBQ’s first album recording of “Rocket #9” or “C’mon If You’re Comin’”.

Truth to be told, until 2021 I didn’t know Tom Staley was the drummer on NRBQ’s first album. My affection for NRBQ’s first album was for NRBQ as a many-sided band. It was/is a band of imaginative players sounding as if they were pulled from jazz, traditional country, rockabilly, and country blues bands.

Staley played on NRBQ’s first four albums: NRBQ, Boppin’ the Blues (with Carl Perkins), Scraps, and Workshop.

After leaving NRBQ, Staley played drums in other bands, mostly in southern states. He also has a handful of albums under his own name. Twitchin’ ‘N the Kitchen, Thenceforward, and We’re Gonna Be OK.

I caught up with Staley by phone, at his home in Georgia, on May 18, 2023. He was gracious enough to say yes to this interview. We discuss Staley’s work prior to, with, and after NRBQ.

He can be reached, he said, through his Facebook page or by email.