Joey Spampinato

American singer songwriter

Joseph Nicholas Spampinato (born August 16, 1948) is a multi instrumentalist and was a founding member and bass player of NRBQ. He was also one of the band's lead singers and chief songwriters. Before NRBQ he played in several bands, including The Seven of Us, which in 1967 while in Miami, Florida, met another band, The Mersey Beats USA. The bands merged to form NRBQ. On the group's first two albums, NRBQ (Columbia, 1969) and Boppin' the Blues (With Carl Perkins, Columbia, 1970) Spampinato is credited as "Jody St. Nicholas".

Spampinato was born in the Bronx borough of New York City. Musically, he was known for getting an acoustic, stand up bass sound out of his instrument; he played bass on many albums including Keith Richards' album Talk Is Cheap, Bonnie Raitt's Fundamental, M. Ward's album A Wasteland Companion. and was one of the bassists on Eric Clapton's 24 Nights in 1991. His songs have been covered by Bonnie Raitt, Shakin' Stevens, Los Lobos, Dave Edmunds and others. In 1986, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones invited Spampinato to play in the band Richards put together to back up Chuck Berry for the rock legend's 60th birthday party concert, which was recorded for the 1987 documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll. NRBQ also recorded a song entitled "Birdman" for an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast entitled "Pilot". The same lineup also appeared in motion pictures, including Day of the Dead, Shakes the Clown, and 28 Days. When the NRBQ stopped touring and recording in 2004 due to Adams's diagnosis of throat cancer, Spampinato and his brother, Johnny, continued for a short while with Tom Ardolino in the band Baby Macaroni. In 2008, Spampinato formed a new group called The Spampinato Brothers with his younger brother Johnny Spampinato, who himself toured, recorded and played lead guitar with NRBQ from 1994 until 2008. Johnny replaced NRBQ's previous guitarist Al Anderson, who left the group in 1994 to pursue a career as a songwriter, producer and session player in Nashville. In 2016, Cape Cod musician Sarah Burrell created a YouCaring fundraiser page to help with the anticipated expenses. While its intended goal was $50,000,

Spampinato lives in Cape Cod, Massachusetts with his wife, Kami Lyle, a singer, songwriter and trumpeter. He was previously married to country star and rockabilly icon Skeeter Davis.