No one seems to know how to spell "rhythm" these days. Certainly not club and bar owners who have been known to muddle it up so badly that it ends up being "rhythumb" on billboards and signs.

Even reporters who have degrees in English misspell the word.

But misspelling the word is okay - even when it is part of a band's name. Well, sort of, says The Fabulous Rhythm Kids drummer Scott Page.

"If I had a dollar for every time someone misspelled our name, I'd be rich," he says.

Page has gotten onto the topic after catching me misspell rhythm in my notebook. I'd gotten as far as rhythy- before he laughs and tells me I've made a mistake. I quickly apologize, scratch out what I've written and try again - this time getting as far as ry- before he corrects me.

I've met the Fort Wayne-based band, which includes Zych, guitarist and vocals, Money on lead vocals and guitar, Page and bassist Mark Stein, at a local coffee shop to talk music.

By the time they've corrected my spelling, they've told me the story of The Fabulous Rhythm Kids.

It's a story that begins with the popular, but now defunct rock band, Not My Kids.

Zych, guitarist for Not My Kids, and drummer Page dissolved the band after 16 years.

"I got tired of coming home from shows with my ears bleeding," Zych says of Not My kids.

Zych's friend and bassist Mark Stein, however, convinced him to form a new band.

"Stein convinced me there was a market for R&B and soul," he says.

Stein and Zych recruited Page and, after a series of tryouts with prospective singers, found G Money.

'The very first rehearsal was like magic - it all just fit," Zych recalls.

"We became instant friends," Money adds. "A lot of bands, once you get them away from the stage, they can't stand each other. We aren't that way."

"We each understand our roles in the band," Zych says. "Each of us has a chance to show off our skills."

Take Page, he says.

"He understands his role and makes us feel comfortable with what we're doing," Zych says.

"He doesn't walk all over us like a lot of drummers," adds Money.

After that first magical rehearsal, the band members decided they would start playing gigs together. Needing a name, they landed on a resurrection of sorts.

Money explains the name is "a combination of the Not My Kids name rising from the ashes."

He adds that the band, since two members played in Not My Kids, is using the name to pay a tribute to the rock outfit.

He notes, however, that "The Fabulous Rhythm Kids does its own thing."

For starters, the Kids play their own brand of blues, soul, classic rock, 70s dance and funk music.

"We mix it all up," says Money. "We shake it up and throw it out there."

"We play everything from Stevie Wonder to Stevie Ray Vaughn," adds Zych.

Although they play only cover tunes, the band likes to put its own spin on songs like Wonder's "Signed, Sealed and Delivered."

Money explains the band rearranged the song and added its own flavor to it.

"We always stay true to the original artist's intent," he adds.

"A lot of bands make instruments the priority," says Zych. "We try to make vocals a priority, too."

My conversation with the band leaves me with a feeling they are both serious and dedicated to their music and fans.

"We all have a genuine love of music," Page says. "Each one of us has such an immense love of music that the joy we have in it comes across to our fans."

"There's no Milli Vanilli going on," Money says. "What you hear comes from our hearts and souls."

"We work really hard to constantly improve our music and raise the bar," Zych says. "To stay in a mediocre vein would be a sin."

Perhaps that dedication and love of music keep fans staying, for the most part, for the band's entire set.

"People come out and usually stay at our shows," Money says.

The Kids play a regular gig at the Gin Mill in Fort Wayne. They also play at the Side Pocket, The Latch String, several Eagles and American Legion posts in the area and Auburn's Meteor.

Aside from entertaining fans through its gigs, the band believes its shows promote live music in the area.