New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

Ferocious Designs Releases Debut Single

originally published: 06/18/2021


Ferocious Designs, the music project of central New Jersey-based songwriter Brian Kelley, has released “Lay It on the Line” from the upcoming debut EP, A Matter of Time, to coincide with Bandcamp’s Juneteenth fundraising event. The track is available for download at ferociousdesigns.bandcamp.com

A Matter of Time, a five-track collection of material Kelley has recorded over the past few years, is slated for release on Friday, July 16. 

“Lay It on the Line” started out as a collaboration with Kelley’s former Technology and the Arts podcast co-host John LeMasney. “During the final season of the podcast in 2015, John and I were going to collaborate on a song so viewers and listeners could follow along,” said Kelley. “The original idea for the song came from that project, but it was really just a chorus that I wrote and a verse that I built around a guitar part John contributed.” 

The initial lyrics were inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of Ferguson in 2014. An incomplete, instrumental demo of an early version of the song was recorded in 2015, but the podcast and the collaboration came to a premature conclusion so the song was shelved.

The combination of the pandemic and the wider BLM protests around the world in 2020 after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others resulted in Kelley revisiting and completing the song.

“As a white male, I was horrified by the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 — as well as the response by police during the subsequent protests,” said Kelley. “I was watching the livestreams and seeing these militarized police advancing on protesters and arresting journalists. Yet, when I went through my Facebook news feed, none of my friends were even talking about it, let alone disgusted by it all.

“I started sharing links to the livestreams and the stories about what was going on,” added Kelley. “But most of the people who reacted didn't seem to care, so the lyrics are essentially a call to action to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement and to call out racial injustice.”




Reach New Jersey's largest arts & entertainment audience, click here for info on how to advertise at NJ Stage



The track is available for download just in time for Bandcamp’s Juneteenth fundraiser when, for 24 hours on June 18 (from midnight to midnight Pacific Time), the Internet music company will donate 100% of its share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a racial justice organization with a long history of effectively enacting change through litigation, advocacy and public education.

Ferocious Designs is the music project of songwriter Brian Kelley of Hamilton Township (Mercer County), N.J. Although he has spent most of the past 30-plus years as a songwriting hobbyist, Kelley is not a complete stranger to the New Jersey music scene. He is a longtime collaborator with singer-songwriter Christian Beach, spending time with him during the late 1980s and early 90s in a band that played the much-loved and long-gone Green Parrot Rock Club in Neptune, NJ, multiple times. Kelley has played keyboards, accordion and percussion in Beach's backing band since 2007, and has recorded with him as well. The project name is borrowed from the lyrics of “Cover My Eyes (Pain and Heaven)” by Marillion. The debut, five-song EP from Ferocious Designs, A Matter of Time, is scheduled for release on July 16, 2021. 




Reach New Jersey's largest arts & entertainment audience, click here for info on how to advertise at NJ Stage




FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Blues

Blues People with Special Guest: Jeff Levine

Saturday, July 05, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
217 E. Main Street, Tuckerton, NJ 08087
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

Straight

Straight No Chaser - Summer: The 90’s Part 2

Tuesday, July 08, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, NJ 07631
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

Frisson

Frisson Winds

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
The Morris Museum Back Deck
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

Three

Three American Troubadours: A Tribute to James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Carole King

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Axelrod Performing Arts Center
100 Grant Avenue, Deal Park, NJ 07723
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

Candlelight

Candlelight Concert: Tribute to Queen and The Beatles

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Monmouth University - Pollak Theatre
400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764
category: music

Click here for full event listing

 

More events

Event Listings are available for $10 and included with our banner ad packages




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Jazz

Jazz Concert at Trenton City Museum will Feature the Joe Baione Vibraphone Experience

(TRENTON, NJ) -- Trenton City Museum will present a free jazz concert Friday, July 18, 2025 at the museum's Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park. Featuring world-renowned vibraphonist Joe Baione, the Joe Baione Vibraphone Experience is the first group to perform in a series of jazz events leading up to the museum's 2026 TRENTON MAKES JAZZ exhibition, in collaboration with the City of Trenton.



The

The Newton Theatre presents Tonight's the Night - a tribute to Rod Stewart

(NEWTON, NJ) -- Tonight's the Night - a tribute band that celebrates the music of Rod Stewart - will perform at The Newton Theatre on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 8:00pm.



Hoboken's

Hoboken's Sinatra Park to Host Concert by Freedy Johnson and Karyn Kuhl and the Gang

(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Local events organizer, Geri Fallo, who retired last year, is inviting you to celebrate with her, as she embraces new and exciting endeavors. Come enjoy a free evening of music in Hoboken's Sinatra Park (525 Sinatra Drive) on Thursday, July 17, 2025. The evening is presented by Mayor Ravi Bhalla, The Hoboken Division of Cultural Affairs, and Geri Fallo. The event is free, and music starts at 6:30pm. Come early for the best seating.



An

An Interview with Dan Kurtz of The New Deal

Formed in 1999, Toronto, Canada based trio The New Deal, is a pioneer in jam-based electronic music. The group was founded by remaining members Dan Kurtz (bass) and Jamie Shields (keys), along with Darren Shearer (drums) who left tND in 2011. Since its inception, tND has remained committed to its improvisational roots and has served as a model for other jamtronica bands bridging the gap between multiple music genres as well as the border between Canada and the United States.



Two

Two NJ Jazz Musicians Will Play with The Jazz Ambassadors in Morristown

Pianist Anthony Pocetti grew up in Hamilton, NJ, studying piano, "doing sort of traditional piano lessons. I have an uncle who was always encouraging me to get into the jazz thing. He gave me the (Miles Davis) Kind of Blue CD, and he knew that the jazz pianist Jim Ridl was living in Hamilton."