RAQ are a psychedelic

Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

, progressive

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 quartet

Quartet

In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...

 from Burlington

Burlington, Vermont

Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....

, VT

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

. They are a part of the jam band

Jam band

-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...

 scene.

History

The group formed in 2000 with original keyboard player Marc Scortino and released their first studio effort "Shed Tech" a year later. In 2002 Scortino left the band and was replaced by Todd Stoops. Along with Chris Michetti (Guitar), Jay Burwick (Bass) and Greg Stukey (Drums) the band would release their second album "Carbohydrates Are The Enemy" later in the year and embark on their first national tour. The quartet has played Tennessee's Bonnaroo Music Festival

Bonnaroo Music Festival

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival created and produced by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment, held at Great Stage Park on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. It hosted its tenth annual event June 9–12, 2011...

, California's High Sierra Music Festival

High Sierra Music Festival

High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada.The festival is held each year the weekend of July 4...

, Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival

Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival

Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is a four-day music festival held in early June at Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, Arkansas. The festival has been held annually since 2004....

, Florida's Langerado

Langerado

Langerado Music Festival is an annual music festival, taking place in early spring in South Florida, first organized in 2003 by Ethan Schwartz and Mark Brown. In 2008 the festival was held at the Seminole Big Cypress Indian Reservation in the Everglades...

 Music Festival, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

's moe.down and Camp Bisco Festival, Massachusett's Berkshire Mountain Music Festival, and Massachusetts Garden of Eden Festival . In 2006 Harmonized Records signed RAQ and helped release their third studio album "Ton These".

Music

Glide Magazine says, "They've invented the concept of jambands even having an old school style to bring back in the first place."

Touring

In its first national tour in 2002, the quartet played in front of thousands at many of North America's musical festivals including Tennessee's Bonnaroo Music Festival

Bonnaroo Music Festival

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival created and produced by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment, held at Great Stage Park on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. It hosted its tenth annual event June 9–12, 2011...

, California's High Sierra Music Festival

High Sierra Music Festival

High Sierra Music Festival is a multi-day music festival held in Quincy, California, a mountainous area about 80 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada.The festival is held each year the weekend of July 4...

, Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival

Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival

Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is a four-day music festival held in early June at Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, Arkansas. The festival has been held annually since 2004....

, Florida's Langerado Music Festival, New York's moe.down, Massachusett's Berkshire Mountain Music Festival, and Vermont's Garden of Eden Festival . The band has also appeared at venues such as the Great American Music Hall

Great American Music Hall

The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater...

 in San Francisco and the Knitting Factory

Knitting Factory

The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. RAQ completed a tour of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 performing in front of sold out crowds in Telluride

Telluride, Colorado

The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains...

, Denver

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

 and Breckenridge

Breckenridge, Colorado

Established in 1859, the historic town of Breckenridge is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Summit County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the town had a population of 4,540. The town also has many part-time residents, as many people have vacation homes in the area...

 .

Hiatus

RAQ ended a 20 month hiatus with the announcement of a show on April 30, 2010 at the Bowery Ballroom

Bowery Ballroom

The Bowery Ballroom is a music venue in the Bowery section of New York City. The structure, at 6 Delancey Street, was built just before the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It stood vacant until the end of WWII, when it became a high-end retail store. The neighborhood subsequently went into decline...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

During the hiatus, Chris Michetti toured with his own band called Michetti. The band originally included Rob O'Dea on bass and Tim Sharbough on drums. Sharbough was eventually replaced by Greg Stukey. Jay Burwick opened with a solo acoustic set for Michetti on a short tour in early 2009, usually joined by Michetti for one or two songs. Michetti usually performed a mix of new songs and various covers, while Burwick performed a mix of new songs (http://www.reverbnation.com/jayburwick ), humorous covers, and classic RAQ tunes.
Todd Stoops co-founded his project, Kung Fu. The band is composed of David Livolsi on bass, Tim Palmieri on guitar, Adrian Tramantano on drums, and Rob Somerville on tenor and soprano saxophone.

Recognition

RAQ was chosen as a 'New Groove of the Month' by Jambands.com, and nominated for a 'Jammy' Award in the category of 'Best New Band'. Relix Magazine featured the band in its Spotlight section, saying "RAQ has the ability to captivate an audience, dropping jaws with hyperkinetic improvisational splendor." The band was also highlighted by Relix as one of the top bands to look out for in the summer of 2005.

Artists

• Marc Scortino: Keyboards
  Musical keyboard
  A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
  
  /Vocals
• Chris Michetti: Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  /Vocals
• Greg Stukey: drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Jay Burwick: Bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  /Vocals

Track listing

1. Time Bomb
2. There When I Land
3. Verde Burro
4. Tunnel Vision
5. Hot Wired
6. Confuzor
7. Weakling
8. Guilty Pleasure
9. Last Bag
10. Welcome to the Donkey Show

Carbohydrates

Released: 2002

RAQ's second release and first to feature keyboardist, Todd Stoops. The album was produced by Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 winner Mark Johnson (Paul Simon, Los Lobos, Jackson Browne) in Colchester Vermont at Egan Media Productions, and mixed by Johnson in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

Artists

• Todd Stoops: Keyboards/Vocals
• Chris Michetti: Guitar/Vocals
• Greg Stukey: Drums
• Jay Burwick: Bass/Vocals

Track listing

1. Shirley Be a Drooler
2. TheDownLow
3. Beauregard
   Beauregard (song)
   "Beauregard," written by RAQ's Todd Stoops, is a staple in RAQ's repertoire. The song was divided into three parts on RAQ's second release Carbohydrates: "Beauregard," "The Hunter Becomes The Hunted" and "The Anthem Of Beauregard". All three parts are performed together, and seamlessly, when...
   
   
4. Georgia
5. Brother from Another Mother
6. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
7. Circumstance
8. Carbohydrates Are The Enemy
9. Sweet Cream Butter
10. Hannah Can
11. Barometric Whether
12. The Anthem of Beauregard

Ton These

Released: 2006

RAQ's third album. Recorded at Phish

Phish

Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...

 guitarist Trey Anastasio

Trey Anastasio

Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...

's renowned recording studio The Barn

The Barn

The Barn is a recording studio on the property of Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, located in the Green Mountains near .The door of the outhouse on the south side of the barn serves as the cover of Phish's Farmhouse album....

, in Vermont.

Artists

• Todd Stoops: Keyboards/Vocals
• Chris Michetti: Guitar/Vocals
• Greg Stukey: Drums
• Jay Burwick: Bass/Vocals

Track listing

1. Walking in Circles
2. Forget Me Not
3. Tumbling Down
4. Glimpse
5. Lush of Lush
6. Bootch Magoo
7. Will Run
8. City Funk
9. One of These Days
10. Said & Done
11. The Whistler
12. Botz

External links

• Visit the official RAQ website.
• Visit the on-line fansite Hyperfunkalicious.net.
• Live concert recordings of RAQ are available for free download and stream from Internet Archive
• Home Grown Music: Ton These CD review
• Glide Magazine: March 2005 feature
• Glide Magazine: February 2004 feature
• RAQ Album Review on Jambase: Jambase