photo by Nelson G. Onofre

(TUCKERTON, NJ) -- The Lizzie Rose Music Room will close out 2024 on Sunday, December 29th with the return of Popa Chubby - a musician who has been hard rocking the blues in his fierce and soulful way for more than 30 years. Doors are at 7:00pm, showtime is 8:00pm.

Over the course of a career that dates back to 1994, Popa Chubby, born Ted Horowitz, has been a force of to be reckoned with on the guitar, and his tempestuous, soulful playing has never been more powerful. An imposing figure with a shaven head, tattooed arms, a goatee and a performance style he describes as “the Stooges meets Buddy Guy, Motörhead meets Muddy Waters, and Jimi Hendrix meets Robert Johnson," Popa Chubby is an endearing character who is one of the genre’s most popular figures.

His career has always been about moving forward and carving a place for himself in the imposing terrain of the music business, overcoming odds to continue growing and maturing as a creative force. He has built a constantly increasing base of fans across the world, where in many territories he is a star. A native New Yorker, Horowitz's first gigs were in the NYC punk scene as a guitarist for what he reflects was a "crazy Japanese special effects performance artist in a kimono called Screaming Mad George who had a horror-movie inspired show."

Tickets are $53 and available for purchase online. The Lizzie Rose Music Room is located at 217 East Main Street in Tuckerton New Jersey. Free parking is available.

Right from the start he was immersed in rock ‘n’ roll as theater, and learned from George and others playing CBGB’s at the time that included the Ramones, the Cramps, Richard Hell, whose band, the Voidoids he joined that rock ‘n’ roll should be dangerous. He reflects, "Musicians like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols weren’t just bands. They were a threat to society."

The Blues however was the foundation of his playing style. He recalls, "Since I’d grown up on Hendrix, Cream and Led Zeppelin, when I started playing blues in New York clubs I understood that the blues should be dangerous, too. It wasn’t just from playing in punk bands. Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters were dangerous men. They’d cut or shoot you if they thought it was necessary, and Little Walter packed a gun and wouldn’t  hesitate to use it. That danger is a real part of the Blues and I keep it alive in my music.”

Popa Chubby is his own man for better or worse. He reflects, "I’m living in a wild time, and that is where the inspiration is drawn from. There are my issues, but the picture is much bigger than me and my situation. Everything is breaking down in the world. The lines are being redefined. We all need something.”

The Lizzie Rose Music Room is a "listening room", not a bar or restaurant.  They present a variety of music including blues, jazz, bluegrass, country, rock, soul, singer-songwriters, and more.