Even in their hometown, where I lived for 6 years, they somehow remained basically invisible to the Suzie Creamcheese hoi polloi, and they've never cared a whit about their status as "artists" or even the value/non-value of what they did; they just did it. Yet at the same time they somehow became an institution and a legend, playing open concerts/rehearsals every Monday night since 1966(!), spearheading incomparable music(?) events (the No Music Festival), appearing at international music festivals & top clubs like the Knitting Factory, touring Japan, and playing with rather more well-known folk like Sonic Youth, Ken Vandermark, etc. They are possibly the only really interesting, special thing about an otherwise generic, whitebread town. I haven't seen Hugh & the NSB for a few years now, but their music(?) will always be special to me.
You can read the obit & some minimal info about the NSB at http://www3.sympatico.ca/pratten/NSB/
