Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/4/24

"Thanks for inviting me to chat, it's getting late here in the UK and I get up really early to do yoga these days," laughed a very jovial Malcolm Bruce as he discussed the recent December 2023 release of "Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute to Cream," its all-star cast of players, feelings on today's music, his famous father Jack and more. 

published on 01/04/2024

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/28/23

"Yes, a double album; one disc is a live performance and the other is a collection of songs I've recorded since 2000. The last album was four years ago or something like that and it was called "Looking Glass and The Dreamers." 

published on 12/28/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/21/23

"Yeah, just busting it out and trying to have some fun. I've been doing some shows, was down in Florida and did a show in Boca and near Tampa and I released my fifth album," said guitarist Will Johns as he talked about his latest release, "Yin & Yang," a recent run of shows and more. "I've been out on my own, I had Tom Hamilton and played with Bernie Rose and some other guys; I did a private event with some young players, I did another black tie private event all in advance of the release in October. The single "Ruthless" is out along with a video which you can find on YouTube and all of the usual streaming platforms."

published on 12/21/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/14/23

"I grew up listening to everything with all the kids; rock music, folk music, I love folk music. In high school and junior high, I'd play my guitar and sing folk songs; I just love music. I'd sing with the choir, swing groups in school and when I started recording, I really didn't think that I had to quit singing different styles so, my albums were full of different things as well as country songs," said famed Country Music star, Crystal Gayle as she recently discussed her music, family Christmases, upcoming New Jersey appearances and yes; that magnificent trademark hair. "Peter, Paul & Mary and Bob Dylan, I mean, that style as well; there is so much good music out there. Many people have asked, "Who is your favorite singer?" There are so many really good singers out there; it's great." 

published on 12/14/2023

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Rock On! This week's Sound Bites...12/7/23

"We did," began a laughing Blues/Rock guitarist Lance Lopez, "We put out a "Live in NYC" album a while back but we have put out a couple of albums since the live record. We put out a record in 2018 called "Tell The Truth" on the Mascot/Provogue label and this album came out a while back and we're pretty proud of it; we worked on it all through the pandemic so, it's a pandemic piece." 

published on 12/07/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/30/23

"We've done it before," says a laughing Bywater Call vocalist Meghan Parnell speaking of the stage size at The Lizzie Rose Music Room. "We know it will work, we were there in the Spring and had a really awesome time. We know with this band and that room that it sometimes takes a little bit of imagination but The Lizzie Rose stage is not the smallest stage we've ever been on so, we'll make it work."

published on 11/30/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/23/23

"I was lucky enough to make a record with Val Garay and he is a great producer who has been around L.A. since the early days going way back to The Beatles and all the years with James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt," states musician and songwriter Kelly Deco as he discussed his latest release "Constellation" and his relationship with its producer Val Garay.  "They had a great sound that he was able to make with his team of players; as a matter of fact, they have a documentary out about that group of people called "The Immediate Family" and it talks about the records that they've worked on and a lot of them were with Val."

published on 11/23/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/16/23

"Yeah man, it's a busy season for sure," says Foghat vocalist and guitarist Scott Holt as he discussed their recent release "Sonic Mojo" and the band's future plans. "The album came out on November 10, the first singles were "Drivin' On" and "She's a Little Bit of Everything."

published on 11/16/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/9/23

"Well, it's 12 songs and it's somewhat of a cycle of songs about the neighborhood that I live in in San Francisco; specifically it's more generally about the state of the world, my neighborhood, the forces of gentrification that have affected it and then the usual love lost and human interest stuff," laughs songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Tom Heyman as he talked about his new album, "24th Street Blues" and the illustrated songbook that accompanies it. 

published on 11/09/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/2/23

"I think people were still kind of hesitating to come out in September with COVID on the uptick and no vaccine out yet, we decided to just wait and see if we could drum up a little bit more support," said Annie Raines before a recent rescheduled appearance with her long time partner Paul Rishell at The Lizzie Rose Music Room in Tuckerton, NJ. "We're in the process of recording an album and also going through a lot of our old live shows that we have on all kinds of different formats and we have a friend with a great studio who is digitizing everything so that we can possibly release some live songs and old things we did in the studio that we didn't release before. So, we have a sort of profound archive of 30 years of audio and visual stuff."

published on 11/02/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/26/23

"Friends & Family," began Firefall's Jock Bartley, "Our manager Len Fico who is also our record label, he suggested to me and Mark Andes when Mark was still in the band and who has since retired before we started this record; he said, "You know, the original guys in Firefall, many of you played in other famous bands; why don't you do an album of just their material?" When he said that, the lightbulb went off in my head and I said, "That's great but why don't we expand that?"

published on 10/26/2023

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Rock On! Sound Bites Talks with Joe Nosek of The Cash Box Kings

"I think it's actually the third time we've played there but it's the first since the pandemic hit that we're coming back; it's a great little room. I love that place, it's probably the most intimate venue I've ever played in and the sound is great and the people come to listen and they are really gracious to have us there so I'm really looking forward to it," said Joe Nosek of The Cash Box Kings as he discussed their October 22 show at Tuckerton's Lizzie Rose Music Room.

