(BRADLEY BEACH, NJ) -- WBJB's Songwriters on the Beach presents Nicole Atkins on Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 7:00pm. Cory Blair will open the night. The free outdoor concert takes place at the Newark Avenue Beach in Bradley Beach.
Nicole Atkins, who lives in Nashville, is returning back to the Jersey Shore where she grew up in support of her upcoming release, Drama, which comes out September 18th. This will be her seventh studio offering and first in five years. Produced by Pat Sansone (Wilco) in Nashville and written by Nicole, the retro rock chanteuse faces herself in the mirror with bold and intimate tracks exploring dreams, love, pain, and more.
Arriving on the legendary Sun Records, Drama sonically spans 60s jangle pop to delightful 90s grooves for an out-of-time instant classic feel on tracks like “When The Night Falls,” “Trippin’ On Teardrops,” “Singing In the Mirror,” and “Cue To Symphony,” which features Chris Isaak.
Nicole is known for her powerful vocals. Before leaving New Jersey, she was a regular winner of Asbury Music Awards for categories like Top Vocalist and Song of the Year.
Cory Blair is the solo musical project of Cory Seyler, a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Asbury Park, NJ. Her music moves between indie rock, Americana, synth-pop, and anthemic earworms — anchored by an intimate, unflinching lyrical voice.
Cory grew up in Asbury Park absorbing music from every direction. In 2017 she moved to Berlin, where the city’s diverse electronic music scene deepened her songwriting and sparked a desire to produce her own music. She took that momentum into a Dublin studio, recording with a full band and contributing vocals, lead guitar, Fender Rhodes, and piano throughout David Hedderman's debut LP Pulling at the Briars (2024), produced by Conor O'Brien of Villagers on Berlin-based Groenland Records. After six years in Berlin, Cory returned to New Jersey in 2023. She also has a new record coming out - Midheaven - which will be released on August 7th.
Midheaven, engineered by Erik Kase Romero (The Front Bottoms, Palmyra) and featuring tracks co-produced with Luke Temple (Art Feynman, Here We Go Magic) including a track mixed by nominated engineer Jorge Elbrecht. The record dwells in the spaces between moments of love and heartbreak, grief and homecoming. Lead single 'Other Side' distills that world into something precise — a track about distance, self-evolution, and impermanence.
WBJB 90.5 The Night has been presenting a summer concert series since 2005. Upcoming shows include July 23 with Mac Saturn and Mirror Mirror; July 30 with Endearments and The Tide Bends; August 6 with Snacktime and Ron Santee; August 13 with Jeffrey Gaines and Jill Hennessy; August 20 with Keith Roth and Bonny.
