(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Rock/Americana singer-songwriter-guitarist James Mastro (Bongos, Ian Hunter) will exhibit many of his photos he took over the past three years while on tour throughout the United States, the UK and Greece opening for artists including Alejandro Escovedo and Marshall Crenshaw as he supported his acclaimed debut solo album, Dawn of a New Error. The exhibit, entitled "The Passenger", will run from October 12-November 23, 2025 at the 503 Social Club in Hoboken.
The unique, beautiful and often bizarre shots do not center on musical performances; Instead, Mastro's work invites one to join an insiders' club to see overlooked and offbeat nooks of cities and scenery with the hardened locals.
As a photographer, James Mastro brings the same sense of wonder and adventure that resonates in his music: A peeling away of layers, a focus on something in the corner of your eye, finding beauty in a rusted factory as easily as a flowering cactus.
"Many of my photos are taken from a backseat while moving at 70 miles per hour," says Mastro. "It's a combination of quick reflexes and luck when something catches my eye."
An opening reception will take place on Sunday, October 12th from 2:00pm-6:00pm. It is free and open to the public. The gallery is located at 503 3rd Street in Hoboken, New Jersey.
While touring, Mastro had always kept journals over the years, but lately he uses photography to remember the day. Mastro explains: "I get a song lyric or idea out of many of the images I capture. They put me back in a scene, and then the imagination just adds more color."
Dawn of a New Error marks the return of James Mastro to the front and center as singer and songwriter. Featuring guest vocals by Ian Hunter and produced by Tony Shanahan – best known as Patti Smith’s bassist, co-producer and musical collaborator – the songs were recorded whenever Mastro and Shanahan found time to get together, between Shanahan's work with Smith and Mastro's work with Hunter and other projects. Noteworthy drummers on the record include Brian Griffin (Brandi Carlile, Black Crowes) and Steve Goulding (The Mekons, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe). The album was recorded and mixed by Grammy® nominee James Frazee (Patti Smith, Sharon Van Etten, Marshall Crenshaw), and mastered by the legendary Greg Calbi.
James Mastro has been a highly-regarded songwriter and guitarist since his teen years in CBGB stalwarts The Richard Lloyd Group, playing guitar on the Elektra Records release Alchemy. Mastro is a founder (along with singer Richard Barone) of The Bongos, a radio and MTV staple who released three lauded records – Nuts & Bolts (JEM), Numbers With Wings (RCA/re-released October, 2023), and Beat Hotel (RCA).
In 1992 he moved to center stage as frontman for Americana fave The Health & Happiness Show, releasing three critically acclaimed albums: Tonic, Instant Living (Bar-None), and Sad and Sexy (Cropduster). The band spent the next 10 years touring incessantly, opening for Wilco, Johnny Cash, Golden Smog, Barenaked Ladies, Beat Farmers, The Blasters, Kirsty MacColl, and served as the backing band for Texas troubadour Butch Hancock.
In 2001 he joined ranks with Mott the Hoople's legendary singer Ian Hunter and has served as his left-hand man ever since, touring and playing on Hunter's last six albums: Rant, Shrunken Heads, Man Overboard, Live in the UK, When I'm President, and Defiance Pt. 1. In between his recording work with Hunter, he toured as a guitarist with Mott the Hoops '74, Patti Smith, John Cale, Alejandro Escovedo, Garland Jeffreys, The Jayhawks, and Southside Johnny.
His studio and session work is extensive, and includes playing guitar on the late, great Phoebe Snow's Natural Wonder and Marti Jones's Match Game. Production credits include Steve Wynn's "The Devil's Not That Kind," Jill Sobule's "Just A Little Lovin'," Amy Speace's Songs for Bright Street and The Killer In Me, and Tiny Lights' The Smaller the Grape, the Sweeter the Wine.