published on 10/21/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/19/23

"That's right, yes! I think forty percent of the show is my solo stuff but the big event is "Foxtrot at 50" because we're on permanent catch up of course since it was released in 1972 but post COVID we're now years beyond; it's 50 years plus of "Foxtrot" but I'm looking forward to bringing it to the States," said a very enthusiastic Steve Hackett as he prepares for three consecutive nights at one of his favorite "Haunts," The Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, NJ beginning Thursday October 19. "I've been doing this in the rest of the world and it has gone down very well indeed. I think it happens to be a great album, it's an album that doesn't falter basically; that's the strength of it and it's much loved by fans of classic or early Genesis, including John Lennon who called us "Three sons of The Beatles" and I'm very proud of that. So, if he liked it, there must have been something in it that's worth preserving. So, I'm sort of undertaking not exactly a one man crusade but I think it's all about the musicianship and the quality of that, the team I am with reflecting the glories of the team that once was when Genesis was at its most fiery; putting the fire back into Genesis. I think that's my mission at this point in time and if I get to play people a couple of solo things that they like, I think they could be quite surprised if they found a team that was dear to them, that can be reached again now that the music can be just as emotional, powerful and well-played as all the rest." 

published on 10/19/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/12/23

 "Gardens Old, Flowers New" has been in the works for a while and some of these songs are decades old and haven't seen the light of day and some of them are brand new; that line appears in two different songs in different contexts," states legendary Folk artist Tom Rush as he discussed the upcoming release of his next album and his October 13 show at The Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA. 

published on 10/12/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/5/23

"One of my mentors who just passed away; he was one of my teachers in the blues and he used to give the kids in the blues museum different nicknames and whatnot and he gave me the name Kingfish. I didn't like it at first but it stuck and never died and there are still kids from the neighborhood who are still calling me by it," laughed one of the hottest commodities on the international Blues music scene, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram as he discussed his latest album, "Live In London," his blues roots and his upcoming October 11 gig at Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia, PA and October 13 at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. 

published on 10/05/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/28/23

You have to be a, "Jack of all trades" and it's hard to make it with one revenue stream," says Progressive Rock musician and violinist Joe Deninzon as he discussed being a diverse musician in today's climate, a new album and a CD/DVD set forthcoming from his band Stratospheerius. "For Joe and I both, this is a career and especially nowadays, things have changed so much where you don't just usually get lucky in one little band. You have to sort of do a million other things and everything spiders out to the next thing and you hope that everything sort of connects at some point in your career," added drummer Jason Gianni as the two of them shed some light on their September 28 show at The Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck, NJ and their September 30 show at Kennett Flash in Kennett Square, PA. as well as the paths which got them to where they are now.

published on 09/28/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/21/23

"I did an acoustic thing and I won last year and the year before that I won the "Album Of The Year" in the blues category. So, we've been blessed to be in the running six or eight times and we've won two of them and hopefully this will put us in the ball game for a nomination if not a win," states best described as legendary blues man Bobby Rush as he discusses his new album, "All My Love For You," how he got interested in blues music and more.  

published on 09/21/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/14/23

"Kim was a prolific writer who kept the band going for almost 60 years, which is a marvel in itself," says Savoy Brown bassist Pat DeSalvo. "When he first started, Kim was a traditional blues guy and then he started evolving the band; he did "Louisiana" and "Hellbound Train" and they started taking the blues concept and evolving it into more of a progressive rock blues situation and what's going on now is that the record is out, me and Garnett (Drummer Grimm) are doing interviews and playing with Sean Chambers who played guitar for Hubert Sumlin and who has eight records out of his own. In October we toured with him in Europe and it went very well, we were feeling it out and so we're gonna do a record with him now and we're starting to do dates with him."

published on 09/14/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/7/23

We tour every other year and this is the other year; we tour the UK every other year if you see what I'm saying. We were looking to come here and it just coincided with the 50th anniversary; it's difficult to know when the 50th is, whether it's this year or next, I'm not quite sure but here we are," stated Squeeze founding member, guitarist and vocalist Chris Difford as he and his band mates kicked-off their current U.S tour on September 6 in Amagansett, NY.

published on 09/07/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/31/23

"Greener Pastures," we wrote the title track while we were in Dallas, Texas," began Kira Annalise, one half of the duo The Waymores. "We actually started on the drive to Dallas and it just kept noodling through everything we were doing whether we were unloading the van or walking, our little conversations about it started working its way out until one day Kira put it all together," adds her partner, Willie Heath Neal. 

published on 08/31/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/24/23

"I do, August 18," said an excited Maia Sharp. "Reckless Thoughts" is the name of it. Reckless thoughts is a line from one of the songs. "California" is the song and it's "Reckless thoughts and broken hearts collide." As I was combing through all of the lyrics looking for a possible title, that one kind of leapt out at me because the reckless spot can be the thing that gets you in trouble and also the reckless thought can be the thing that leads you to where you're supposed to go. I feel like songwriting sometimes is just a series of reckless thoughts (laughs); you know? You kind of want to let your brain be free and go somewhere that feels a little dangerous to find the next idea. So, the reckless thought isn't always a bad thing and it felt like the double meaning of that could be worthy of the album title"

published on 08/24/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites....8/17/23

