The legendary Ace Frehley launched a million guitar lessons and made his mark as one of the truly innovative and trailblazing axemen in music as an original member of KISS. The Space Ace has been cited by acts as diverse as Pearl Jam, Garth Brooks and the Melvins as an influence and his place in history is established as a player who affected everyone who came after him.
The New Jersey-based six-piece Kindred Souls is adding a special twist to the CD release party for their new EP, "Social Ninja," being held at The Saint (601 Main Street, Asbury Park, NJ) on Saturday, July 18th. The band has dedicated the release of the EP to the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. The FoodBank's 1,000 volunteers serve over 270 pantries, soup kitchens, and other feeding programs every year.
With her third full-length album, "Let the Waves Come in Threes," Dagmar has developed an elegance and style that is warm and accessible, yet uniquely her own. Not too many artists write music that fits into the underground club and the concert hall, or that is just as inspirational to the jazz performer as the gospel choir. The fact that her sound can be this diverse and draw from so many different places, but still be accessible and enjoyable by a wide spectrum of music fans is a testament to her talent and development as a performer.
The language of music is one which can travel across the vast boundaries of the world, taking on a new shape with each region it crosses. Musician James Dalton has taken this journey with his songs, cultivating his own musical identity at each stop.
Who dares to paint a musical picture with a non-traditional landscape in an era where safe, cliché sounds dominate the air waves? April Smith does. Smith's band, the Great Picture Show, travels across the century to help construct her songs, musing from traditional blues standards of yesterday, to the sharp, distorted guitars of today's rawer bands, like Radiohead. This versatility lets the Brooklyn, NY-based singer/songwriter express a wide range of emotions from joyous to melancholy, sometimes in the same four bars of music.
MIKE MONTREY was given a guitar when he was seventeen. By the time he was in his twenties he was on a nationwide tour! This amazing singer/songwriter/guitarist from Spotswood, NJ began honing his craft after his mother gave him his first guitar before he was ready to head off to college.
Since I am starting to do some booking for the Spring and Summer months, mostly for the solo gigs right now, I was looking back at old gig schedules to see which venues I should reach out to. I noticed that I was much busier and much bolder with the traveling and the shows back then.
A couple days ago, Jersey Shore transplant, singer/songwriter and music biz entrepreneur Andrea Setaro helped me get my feet moving again away from just the random jam session at four in the morning on Bleecker Street and refocused on productive gigging in this town.
What is it about Asbury Park, NJ? Is there something in the water? Well, whatever it is, I'm certainly not complaining. This because I've had the pleasure of interviewing some of the finest talent from the area, and Melissa Chill is no exception!
I recorded a demo this week. It went awesome! It's called "Love Can Change The World (Tonight)". I plan on recording the album version later this year and releasing "Coming Home (Dad Version)," "Love Can Change The World (Tonight)," "Rolling Stone," and "Coming Home (Mom Version)" as an EP on iTunes.
Taking his name from a Saturday Night Live character, ASTRONAUT JONES landed in the ROCK ON RADIO studios this past Sunday evening. This solo acoustic artist from Long Branch, NJ stopped by to discuss his soon-to-be-released CD, "Not An American Idol."
Hola to everybody in Internet land! Just wanted to give ya'll (yes, ya'll, I am from Georgia after all) an update on the V to the Z. Well, first off, I had my first interview with a country artist this past Monday. It was awesome!
Trenton, NJ-area singer/songwriter KELLY CARVIN was my most recent guest on ROCK ON RADIO. This relative newcomer to the Jersey music scene, with her rangy vocal style, has accomplished much in an incredibly short time period.
