The Bis-Quits were a

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in contemporary folk music, folk, blues, and country music. First emerging in the late 1960s, it is seen as a response to the perceived excesses of the then dominant psychedel ...

band from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, active in the 1990s. Its members were

Will Kimbrough William Adams Kimbrough (born May 1, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Biography Kimbrough was born in Mobile, Alabama. He started his musical career as a fo ...

Tommy Womack Tommy Womack (born November 20, 1962, in Sturgis, Kentucky) is an American singer-songwriter and author. Career Early endeavors Womack played with the band Government Cheese from 1985 to 1992. He wrote an engaging memoir about this experience ca ...

, Mike "Grimey" Grimes (bass guitar) and Tommy Meyer (drums). Womack has described the band's style as "kinda like

NRBQ NRBQ is an American rock band founded by Terry Adams (piano), Steve Ferguson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass). Originally the "New Rhythm and Blues Quintet", the group was formed circa 1965. Adams disbanded it for a time, and the group re ...

meets the Replacements." The ''Washington Post'' had previously drawn the NRBQ comparison in 1993. The band released only one album, ''The Bis-Quits'', on

Oh Boy Records Oh Boy Records is an independent American record label founded in 1981 by singer John Prine, his manager Al Bunetta, and their friend Dan Einstein. The label has released more than 40 audio and video recordings by singer-songwriters Prine, Kris ...

in 1993. It received a four-star (out of five) rating from ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' and a B+ from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''. It was particularly noted for its song "Yo Yo Ma", which was described by '' No Depression'' as "a

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

-by-way-of-

Dan Baird Daniel John Baird (born December 12, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist from the 1980s rock band The Georgia Satellites. Baird formed The Georgia Satellites in 1 ...

rocker". The ''Washington Post'' called the songs "loose and funny" and deemed the album "often clever and catchy." It also singled out Kimbrough's pop sense and the melodies of the best songs. However, the lyrics came in for criticism. Nonetheless, the group and its work enjoyed lasting recognition: * In 2004, a feature in ''Cincinnati City Beat'' about Kimbrough referred to the Bis-quits as an "indie cult" band and their album as "much beloved." * In 2021, as part of its 40th anniversary celebration, Oh Boy Records highlighted a different artist or album from its roster on a weekly basis. First up: the Bis-Quits, who were the subject of a short documentary. ''The Bis-Quits'' album was also reissued, becoming available for the first time on vinyl.

References

External links

The Story of the Bis-Quits (Oh Boy Records)
Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Rock music groups from Tennessee Roots rock music groups {{US-rock-band-stub