LOS ANGELES — It took 20 years, but the group Bruce Springsteen once praised as being almost as good as a lousy garage band is finally calling it quits.
The Rock Bottom Remainders, a contingent that has made it clear with every performance that literary giants like Amy Tan, Stephen King and Scott Turow made the right decision when they set aside their musical ambitions to write books, is calling it a career after two shows this month.
“We’ve gotten as good as we’re ever going to get,” said lead guitarist and best-selling humorist Dave Barry. “You can’t get any better. Well, you actually can get a lot better. But we can’t get any better. We’re up to almost four chords now, and the Beatles quit at that point, I’m pretty sure.”
They’ve decided to wrap things up in part because of the death last month of the group’s founder, book publicist and lead singer Kathi Goldmark.
The “Past Our Bedtime Tour” (because real musicians don’t get up early like writers do) will include a performance June 22 in Los Angeles, followed by a private show the next day for the American Library Association’s convention.