"That's right," laughed a very jovial Tommy Castro, "The record has been out for a while but it's summertime so we're hitting all of the spots. We've been to Europe a couple of times this year and that's where I'm at now, I'm calling you from Romania; we have a show here and then head back to the States for a private event in Minnesota, a festival in New Hampshire and the gig at Somers Point and The Iridium. We are just keeping busy and we'll finally be home in September and I'll get a chance to hang around my house and relax for a few weeks (laughs)."

published on 08/17/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/10/23

It's all a feel good thing; know what I mean? There are a few one-offs but this is a nice string because we have about five gigs in the area," laughed Blues great Toronzo Cannon as he discussed his upcoming August 16 show at New York's famed Iridium, lyrics, pizza and much more. 

published on 08/10/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/3/23

"Very excited about my debut at The Lizzie Rose; I've never played there before, I've played in the area many times but I've never played that venue," said veteran Blues musician Tinsley Ellis as he spoke about his upcoming August 16 show in Tuckerton, NJ. "I'm familiar with listening rooms like it and I really enjoy them interspersed with theaters and festivals which we do this time of year so, variety is the spice of life."

published on 08/03/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/27/23

"I don't think we've ever played there before and yes Marshall Crenshaw will be there with us," states Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken as he spoke about their upcoming August 5 show at Artie's Bar and Grill in Frenchtown, NJ. "We've been doing mostly extended weekends and we're also playing near Hershey, Pennsylvania that same weekend; it's all different. Last week we were in Ojai, California and that was a beautiful setting there. We played in a really nice amphitheater there and recently we played the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park and that was a fun gig; it's always great to play there. We played some theaters earlier in May; whatever the  people will allow as they say."

published on 07/27/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/20/23

"I've actually written two books, this is my second book on the Allman Brothers. My first one, "One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band" came out in 2014 which was a complete oral history of the band from before they formed up until their last show. This one is called "Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Album That Defined the '70s" and it focuses really intently around the era of the album "Brothers and Sisters" but not just on the album; it covers from 1971 when Duane Allman died to 1976 when they broke up for the first time." 

published on 07/20/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/13/22

So, I'm sort of a slow processor and this album has been in my head for a while," says Beth Bombara about her August 4 release, "It All Goes Up." "I have just finally taken the time to get it out of my head and into the studio which has been in the process over the last year or so and just sort of thinking back on the chaos of what we've all been through, I don't even know what to call it; you know? It's this thing that nobody in the entire world wasn't touched by the experience and so, it's really just me kind of processing it for myself and what was happening for me."

published on 07/13/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/6/23

When the people at Mad Hands Records undertook the release of "American Masters Sing The Blues" nearly 20 years ago, it was done so with the intent to expose the masses to many of the talents, who for so long flew under the radar of mainstream radio and media. 

published on 07/06/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/29/23

"I did three months of solid work on the music before the tour and then another month of administration on visas, flights, hotels and the music; it was quite stressful and a lot of work but it is what we do," laughed a very jovial Martin Barre as he discussed his latest "A Brief History of Tull" tour featuring nothing but songs from the legendary rock band. 

published on 06/29/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/22/23

One of the biggest events in Northern New Jersey is taking place this weekend beginning Friday June 23 and wrapping up Sunday June 25 is the "13th Annual Rock, Ribs and Ridges Festival" at the Sussex County Fairgrounds. 

published on 06/22/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/15/23

"I'm doing great," said an enthusiastic laughing Marc Swersky, "This is where my wife says that I need to talk more about myself and I say, I don't want to but I guess this is one of those times where I need to."

published on 06/15/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/8/23

Over the next week, The Lizzie Rose Music Room in Tuckerton, NJ is hosting three of the hottest Blues music shows in the area. June 9 sees the great Joe Louis Walker, June 10 is a rare Jersey appearance from Laurie Morvan and June 15 sees the talented Alastair Greene gracing the intimate stage.

published on 06/08/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/1/23

  "I'm living the dream," says legendary folk artist Tom Rush with a laugh, "I'm having a good time so everything is great." 

published on 06/01/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites....5/25/23

" I played at the summer concert series that they had there in 2021. They were doing that outdoor thing, I mean it was pretty cool. I thought it was cool for the people that were camping or staying at the site because they just got to see a bunch of shows." 

published on 05/25/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/18/23

"I'm not doing anything important at the moment, I'm just stuck here; I was practicing," laughed a well-rested Roger Earl as he discussed Foghat's forthcoming release, drums, Blues music, condoms and more ahead of the band's May 20 appearance at The Bergen PAC in Englewood, NJ. "I'm leaving to go on the road, we have a new album coming out soon. The album has 10 tracks on there; six or seven originals and three songs that were actually written; did you know that Kim Simmonds passed away recently? Kim and I reconnected back in 1976 and we'd been playing out here and there, we hung out for a while and it was over the last 10 years, seven or eight years or so that we were with the same agency. They managed to pick up Savoy Brown and we've done a number of shows together and when we were making this last studio album, Kim said, "Hey, I'd like to write some songs for you" and I said, that will be great! I said, so long as you're playing on them too! Unfortunately, Kim got ill and he couldn't really get his fingers working, so he sent us the lyrics and a basic outline and we put the music down for the tracks and they turned out better than I could have ever hoped. I miss him already, I was kind of looking forward to spending our late years playing music together but never mind." 

