Photo: Hannah Greve; Direction: Madison Van Houten

Central New Jersey alternative rock outfit Bobby Mahoney has signed with Stevie Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records and has dropped the new single, "Empty Passenger Seats," which will appear on the band's upcoming label debut, Another Deadbeat Summer, out June 14, 2024.

Of the track, frontman Bobby Mahoney says, "I initially wrote the first part of 'Empty Passenger Seats' while we were driving home overnight after playing Richmond, VA for the first time. We were driving up the NJ Turnpike as the sun was rising. We had this feeling of accomplishment that we were doing exactly what we should be doing, and that imagery became the bridge of the song. I then spent time with our friend Dan Cohen (Creating Clementine) on the riff and the chorus in East Brunswick at my parents’ house. I remember also working on it with the band in a Motel 6 in Carlisle, PA, and listening to rough mixes in a parking lot in Georgia. It is very much a road song, and a good representation of what we do as a band. Geoff Sanoff’s mix and Joe Lambert's master really heightened it sonically, and we are excited for people to hear it, and we are especially excited to be joining the Wicked Cool Records roster!"

You can stream "Empty Passenger Seats" here.

Bobby Mahoney has made a name for itself in the vibrant Asbury Park, NJ music scene, sharing the stage with the likes of Frank Turner, Against Me!, Steve Earle, Dave Hause, opening for Bon Jovi, and jamming with Bruce Springsteen and other notable songwiters at multiple Light Of Day Music Festivals, which benefit Parkinson's, ALS, and PSP research. They most recently appeared at SXSW where they played the Wicked Cool Records Revue! at Austin's legendary Continental Club.

If you could distill Bobby Mahoney’s flourishing career down to a single moment, it might well have happened in the middle of a blistering set at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park. The crowd was bouncing along to a thunderous backbeat and Mahoney - the songwriter, vocalist and guitarist - was blasting his way through another fiery solo on his battered Gibson SG. With fans in a frenzy and the song at a crescendo, he looked back to the Pony’s stage manager and flashed a sweat-drenched, mile-wide grin that said it all in an instant; Bobby Mahoney was exactly where he was meant to be.

It’s a moment that thousands dream about but few experience, and it’s a moment Bobby Mahoney didn’t arrive at without putting in the work. Bridging the gap between the stereotypical teenage desire and musical reality requires dedication, belief, talent and drive; qualities he’s always had in great supply.

When you grow up within earshot of the Jersey Shore, and just a bridge or tunnel away from New York City, inspiration comes in waves. For Mahoney, an East Brunswick, New Jersey native, the music of Springsteen and Bon Jovi mixed seamlessly with Gaslight Anthem, Against Me! and the Menzingers; generating a ground-breaking approach. He wasn’t going to take the time-worn route of jumping into the first band that could manage three-chords and half a dozen songs. Instead he chose the long game. Like the legends who inspired him, he would hone his musicianship and songwriting first, then fuse everything with a punk sensibility to create something innovative, something new.

The result has led to Mahoney joining the robust roster of New Jersey icon Stevie Van Zandt’s (The Sopranos, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul) Wicked Cool Records and releasing Another Deadbeat Summer, his first album with the label.

It’s a record that features road-tested songs sharpened and perfected on tour, with stops in New Orleans, Chicago, Miami, Canada and up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Mahoney has spent the last decade honing his live performance, and his prowess has not gone unnoticed. When he wasn’t blowing the roof off dive bars, college basements and music halls - along with his band, currently consisting of Andrew Saul (guitar), James McIntosh (drums) and Jon Chang Soon (bass) - he was opening for Against Me!, Frank Turner, Bon Jovi and Steve Earle. Most recently, Mahoney played The Continental Club in Austin, TX as part of the Wicked Cool Records Revue for the 2024 South By Southwest festival. Never once did he take those opportunities for granted. He wasn’t just soaking up the adulation of the built-in crowds or moon-facing at his musical mentors. In Mahoney’s own words, “We approach every show as a chance to improve, to learn, and to strengthen our bonds within ourselves and our audiences.“ He was going to school and learning what it takes to get ahead in a business that’s as brutal as it is exhilarating.

That cutting edge attitude, along with a blue collar work ethic and an education that was born out of a relentless touring schedule has given Bobby Mahoney a creative foundation in song craft and a solid understanding of what it takes to succeed. He has done all of this before hitting 30 years old, and is just getting started. Mahoney’s hard work and growth is paying off on a large scale, proving what it takes to succeed in the cut-throat music business. Another Deadbeat Summer is an album of irrepressible sing-along melodies, runaway-train energy and a nod to songwriters like Fallon and Springsteen.

Mahoney is the exception to the rule that reaching the precipice of popularity is only possible by pounding down that same dusty well-worn path. In a world that evolves and changes in microbursts, Bobby Mahoney can turn on a dime, flash that rock and roll smile and reach a place that many only dream about. Sure, it’s where he’s meant to be right now, but just imagine where he’s going.

The band's line-up includes: Bobby Mahoney (Guitar, Vocals), James McIntosh (Drums), Andrew Saul (Guitar, Vocals), and Jon Chang-Soon (Bass, Vocals).