Makin Waves Song of the Week: "Cassville Lights" by Jackson Pines

By Bob Makin

originally published: 12/05/2025

The Makin Waves Song of the Week is “Cassville Lights,” the latest single from Jackson Pines’ forthcoming album, “Wheel.” PHOTO BY KATIE ELASMAR

"Cassville Lights" is Jackson Pines' third single in 2025, and the closing track from their upcoming album “Wheel.”

It’s also the Makin Waves Song of the Week.

As the Makin Waves Song of the Week, “Cassville Lights” can be heard between 6 and 8 p.m. on Dec. 5 on “Radio Jersey” at ThePenguinRocks.com. If you miss it, you can tune in any time in the archives at The Penguin, Mixcloud and RadioJersey.net.

After a few years spent deep in the folklore of their Pine Barrens home, Jackson Pines return with one of their strongest original songs to date.

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Written in Montreal on Jackson Pines’ 2024 tour, this full-band recording features bassist James Black on lead guitar for the first time.

On behalf of James, drummer Cranston Dean, fiddler James Herdman, and multi-instrumentalist Max Carmichael, singer-songwriter-guitarist Joe Makoviecki said, “Cranston said it sounded like Wilco, and Herdman said, ‘Knockin' on Heaven's Door’ when we taught it to him. So, as much as we blushed and laughed, that's not the worst thing we could’ve heard.”

The song shares snippets of conversations the boys heard on the road, perspectives gained when really far away from home, and fond memories of places with parents, places that were demolished.

These combine to form a feeling that it's the people, the beautiful characters we know, and love, and not the hall and walls, that make memories what they were and will be.

“A lot of things have been bulldozed or bought and sold over the last few years, in Jackson and Asbury Park alike,” Joe said. “Things change, and that doesn't really bother me in general. But when good places where people used to meet up disappear, it sucks. Because we lose pieces of ourselves, and time spent together ends up spent alone looking at the screen.

“But we noticed it's not solely the places, but the people who make a special one-of-a-kind place what it is or was,” he continued. “The walls and halls are necessary, but are secondary to the lives and characters that make them jump. This song is for all those people and places, especially the ones that are gone now: The Saint, Chubby's, The Laketon, The Cassville Tavern ... fill in your own blank accordingly. So we played it live and just had a lot of fun making it. We all grew up in garage bands playing pop-punk and indie music so there's a lot of that in there in memory of the hundreds of bands we grew up with in Central Jersey as kids who loved music.

“It's funny, we set out to make a record of a simple acoustic song, like ‘Purgatory Road,’” Joe concluded. “But as we took our time and let the songs grow over the last two years and become who they really are, half of them demanded more. And this song is the strongest example of that. We started with just acoustic and stand-up, and it ends with James and I trading lines on electric guitars."

That’s just like in the garages and houses where they started years ago.

Working on the 11-song “Wheel” album slowly since 2023, while recording three volumes of historic Pine Barrens music, Jackson Pines expect to release the LP by February on the Hudson Valley, NY-based label Only One On The Mountain (Sonder House). The band soon will announce a big show expected to coincide with the album’s release.

"Cassville Lights" marks the LP’s sixth single. The others are the title track and “Hammer” in 2023, "Control Burn" last and also "Combust” and Evergreen” this year.

“Pine Barrens Vol. 3” will follow “Wheel” in the spring.

In the meantime, enjoy “Cassville Lights” on Spotify and Apple Music.

Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. Follow Makin Waves on Facebook and Instagram and contact Bob at [email protected].

About the author:

New Jersey Stage is proud to be the home of Bob Makin's Makin Waves column since 2017. His Song of the Week column comes out every Friday. He also writes an Album of the Month and Interview of the Month as well.

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