published on 05/18/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/11/23

"Well, I've had a second child," laughed a very upbeat Dana Fuchs before a recent appearance at The Lizzie Rose Music Room in Tuckerton, NJ. "I've had another baby and I released a new album; It's been a year but we haven't had a chance to tour much behind it because a lot of places are still recovering from the pandemic; so, yeah."

published on 05/11/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/4/23

We just finished a European tour of two weeks and we're getting into the American tour of three weeks and I have exactly two days off," laughed the very talented Ana Popovic. "I know it's weird but we are working hard now because the new record is coming out so; we've really had a good beginning of the year and ready to get into summer months."

published on 05/04/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/27/23

"My early introduction to music was when my dad gave me his cassette collection,” says guitarist Clay Melton. “There were these cases of music and they had a lot of Texas Country, a lot of Classic Rock, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top and stuff like that. Then I got into guitar when I was 11 after hearing Hendrix, "All Along The Watchtower" and that's all it took, it just blew my mind. I was really obsessed with Hendrix like most guitarists starting out and I read and listened to the things and songs he covered and then I did the same with the others.”

published on 04/27/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/20/23

“We Kind of just do long weekends and come back,” says Karla Bonoff as she prepares to return to the Sellersville Theater tonight April 20 for an 8 p.m. show. “Sometimes we'll be a month off and then we go out and work a lot so, it's never really like one long tour; it's just kind of a constant; you know?  

published on 04/20/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/13/23

"I'm not sure how they're framing it," began Sirius XM radio personality Eddie Trunk with a slight laugh; "I mean, I've written a couple of books but I don't necessarily know if it's going to revolve around my books. I've written two books, "Essential Hard Rock And Heavy Metal Volume One" and "Volume Two" so, my most recent one would have been "Volume Two" which probably is about eight to ten years old at this point.

published on 04/13/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/6/23

“I’m in California in the hills. I just got done my two mile walk while listening to Rachmaninoff,” laughed a jovial, vibrant and very excited Jon Anderson as he discussed his upcoming shows with The Band Geeks; the first in the New Jersey area being April 16 in Newark at the New Jersey Arts Center. 

published on 04/06/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/30/23

“I have an hour and a half of mostly acoustic style songs and I'm in the process of editing 15 music videos so, I am busy," laughed a jovial and excited Joe Bouchard as he discussed his upcoming show at Factory Records in Dover, NJ. "People keep saying, you should do more of your own solo songs so, that's what we did; it's a duo, it's myself on acoustic guitar and my girlfriend, my partner; she plays the Stratocaster. I do the singing and most of the rhythm and then she fills in the parts that need to be played so yeah, it's all good and I’m having fun.”  

published on 03/30/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/23/22

“We shoved off on February 16 and planned to get home on March 16th and then we have the show in the northeast Ohio area and then we're back on the road for a couple of short runs over the next two weekends; we've been busy.”  

published on 03/23/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/16/23

“Getting ready to get back on the road, it’s an East Coast swing," said an elated Rick Estrin as he and The Nightcats prepare to come to the Zlock Performing Arts Center in Newtown, PA for a 7:30 p.m. show on April 7. "What we've been doing the last two or three years is, we'll get something in Europe and so then we'll put together a little East Coast tour to go along with that. So, we're doing Manhattan and the Bucks County thing and a couple of dates in New England and then we're flying to I think Holland; it's only a couple of dates in Holland

published on 03/16/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/9/23

“Busy,” says guitar master and virtuoso Joe Satriani as he prepares for two local in-store appearances at Wentworth Galleries. “Yeah, time flies by right now and that always happens when you're really busy.”   

published on 03/09/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/2/23

“Dinosaur” is a little bit of a throwback to something we’ve been doing for a while, it's a high energy rock record, something that longtime Theory fans are going to find recognizable" says Theory of a Deadman bassist Dean Back. "So, we're excited for it to get out to the fans and for them to hear the material. We got to record it over in Stockholm, Sweden for three weeks and then we finished it in London; it was a blast to record and it turned out fantastic and we can't wait for people to hear it.” 

published on 03/02/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/23/23

"The name Project 18 Jay came about because we all grew up in East Brunswick and Route 18 is the main thoroughfare and so they came up with the name Project 18."

published on 02/23/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/16/23

“It is a percussion composition like an ambient composition as well that uses ambient sounds from US Interstate Highway Route 4 and also utilizes percussion sounds from a homemade instrument of my own; also, a number of other instruments as well and it is one of two pieces that are being released as part of an introductory LP to my musical sound.”  

