\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div> \t\t\t\t\tAbe Vigoda on drumhead<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Buckner<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tO\u2019Brien is probably still best known for his decades as a talk-show host, but it was the podcast that launched the band, he says, when he had singer Norah Jones on in May 2023. \u201cI\u2019ve known Norah over the years, and she always remembered me having a guitar whenever she would come do the late-night show,\u201d O\u2019Brien says. \u201cShe said, \u2018How\u2019s the guitar going?\u2019 And I said, \u2018You know, it\u2019s kind of sad because I don\u2019t really have anyone to play with, and I need someone to kind of kick my ass and help my game.\u2019 She said, \u2018I know a guy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe guy was guitarist Jason Roberts, who\u2019d played in Jones\u2019 band for more than a decade. He started giving O\u2019Brien lessons, and they would nerd out about their shared love of the Beatles. \u201cWe text about the Beatles a lot<\/em>,\u201d Roberts says later. \u201cWe just both love the Beatles so much.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAbout six months ago, O\u2019Brien asked Roberts if he\u2019d be down to take their lessons to the next level. \u201cHe was just like, \u2018Can you help me put a band together?\u2019\u201d Roberts remembers. \u201cAnd I said, \u201cI know the exact guys for this.\u201d O\u2019Brien tells the same story. \u201cA week later, we\u2019re in Hollywood, and we\u2019re playing,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m just floating, so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThey named themselves after the late actor Abe Vigoda \u2014 another towering figure with an expressive face, best known for his roles in The Godfather<\/em> and Barney Miller<\/em>. \u201cAbe was a fixture on my old late show, he did hundreds of bits for us, and he was a sweet and hilarious man. I always knew his iconic mug was the face of our band,\u201d says O\u2019Brien. He had never played in a band as a teenager, but always wanted to. \u201cFor years and years and years, you could argue that the only reason I wanted a late-night show was so I could have a band,\u201d he says. Back when he was working with the Max Weinberg 7, and later Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, he would join them to jam every time they had rehearsal. \u201cI\u2019d put on a guitar and I would play with them and sing songs,\u201d he says. \u201cWe had a good repertoire. And then when I went through my Tonight Show<\/em> madness\u201d\u00a0\u2014 referring to the six months he spent behind the desk of the NBC institution from 2009 to 2010 \u2014 \u201cwe went out on the road and we did a comedy show, but also it had a lot of music in it too, and that was my happy place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tConan O\u2019Brien and Gaby Moreno perform during the Vigodas show at Teragram Ballroom on Nov. 6, 2026 in Los Angeles.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Buckner<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tO\u2019Brien seems comfortable as a cover man, satisfied to reinterpret the music he loves \u2014 often by speeding them up. A few years ago, he ran into Beverly D\u2019Angelo at a party, and she commented to him at just how fast his version of \u201c40 Days\u201d was when she heard it on tour. Earlier this year, when the Rolling Stones asked him to introduce them and their new album at a concert in Brooklyn, he ran into Keith Richards backstage. \u201cKeith said to me, he said, \u2018I heard your \u2018Monkey Business,\u2019\u201d O\u2019Brien says, referring to the Chuck Berry cover he recorded with Jack White for 2010\u2019s Live at Third Man.<\/em> O\u2019Brien was surprised he knew who he was, much less had heard his 16-year-old record. \u201cYou\u2019re kidding,\u201d he replied. \u201c[Keith] went, \u2018You sound like a fucking auctioneer.\u2019\u201d O\u2019Brien laughs. \u201cHe\u2019s not wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPart of the joy of the band is the excuse to tour different venues in Los Angeles. Their first show was at Permanent Records Roadhouse, a tiny club in East L.A. where they played as a surprise guest after Fred Armison\u2019s regularly scheduled set. Since then, they\u2019ve had a tour of Los Angeles\u2019 finest small stages, from the Troubadour to the Lodge Room to the Moroccan Lounge. \u201cI\u2019m a connoisseur of kooky backstages,\u201d he says, remembering a time he hung out with his friend and idol Bob Newhart backstage at the Chicago Theatre. \u201cI had a goofy dressing room, and Bob Newhart said, \u2018Conan, no matter what you achieve in show business, whenever you get to the theater and they show you your dressing room, there\u2019s always a piece of dead brown lettuce on the floor. That\u2019s just the way it is.\u201d He smiles at the thought. \u201cIt\u2019s very humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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