Nuttin' But Stringz, also known as N.B.S., consisted of the duo Tourie and

Damien Escobar Damien Escobar (born 1986), also known as Dame Esco, is an American violinist. He was previously in the duo Nuttin' But Stringz with his brother Tourie, but has been a solo artist since 2012. His "crossover violin" musical style consists of a mi ...

who both play

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

. The musicians from Jamaica, Queens played a blend of classical music, hip-hop,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and R&B.

Biography

Nuttin But Stringz began studying violin at ages 8 and 7, respectively, and eventually studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

. In 2005, the duo entered and won a talent competition at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

in New York. Their victory on ''

Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987 to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harvey ...

'' led to media attention and appearances on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

'', ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'' with

Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...

, and ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'' with Jay Leno. Around the same time the duo showcased their talents at Carnegie Hall and performed for President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 180 ...

. On January 8, 2006, Nuttin But Stringz performed their Hit song ''Thunder'' at the debut of the redesigned

Cadillac CTS The Cadillac CTS is an executive car that was manufactured and marketed by General Motors from 2003 until 2019 across three generations. Historically, it was priced similarly to cars on the compact luxury spectrum; but it has always been sized ...

at the North American International Auto Show in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. Nuttin' But Stringz performed after a classical string quartet. General Motors executives used the two performances as an analogy, to demonstrate that what used to be good enough (the quartet) needs to be reinvigorated (N.B.S). A video for "Thunder" is also featured on the website for ''

Jack's Big Music Show ''Jack's Big Music Show'' is an American musical children's television series produced for the Noggin channel. It was created and executive produced by David Rudman, Todd Hannert, and Adam Rudman through their company Spiffy Pictures. The main ...

'' on

Noggin Noggin may refer to: General * Noggin or gill (volume), a unit of volume * Noggin (cup), a small cup * Noggin, slang for head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, an ...

(Now Called Nick Jr.) The exposure continued when they were featured in the first of five commercials featuring local artists on New York's local news channel,

NY1 NY1 (also officially known as Spectrum News NY1 and spoken as New York One) is an American cable news television channel founded by Time Warner Cable, which itself is owned by Charter Communications through its acquisition in May 2016. The channe ...

. NBS gained national attention when their unique brand of music secured the Duo a part in the 2006 dance movie '' Step Up'', and shortly after

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

featured "Thunder" during the 2007 NCAA Tournament. "Thunder" was also featured in the 1st episode of the television series

The Black Donnellys ''The Black Donnellys'' is an American drama television series that debuted on NBC on February 26, 2007, and last aired on May 14, 2007. Thereafter, NBC began releasing new episodes weekly on NBC.com until the series was canceled. ''The Black D ...

, and was used in various television commercials. In spring 2009, NBS announced via the group's

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...

that a new album was in the works and was followed later in that year by a hugely successful tour. Their music has sold platinum. They debuted their song "Winner" on "The Debrief with

David Ushery David Ushery (born June 5, 1967) is an African-American television news anchor at WNBC News 4 New York, NBC’s flagship owned and operated station. An integral member of the NBC 4 New York News team, Ushery has covered many of the largest and m ...

" on New York Nonstop on July 23, 2010.

Collaborations

Nuttin' But Stringz collaborated with various artists including: Al Jarreau,Hadi abbas, Akon, Aretha Franklin, Brian McKnight, Chaka Khan, Charlie Daniels, Charlie Wilson, Drake, Gladys Knight, Gucci Mane, Isley Brothers, Jay Sean, John Legend, Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, Mary J Blige, Mario, Maroon 5, Miley Cyrus, Patti LaBelle, Pretty Ricky, Rascal Flatts, Stevie Wonder, The Manhattans, The Temptations, Trey Songz (on ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'') and Yolanda Adams

Print

Nuttin' But Stringz have been featured in ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

'', '' Jet'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...

'', '' The Daily News'', ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' , "AMPS Magazine" and the '' LA Times''.

Corporate performances

Nuttin' But Stringz scored and appeared in a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

commercial for the Launch of their fruit smoothies. They performed their song "Winner" for

The Boeing Company The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

at the introduction ceremony of their new airplane, the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. In 2011 they performed at an event for

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Sc ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

''America's Got Talent''

Overview

Nuttin But Stringz big break came when they auditioned for the third season of NBC's '' America's Got Talent'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and received a unanimous yes from all three judges thus advancing to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. They were subsequently named to the Top 40, advancing to Hollywood. They made it through subsequent rounds and were one of the five acts to make it to the finals. The duo ultimately placed third behind the winner Neal E. Boyd and runner-up Eli Mattson. Nuttin But Stringz music was featured during a montage at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Performances/Results

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

*'' Step Up''

References

External links

Nuttin' But Stringz
at

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

{{authority control America's Got Talent contestants American musical duos Musical groups from Queens, New York Musical groups established in 2004 American violinists American male violinists American hip hop groups Hip hop violinists Juilliard School alumni African-American musical groups