published on 02/16/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/9/23

“We change things up from night to night so that people get some different stuff but we're covering music from across the catalogue. We're doing stuff from earlier records all the way up to the later records and a cross section of both vocal and instrumental materials. So, if you're into the really insane, ridiculously complex instrumental compositions or if you're into the more straight ahead rocking vocal songs; you'll definitely get both. We just play hard; we really bring a lot to the songs; we're not kidding around.”  

published on 02/09/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/2/23

“Rob has always done the lyrics and vocal melodies etcetera but I write pretty much all of the music with the band guys," states guitarist Chris Impellitteri of the band Impellitteri. "The line-up is myself; Rob Rock is the lead singer and he's done the majority of all the records. We have James Pulli on bass who's been with us since the late 80s, early 90s; so, pretty much the same bass player and you know we're a bit like Spinal Tap when it comes to drummers. We’ve had drummers who have toured with Slayer and some other hard-core metal bands like The Hollywood Vampires so, we've been all over the place with our drummers but that's pretty much the nucleus of the band and occasionally we'll use a keyboard player at times.” 

published on 02/02/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/26/23

“I play guitar as my primary instrument but I grew-up playing the Alto Saxophone and I was really, really good at it; I was like first chair. I loved it but once I picked up guitar, I kind of dropped the saxophone and after I picked up the guitar, I really started focusing on songwriting.”  

published on 01/26/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/19/23

What do you get when you cross a group of men from Italy, Punk Rock and Hard Rock with a love of Celtic music? The answer is Uncle Bard & the Dirty Bastards; a hard driving, hard rocking, fast-paced unit with a take no prisoners approach.

published on 01/19/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/12/23

“It's all about the selections and realizations and understandings and life from the beginning of the inception of the soul up until the baby is born; which is an eternal being in my book, all the way through life. The first thing you hear on the record is the actual sound of an unborn baby heartbeat and that's an actual unborn child's heartbeat right off the bat. So, it's loosely based around all of the lessons that I've learned in my life in chronological order from birth, all the way until the end of this life here on this planet," stated Lillian Axe lead guitarist and principal songwriter Steve Blaze as he discussed the band's recent release "From Womb to Tomb." 

published on 01/12/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/5/23

Most of us have heard the expression, "What's old is new again" and most of us have experienced this in our lifetime; be it in relationships, work or the current 1970's fashion rebirth which to most of us who lived through it the first time is somewhat mind-boggling. 

published on 01/05/2023

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/29/22

“Other than Postell, for the rest of us it's been 50 plus years of playing together and finally coming together as a band again was pretty cool; it's still pretty cool," laughed bassist Leland Sklar of The Immediate Family as he discussed their formation, longevity, writing style and upcoming show at the Count Basie Center/Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre in Red Bank, NJ on January 12, 2023. 

published on 12/29/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/22/22

“Yes, it came out a bit ago and the title is “Red Light, Green Light,” it's just more like a visual aspect of it; it's not like it's the marquee song of the album. I had a concept for the cover and it just had a fun sound and It's 10-tracks; not an overwhelming amount of material but for me that was the perfect amount. The songs are all very fully realized and it felt like it had a great arc and cohesiveness to it; it has got some ballads and it's got a couple of funky tunes because I like that too.”  

published on 12/22/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/15/22

Charlie Thomas rose to prominence as a member of the fabulous vocal group The Drifters whose seemingly endless string of hits are still found on the airwaves today. So, it comes as no surprise that now in his eighth decade; Thomas has emerged with yet what's destined to become another classic called, "Be My Rock."   

published on 12/15/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/8/22

"That was an incredible experience, we were over in Europe for three and one-half weeks in June and just the response we got from everybody was incredible. I mean, we played some amazing shows and amazing festivals. We did Download, we did Rock am Ring, we played Belsonic with Iron Maiden and Airbourne and Shinedown; I mean, we just had some incredible shows and the reception from the crowd was amazing." says Tempt front man and vocalist Zach Allen. "They were just ready to party; they were awesome and we had an awesome time; it was great to meet the other bands. We got to talk with some of the guys from Shinedown and Airbourne and just kind of sharing stories and everything; it was just a tremendous experience and so exciting. We can't wait to get back out there, as soon as we came back, we were like, alright; when are we getting back there? Because it was just a dream, it really was, it was a wonderful reception and everybody was really great to us; we cannot be happier with how it all turned out."

published on 12/08/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/1/22

“We’re from South Jersey but we're kind of all over the place," laughed vocalist Doug Goldspiel as he discussed the particulars of Huxley, past gigs as well as their new music. "We are mostly based out of the Williamstown area. I'm down in the Millville area actually but it's kind of just all over South Jersey. We're an active rock band, we have five members; myself who is the singer, we have our two guitarists, one is Chris Kelly, the other one is Mike Lamplugh; our bassist is Matt Williams and our drummer is Bill Finocchiaro or however you pronounce his last name; which is going to sound great (Laughs).” 

