New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

#43 Joe Whyte: When The Day Breaks


By Gary Wien

originally published: 01/28/2011


Born and raised in Matawan, Joe Whyte is proof that even Jersey boys can sing with an honest to goodness country twang.  Currently living in Rutherford, Joe is part of New York City’s Americana/Alt-Country scene.

His first original songs came while living in Dublin and playing in a band called Mad Frank.  The band started out playing covers, but slowly incorporated originals into their set.  Dublin’s thriving music scene helped inspire Joe to take the leap from covers to his own songs.  Joe not only immersed himself into the Irish scene, but continues to regularly tour Ireland with success.

Over the last 13 years, Joe has released eight albums.  Each has shown remarkable improvement in his songwriting to the point where his most recent release, When The Day Breaks, contains his best work to date.

He’s joined on the record by Catherine Popper (from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals) who provides bass and harmonies on a few tracks, and Dan Marcus who complements Joe with guitar, dobro, and mandolin.

Musically, the album is stripped down to its singer-songwriter skeleton, yet feels much bigger through slick instrument fills, solos,  and gorgeous harmonies.

The album contains tales of the road by truckers who can’t slow down, broken hearts and relationships, soldiers heading out to war, and even the Great Flood of 1927.

In a sign of the times, When The Day Breaks was offered solely as a digital download from JoeWhyte.com.  Due to people buying less and less CDs, the economics didn’t make sense to produce an actual disc.  Instead, Joe chose to make the album available as a free download, gambling that an increased fanbase would be worth more than any revenue generated from a physical copy.




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



Highlights include “Please Believe Me,” “This City Is Alive,” “It’s A Shame,  and “4th Of July.”


From the book Are You Listening? The Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists by Gary Wien


Gary Wien has been covering the arts since 2001 and has had work published with Jersey Arts, Upstage Magazine, Elmore Magazine, Princeton Magazine, Backstreets and other publications. He is a three-time winner of the Asbury Music Award for Top Music Journalist and the author of Beyond the Palace (the first book on the history of rock and roll in Asbury Park) and Are You Listening? The Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists. In addition, he runs New Jersey Stage and the online radio station The Penguin Rocks. He can be contacted at gary@newjerseystage.com.

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.


Indigenous

Indigenous

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
217 E. Main Street, Tuckerton, NJ 08087
category: music


 

Straight

Straight No Chaser - SUMMER: The 90's Part 2

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 @ 7:30pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: music


 

Bria

Bria Skonberg

Thursday, July 17, 2025 @ 7:30pm
The Morris Museum Back Deck
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music


 

KC

KC and the Sunshine Band

Thursday, July 17, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, NJ 07631
category: music


 

The

The Hit Men: The Ultimate Rock Concert

Thursday, July 17, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC)
100 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music


 



Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

71st

71st Annual Choir Festival: The Light of Life to Take Place on Saturday

(OCEAN GROVE, NJ) -- Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association joyfully presents the 71st Annual Choir Festival: The Light of Life on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 7:00pm. Set within the soaring arches of the historic Great Auditorium—an awe-inspiring 6,500-seat space revered as a sacred ground for worship and music—this beloved summer tradition gathers hundreds of singers for a night of profound praise.



MPAC

MPAC presents The Hit Men: The Ultimate Rock Concert on Thursday

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- Limited tickets remain for The Hit Men: The Ultimate Rock Concert at Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) on Thursday, July 17, 2025. Showtime is 7:30pm.



Lizzie

Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Jax Hollow on Saturday

(TUCKERTON, NJ) -- The Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Jax Hollow on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 7:30pm. In a city teeming with some of the world's most talented entertainers, Nashville's Jax Hollow has emerged as a rare triple threat—a nuanced and hard-hitting songwriter, a powerhouse vocalist, and a world-class guitarist. She's a true embodiment of the Music City Trifecta.



Human

Human Wheels (Mellencamp Tribute Band) to Perform at Drew University

(MADISON, NJ) -- Human Wheels, the premier John Mellencamp tribute band, will perform at the Concert Hall at Drew University on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 8:00pm.



Lyceum

Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts presents Aria Nouveau

(BURLINGTON, NJ) -- On Saturday, August 2, 2025, the City of Burlington, Mayor Barry Conaway, and Lyceum Hall Center for the Arts' co-artistic directors, Barbara Fisher and Patty Howard will welcome Aria Nouveau. This is a classical crossover performance featuring vocalists Laura Auer (soprano) and John Riesen (tenor). Showtime is 11:30am.