Ask G-Money about his role as host of the All-Star Blues Jam, the weekly gathering of local and regional blues musicians and fans held each Monday night at Mid City Grill, the first thing out of his mouth is a gentle caveat - say what you will about G-Money’s All Star Blues Jam, just don’t slight his bandmates in the Fabulous Rhythm Kids.

In fact, his concern over the recognition, or lack of it, afforded the Fabulous Rhythm Kids by the local music press tends to pop up no matter what the topic. Fabulous Rhythm Kids bass player Mark Stein voiced the same concern to me recently at a gig.

The problem, as Stein and G-Money point out, has to do with Money getting nominated for and winning a Whammy for best R&B performer this year, while FRK got zilch. Without delving into the mechanics of the nominating process at whatzup headquarters, of which I have only the vaguest conception anyway, it would seem that G-Money got nominated for his work with the All-Stars Blues Jam. As I discovered, the Fabulous Rhythm Kids play from a song list based on R&B, but with a quirky dose of rock n’ roll thrown in and would certainly fit within the amoeba-like R&B order. But we could spend all day debating music taxonomy. What’s the point?

Right. What’s the point? The point is G-Money gets recognized, and FRK bandmates Stein, Dave Zych and Scott Byler don’t. On the other hand, G-Money’s recognition factor is one reason the band hired him in the first place.

Many musicians get the bug to play early on from their parents, either listening to records their parents had, music parties they had, or a combination of both. G-Money, whose given name is Gary Rabson, is no different. “I started at my mother’s house parties when I was about five singing James Brown,” he said. But it was the Isley Brothers’ 1973 hit “Who’s That Lady” that really inspired him. “That was the first song that really made me want to play guitar.”

He got what he wanted. G-Money has been in numerous local bands over the past decade or so. During the 1980s and 90s he played guitar with Neutral Zone, the G-Money Band and for a time a few years ago was lead singer for the Joey O Band. But it was around 1996 at Jimmy G’s Hot Spot on Fairfield and that G-Money’s star began to rise. For a town with a slew of talented blues musicians, Fort Wayne has been a notoriously hard sell when it comes to keeping quality blues clubs alive. In short order the Hot Spot became the gathering place for blues musicians. Owner Jim Gephart started bringing in big-name blues players from around the country. Local blue musicians organized a weekly blues jam hosted by Bill Lupkin. Blues players would show up on Monday nights and jam. G-Money was among them. Gephart said G-Money was around a lot.

“Gary started playing at the Hot Spot with the G-Money Band,” Gephart said. “That was a big band. With the blues jams, Gary came down and played a lot. He worked a lot with all those guys, trying to help them. He always worked very hard to improve himself.”

But what Gephart saw in G-Money as sincere effort and enthusiasm, others found off-putting. “Some people thought he was cocky, but I never met a good guitar player who wasn’t. I didn’t have a problem with it.”

Lupkin tired of hosting the jams, so Gephart looked to G-Money to take the reins. It was a good choice. “Gary and I had a good relationship,” Gephart said. “He worked hard, and he never failed me. I never had to worry about my stage when he was running it. I’ve always supported him. He’s improved himself and worked really hard. He tries his damnedest to put on a hell of a show. I’ll always support him any way I can.”

On any given Monday Mid City Grill sizzles with hot blues players. Seasoned professionals like Lee Lewis and Kenny Garr, who tour with Blind Pig Recording artist Harper when the Australian harmonica player hits the road in the U.S. each summer, and Indianapolis guitarist Governor Davis trade licks with amateurs and players who have the chops to go pro if the opportunity should arise. And G-Money runs it all. Sitting on a stool near the stage with a microphone in his hand, G-Money calls out names of players according to some design of sound he has in his head. Some players don’t get picked as soon as they think they should and get mad. Others bask in the brief spotlight.

Following his Whammy win, I talked with G-Money about hosting the jams. I told him the job looks tough. He said it is. “It’s a hard job because on any given night I have to please the musicians and I also have to keep the music interesting for the people who are there to listen and have a good time. It doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes I have to be the bad guy. I try to be gracious and polite, but someone will always feel that G-Money is a so and so. I’m really trying to handle it well. I still look forward to Monday nights.”

For Stein, Zych, and Byler, the attention G-Money gets could be a source of bad vibes, but it’s not. Stein said any ill-feeling stems not from G-Money, but from the press.

“We’re glad he won (the Whammy),” Stein told me during a break at a recent Fabulous Rhythm Kids gig. “Nobody’s jealous of it. whatzup‘s ignoring the band. That’s what we think.”

Stein, who said he learned to play the blues by going to Jimmy G’s Hot Spot, welcomes the attention G-Money brings to the band. “We’re not bugged at all by it. That’s what G was hired to do, to get us some attention, and for his guitar work. I think he’s afraid someone might get jealous, that he might get too much recognition. We’re not afraid of him overpowering us.”

They shouldn’t be. As a band, the Fabulous Rhythm Kids click. Their wide-ranging set lists (on nights I saw them play, songs ranged from Steely Dan’s “Josie,” to Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl,” to Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” - and any band that can pull off that song credibly, which the Fabulous Rhythm Kids do, is doing all right) don’t focus on any one player. They take turns singing lead, playing solos and taking supporting roles. G-Money may be G-Money at the blues jams, but with the Fabulous Rhythm Kids, he’s just one of four good players having a good time. And that’s how G-Money wants it.