published on 12/01/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/24/22

“I have to tell you," began founding member of The Hollywood Allstars, keyboardist Steve Gaspar. "Years ago, it was a passion project of mine and when I say years, I mean probably about four or five years ago. I've been in the music business my whole life and I had this idea that I wanted to put together a quote unquote; super group. A dream team of people that I respect and people who I enjoy the way they play and that I enjoy hanging out with and I never would have imagined five years later that I'd be on the phone with you telling you about it. I have the horn section that did The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels tour, the bass player from the Johnny and Edgar Winter groups, the lead singer from Tower of Power, a guitar player that has worked with Blood, Sweat & Tears and Talking Heads; I mean, it really is literally like a dream come true. I mean, not to sound like a corny cliche but I'm really, really fortunate to be able to say I'm surrounded with these people let alone have gotten them all to be in a band and to get a record deal, which in itself is cuckoo these days; you know?” 

published on 11/24/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/17/22

September 16, 2022 saw Ireland's Karan Casey take the intimate stage of The Hopewell Theater and bring it to life in a way that very few can. 

published on 11/17/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/10/22

Who recalls their first concert? The anticipation of seeing your favorite band or any band for that matter in a live setting is a memory that sticks with most of us throughout our life-times. 

published on 11/10/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/3/22

“I think this is our fifth year or sixth year; it would have been our sixth but we had the one year that the world shut down so, the event is called Rock The Vets.” 

published on 11/03/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/27/22

“No, I believe we played there a few years ago," began the creative juggernaut that is Karla Bonoff as she discussed her upcoming November 11 appearance at the New Hope Winery. "I'll have one musician with me, Nina Gerber who's quite well known on the west coast; she's a great guitar player and she goes back to playing with Kate Wolf when she was quite young, she's wonderful and a lot of people do know of her." 

published on 10/27/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/20/22

“We found it in our vault, which we've been going through in recent years and it's something that we've been meaning to put out for quite some time and we finally did," said a thrilled Dennis Diken, drummer of The Smithereens. "This was recorded during an interim period; we worked on it in early ‘93 and eventually later that year we signed with RCA Records and we actually recorded two albums worth of material. The songs that did not appear on "The Lost Album” were actually re-recorded for “A Date with The Smithereens” once we got signed with RCA.” 

published on 10/20/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/13/22

"I'm not sure how much you've read or seen about us as a group but we are practically one of New Jersey's best kept secrets," laughed Danny Vechesky of 52nd Street,  the "World's longest running" Billy Joel tribute. "We've been around a long time; 28 years and I started the band back in 1994 after "The River of Dreams" came out." 

published on 10/13/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/6/22

“I hope Google Maps knows,” laughed Cory Branan as he discussed getting to his upcoming 4 p.m. gig at Cats Luck in Neptune City, NJ on October 21, recording during the pandemic and more. 

published on 10/06/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/29/22

“The Sea Of Tranquility Fest will be Saturday at the Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, NY. The "Sea Of Tranquility" is an online website with videos and reviews and there's a whole community around it which is led by Pete Pardo. During the quarantine part of COVID, there was a "Sea Of Tranquility virtual festival to help raise money for the ASPCA COVID Outreach and this is kind of an extension of that; this is the live version," explains Epic Tantrum bassist Greg Ross as he and the band prepare to join The Pat Travers Band, Vanilla Fudge, Nektar, Chris Caffery, Andy Powell, Rick LaBonte and Nektar in a return to an old school type of festival featuring diverse acts, a Q & A and more. "Pete sort of helped curate the bands that will be playing and the idea was to create an event that reflects the diversity of this year's Tranquility fan base and what they cover. So, during the afternoon they're doing live versions of the panels they do, they will be reviewing a record, they have a thing called the Hudson Valley Squares where like nine of them get together and review records so, it's trying to encompass the world of Sea Of Tranquility but live instead of online. Epic Tantrum got involved because Pete is a big fan of the Epic Tantrum album and he wrote a really, really nice review of it and I reached out to him just to say thank you and we started talking and that's kind of what led to us being involved in the virtual event and now the concert.” 

published on 09/29/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/22/22

Yeah, I don't believe I have ever been there but you’d know better than me because you live in the area,” laughed blues great Joe Louis Walker as he discussed his upcoming appearance at The Beverly Blue Festival, "Ghetto-psychedelic guitar licks," his "Puppies" and much more. "Maybe they’re trying to get something going with the festival; more power to them."   

published on 09/22/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/15/22

"They had it on that farm but I think the owner of the farm upped the rent so they can't do it there anymore but that's another story but yeah they found this place that I don't know if you've been there; the firehouse?"

published on 09/15/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/8/22

 “It is a lot of songs that I’ve wanted to sing for a long time," says Irish folk artist Karan Casey as she arrived for her U.S. tour and prepares for an upcoming September 16 show at The Hopewell Theatre. "I have a Janis Ian song on there called, “I'm Still Standing Here” and a great Eliza Gilkyson song called “Man of God,” Patti Griffin; a Bob Dylan song which I've never done before so yeah, it's all good. I wrote a couple of songs on it and one is called “You are the Flower” which I wrote with Sean Og Graham who is actually on tour with me. I'll be on tour with Sean and Niamh Dunne who I've played with for all the best parts of eight or ten years but we've never done gigs over here in the States. So, I'm really excited about bringing them over here and coming to The Hopewell Theatre; it’ll be great.”  

