(TUCKERTON, NJ) -- The Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Kinderhook on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 7:30pm. Formerly known as Kinderhook Creek, this renowned NJ country rock ensemble earned a strong following via years of performing throughout its home state and the Northeast. The band reunited about seven years ago and is still going strong.
When violinist Gary Oleyar arrived at a recent Kinderhook rehearsal, he handed some bandmates a rehearsal disk with the isolated background vocals for “Unfriended”, the last tune completed for the new Kinderhook album. Bassist Andy Fediw, drummer Craig Barry, and guitarist Jack Kurlansik each got one. Guitarist Jerry Kopychuk, writer of the tune, would be handling the lead vocals so he wouldn’t need the backup rehearsal disc. “You don’t get one either, “ Gary told steel guitarist Jimmy Ryan. “You’ll be doing the heavy lifting on the musical backups,” he quipped.
“Unfriended” is a humorous tongue in cheek look at the perils of social media. Not the usual subject matter for a band whose members are, quite frankly, Baby Boomers. While their peers make up a bulk of their audience, at recent club gig Jerry noticed about a quarter of the crowd was 20-somethings. “They came up to us to say how much they enjoyed the band…it was really validating!” The rest of songs are more familiar in feel and style to what Kinderhook fans might remember. Fediw’s “It’s Not the Same” evokes a classic C&W Bakersfield vibe, while Kopychuk’s “Love Takes a Part of You” has an LA country rock flavor and is a long time live fan favorite. The band has not abandoned it’s Americana and Country Rock roots.
Like many popular bands of the era, a major recording contract eluded Kinderhook. Even after live performances at the Schaefer Music Festival in New York and several appearances at The Capitol Theater in Passaic NJ. Opening for Poco in 1975, Kinderhook remains the only unsigned band to play the prestigious concert series located at the Wollman Rink in New York’s Central Park. Introducing Kinderhook to one sellout crowd at the Capitol, concert promoter and Grateful Dead tour manager John Scher remarked the band was “as of yet unsigned,” but it likely wouldn’t stay that way for long.
But the local and national music scene was changing, and a band that was used to packing local and regional venues such as The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, The Beach House in Pt. Pleasant and The Other End in NYC, found many venues that showcased original live music were closing. The radical change in the music scene led the original band to disband in 1982. All the original Kinderhook members briefly reunited to play an outdoor charity event in 1999, and once again reformed for good after performing with The New Riders of the Purple Sage in 2010. The present lineup has been performing together since 2014, and includes founding members Jerry Kopychuk, Andy Fediw and Craig Barry.
Originally founded as Kinderhook Creek in 1973 at Rutgers College where Jerry and Andy attended school, the pair met Stan Taylor, who would become the group’s pedal steel guitarist. Stan left the group eventually to pursue other interests, but is still active as a songwriter and contributed the song “Good Guys Wear Black” to the new 2018 album. Drummer Craig Barry was recruited after Stan Taylor’s father heard him in the audience singing harmony along with the band. A Rutgers friend and musician from the earliest days, Jack Kurlansik, became the group’s lead guitarist in 2014. Most of the band members cite The Beatles, The Byrds and Poco as the influence for a strong vocal and harmony based band.
Tickets are $35.00 in advance and $40.00 at the show. Tickets are available for purchase online. Lizzie Rose Music Room is located at 217 East Main Street in Tuckerton, New Jersey. Free parking is available.
Today, the bands line up sounds better than ever. Kinderhook officially released their debut CD at a sold out show at McLoones in Asbury Park, NJ. The album, produced by Fediw and Oleyar, has gotten an overwhelmingly positive response. This has all led to a renewed interest by local radio stations and music venues. Many of their fans were on hand when they recently opened for the Commander Cody Band. The Commander (old friend George Frayne) even had Kinderhook steeler Jimmy Ryan sit in on his set. Violinist Gary Oleyar spends a good part of his time performing with Poco co-founder Jim Messina. Kinderhook hasn’t forgotten their roots, and besides a host of new and favorite originals, the band performs unique covers of tunes by artists such as Gram Parsons, Moby Grape, Chuck Berry, The Dead and the Louvin Brothers. And although it took thirty-five years to get their first album released, they are already planning their follow-up. They promise the next album will not take as long as the first…
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.
