By Lindsey Colegrove, Communications Intern
Abstract blues group 15 60 75 The Numbers Band will be performing live at the Akron Art Museum Thursday from 6:30 – 8:30 pm as part of the museum’s popular Downtown@Dusk concert series.
Simply called The Numbers Band by their fans, band founder Robert Kidney said the band name is taken from a Numbers Racket, a method of analyzing dreams as number sequences then used to place bets popular in Harlem in the 1950’s, mentioned in Paul Oliver’s book, “The Blues Fell This Morning.”
Much like their unconventional name, The Numbers Band’s music stands outside society’s traditional expectations and definitions of Rock ‘n Roll. The majority of the band records were financed by friends who loved their music. Even after 30 years and eight records, The Numbers Band has never been offered a contract from a recording company.
“The music industry, the media, and the tellsusourvision (TV) are defining for the American public what is good music by only playing and supporting what is profitable. We are taught to disregard everything that is not familiar. We (The Numbers Band) give the people our best. Our effort goes into being creative, unique and original. We define our own sound. There are no rules because we don’t play the game. We are not in it for the game, we’re in it for the music,” Kidney explains.
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For more information on The Numbers Band, check out their official website at www.numbersband.com/.
Concert goers may also visit the museum galleries to view The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Ohio, as well as Kaleidoscope Quilts: The Art of Paula Nadelstern and Flora during the evening. Gallery admission is required. For detailed information on this and other museum events, visit the calendar of events at www.AkronArtMuseum.org/calendar.