published on 09/08/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/1/22

"September 30th and it's called “Radiance” and it’s a really cool record, I'm really happy and proud of it. Two songs have been released so far off of the album; “Radiance” which is the title track and it's a very heavy melodic track and then “Shine On” is kind of a barn-burner track. “Shine On” is the second single and it just came out last month and then prior to our show on September 7th at the Landis in Vineland; we are going to be releasing “Hypnotize Yourself” from the album and you're gonna hear all of that stuff live as well as four new songs live and four songs from our last album, you’ll hear all of it live.” 

published on 09/01/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/25/22

“Souls of the Innocent,” and the official distribution took place on July 15,” stated guitarist and founding member of Jack Starr's Burning Starr; Jack Starr as he discussed the band's latest release, the recording process and more. 

published on 08/25/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/18/22

“I can't say we're coming home, I mean, I'm home but I just can't wait to play two of my favorite places with my favorite people and my family," said former Jersey Shore resident and one-third of The Dales; Jacqueline Tozzi as she and her band mates Drew Lawrence and Preston Pope discussed their upcoming August 20 show at Asbury Park's Wonder Bar and the September 23 release of their new album, "Multi Trick Pony."

published on 08/18/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/11/22

"First of all, I just thought, I want to make a rock 'n' roll record; my kind of rock 'n' roll. I like rock'n'roll, I mean, I like all sorts of stuff but rock 'n' roll is basically what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a rock 'n' roll record like The Rolling Stones or Little Richard so, I just started putting songs together in 2017 and just started writing songs," says guitarist Curtis Salgado ahead of his two area shows and whose new album, "Damage Control" is out courtesy of Alligator Records. 

published on 08/11/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/4/22

“I do, it just came out in April so even better it's out there now and it's called “Ten” and well, it was pretty simple to title; it's my tenth album so it kind of named itself," laughed the great blues guitarist Albert Cummings as he discussed his latest release, pursuit of his dream and more after a recent show at the famed Iridium in New York City. "I usually name them after some kind of phrase or words in the album but it just happened to be my tenth so, I thought, well yeah that's pretty easy.“ 

published on 08/04/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/28/22

“The new single is “a13” and it's the first song on the new record, “Elevator” and “Elevator” is my 25th solo record so it's kind of a special one for us; we play “a13” in the show as well as some other things from “Elevator.” There's in fact, nine things in the show that we've never played before but there's also a lot of the power trio material that people like, like the King Crimson stuff and some other good songs and there's an acoustic section where I do a solo acoustic guitar and voice thing for about 20-minutes and take some question and answers from the audience. So, it's a very good well-rounded show with lots of different things.”

published on 07/28/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/21/22

"Yeah, the single is out and it's doing very well; I'm really excited about it and it has been getting a lot of great comments and everybody that has heard it really loves it; they love the energy and it has got a great sound. So, it's doing very well; the album is called "American Rocker" and yes, I'm very excited about it." 

published on 07/21/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/14/22

"Yes, we do, “Closer To The Flame" and it came out April 1st in Europe and on April 15 here in the States," said an enthusiastic Riot Act guitarist Rick Ventura as he discussed their new record which was born from the ashes of the past, affected by the present and the always unpredictable future of the industry. 

published on 07/14/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/7/22

We all sing; whether it be in the shower, our car, professionally or even karaoke and many of us have probably had a thought such as, "Yes! I nailed that one!" Well, here is your chance to "Nail" one as Sylvia Moy's Masterpiece Sound Studios Detroit in partnership with Sony Music Publishing launches a "Cover Song Contest" open to any, "Amateur individual, independent singer, musician, singing group or band from any of the 50 United States, The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico" and what's at stake in this competition is cash, representation by Sony Music Publishing and more. 

published on 07/07/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/30/22

"Yeah, The Kentucky Headhunters live," said guitarist Greg Martin with a laugh. "We’re alive and well; some people think we disappeared back in '91-'92 but we've never stopped. We've worked every year except for 2020 but we released a brand-new album back in October of last year called, "That's a Fact Jack!" so, it's actually been out for a while. You know how things work now, I mean it's not like back in the old days where they have you going to the label months before the release and you'd be working things; you'd be working radio, you'd be working print and after doing that you'd have a video; it's just a different time different way of doing things now. I mean, even though the album was released in October, we're still working it pretty active now and well, because a lot of people think we went away because there was an abandonment back in '92 when the Phelps brothers left and went to do their own thing, we kept going but a lot of folks think we just disappeared. Nope, we never went away, we released several albums since 1992 and this album; the last studio album we did before this one was in 2016 called "On Safari" and then just a little bit later we released a live album that was recorded in England but yeah man, we've been very actively working but you're right, I mean, you're not the first to say you thought we were not together, so don’t feel bad."

published on 06/30/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/23/22

"Indeed! I can testify that I have lived and breathed this album for quite a few years trying to get it made and get it out," says a somewhat relieved and very excited Carla Olson about the June 17 release of "Americana Railroad," a collection of songs, simply put; about trains. 

