Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/27/22

by Danny Coleman - published 2022-01-27
“The hours and the money,” jokes Pennington, NJ resident and funny lady Anita Wise as she explained why she got into comedy; “It’s fun, it’s very fun, it’s really fun. Nobody who knew me growing up expected this to happen.”

Our Favorite Stories In Music: Makin Waves with The Smithereens: 'Nothing More Precious than Friendship and Family'

New Jersey Stage published its 25,000th story in December 2021. As the site approached the milestone, we posed the question on social media as how we should celebrate.  One response was to highlight our favorite stories from over the years.  We liked this idea, but could not narrow things down to just 25 favorites so we will present a favorite each day from different genres. Every Monday we feature one of our favorite stories in music. This week's choice is Bob Makin's deep dive interview with The Smithereens in 2019.

Makin Waves Song of the Week: “We Won’t Lose It Now” by Renee Maskin

by Bob Makin - published 2022-01-21
Renee Maskin, a Makin Waves Female Artist of the Year winner, has dropped her debut solo LP, “Swimming,” on Mint 400 Records. The single, “We Won’t Lose It Now,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week. 

Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/20/22

by Danny Coleman - published 2022-01-20
“The pandemic,” explained vocalist/entertainer and now author Gloria Carpenter as to how and why her new book “Power Up Your Dreams: Moving From Self-Defeat to Self-Belief”  came to be. “I had a chance to slow down and sit with my thoughts. I’m usually going and going as I’m sure you know for yourself; we are just constantly doing and with the pandemic everything just stopped and here we had all of this time. I’m in a really great spot in my life right now; I have a really supportive, wonderful, giving, loving husband who is my rock and things are going really well in my singing career and writing the book was just another aspect of joy for me and having joy in my life is huge and that was another way other than music of expressing myself and as serious as things are and were with this COVID crisis, I just made the best of it. That is what we have to do in life; accept the “What is” and work around it.” 

Our Favorite Stories In Music - Dr. Demento Covered In Punk

New Jersey Stage published its 25,000th story in December 2021. As the site approached the milestone, we posed the question on social media as how we should celebrate.  One response was to highlight our favorite stories from over the years.  We liked this idea, but could not narrow things down to just 25 favorites so we will present a favorite each day from different genres.  Every Monday we feature one of our favorite stories in music. This week's choice is Dr. Demento Covered In Punk, a look at a special compilation album with artists covering memorable songs from the legendary radio program.

Makin Waves Song of the Week: Whirling Dervishes “Tattooed Republican"

by Bob Makin - published 2022-01-14
Two-time Makin Waves Band of the Year Whirling Dervishes are back with a Makin Waves Song of the Week, the politically satirical “Tattooed Republican” from their new LP, “From Obscurity to Oblivion.”

Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/13/22

by Danny Coleman - published 2022-01-13
“You know right where you are when you get here, the big black ominous awning outside, the sign is a sharp centerpiece for the room right when you walk in; it has character which I think is very important for a shop like this. I’ve worked in other shops over the years where it needed something like that; it’s a music shop, it’s about the arts and It needs something like this,” stated Charles Laurita confidently as he discussed his soon to be open Mischief Studios in Pennington, NJ. “This definitely is the widening of The Mischief brand in an interesting way.”

Our Favorite Stories In Music - Brian Fallon: The Jersey Interview

New Jersey Stage published its 25,000th story in December 2021. As the site approached the milestone, we posed the question on social media as how we should celebrate. One response was to highlight our favorite stories from over the years. We liked this idea, but could not narrow things down to just 25 favorites so we will present a favorite each day from different genres. Every Monday will feature a story about music. We're starting off with New Jersey Stage's first interview of Brian Fallon who had just released his first solo album following many years as lead singer of The Gaslight Anthem.

Makin Waves Song of the Week: “You’re So Vain” by Taylor Simon King

by Bob Makin - published 2022-01-07
Taylor Simon King’s cover of Carly Simon’s Grammy Hall of Fame song “You’re So Vain” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week. See them play it live Jan. 21 at URSB Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center.