published on 06/23/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/16/22

 "I'm doing great," says an effervescent Samantha Fish, as she talked about her career, her new album and more before she takes the stage tonight at The Count Basie Center in Red Bank, NJ. "Just right now, feels like I'm busier than ever touring and supporting a new record and just kind of gearing up for summer time; yeah, busy is putting it mildly."   

published on 06/16/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/9/22

"We did and It's called The Front Porch Singin' Tour which is named after our latest album which is called "Front Porch Singin'" and it's interesting to note that it's not singing with a "G" on the end; It's "Singin'," explained legendary vocalist and member of The Oak Ridge Boys, Richard Sterban as he talked about their recent album and upcoming tour which makes a stop in Bensalem, PA on June 11 at Parx Casino.  

published on 06/09/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/2/22

"I'm very blessed with this musical journey, to say the least; I mean, it certainly had its ups and downs and all but overall I look back on it and I say, man, I've been able to really do what I've wanted do over the years and the joy of just writing music and the joy of people actually wanting to hear some of the music that I've written, I can't believe it; you know?"

published on 06/02/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/26/22

"Oh, a lot, I think like 12” laughed the very talented  May Erlewine as she discussed her past efforts and most recent release titled, “Tiny Beautiful Things.”  Yeah, I've been doing it a long time too, so,  you know, that's what happens. I love working in the studio; it's always a lot of fun."  

published on 05/26/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/19/22

"I released an album in 2021 but I haven't been able to tour so we are doing it now. The album title is "The Ghost and the Wall" and it's 10-tracks; I was in Philadelphia and New York; I did three nights at City Winery. I have a trio with a guy named Danny Black who plays acoustic guitar and some lap steel who is from Philadelphia and a lovely woman named Allie Moss who is from New Jersey singing backup harmonies,” said Joshua Radin in a recent discussion about his latest release, his songwriting, the recording process and being on stage.

published on 05/19/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/12/22

“Do you know why I like playing Jazz? Because it will take me as far as my mind will let it.”   Rio Clemente

published on 05/12/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/5/22

"We're out on tour in support of our "Work Hard, Rock Hard" EP that came out last year when we were touring with Geoff Tate from Queensryche. So, we're continuing that momentum but we are calling this the "Be A Hero Tour" because we have a big single coming out on May 6 called "Hero" and it'll be all over the place on social media, internet and streaming everywhere before we make the push to radio; it's quite a song, it's in the vein of those kind of anthem songs you hear that people tend to pick up and want to play and chant to in stadiums and at ball games, sporting events; it's one of those that can capture every human in the world because it is just so prophetic about just how people should be and can be in life and I try to get that across in my lyric."

published on 05/05/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/2/22

"I was in the studio one night and my tour manager emailed me the flyer and asked me if I'd like to be a part of the tour and I was like, of course! That's no question at all, especially with NoCap who was one of the artists that I've looked up to for quite some time and as I was growing up," stated 19-year old hip-hop/rap artist Mpackt as he discussed his role on NoCap's "Mr. Crawford Tour," his lyrics, source of musical talent and an upcoming May 2 show at New York's Grammercy Theatre. "My mom died in 2019 and his music kind of reached out to me and helped me through some hard times."

published on 04/28/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/21/22

“You never know where someone is going to hear you; ya’ know? Bluesville is a blessing, I’m so happy to be on there,” says Detroit born and current Jersey City, NJ resident Eliza Neals as she covered all of the bases from her past to the present as well as the upcoming release of her new album “Badder to the Bone,” due out April 23 via E-H Records and on all the major platforms.

published on 04/21/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/14/22

“My new album is my sixth, it’s called “A White Album” and it’s a record about trying to talk about this taboo topic of race. So, for me as a songwriter, it’s the way I try to figure out the world and the stuff on my mind through stories and songs and that is what this is.”

published on 04/14/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/7/22

“During the lockdown from the pandemic, I had a lot of time and I didn’t want to lose my chops so, I wrote about 200 songs I think and we picked the best 10 to make up the new “Devil May Care” album.”

published on 04/07/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/31/22

“The drummer Gino Vallecillo is the newest in the band and he’s from down here from a little town called Dehlco, Louisiana, the keys and sax player Jason Pafait is from down here as well, he’s from a town called Houma, Louisiana and the other two are transplants to New Orleans. The bass player Kevin Scott is from Alabama and the guitar player is from kind of all over. He was born in L.A. and grew up in Philadelphia and St. Louis and his father was Aerosmith’s guitar-tech for years so, he’s got touring in his blood,” laughed “Bayou Soul” artist Marc Broussard as he discussed his band, his latest album, “A Lullaby Collection SOS lll” and his new children’s book, “I Love You For You” along with the current tour and his upcoming April 1 show at The South Orange Performing Arts Center.

published on 03/31/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/24/22

“Yes, we are going to be at the Beacon Theatre on April 3 and The Scottish Rite on April 7, 8 and 9. I’m looking forward to it because I always like playing at The Scottish Rite and The Beacon is a favorite because they both have great sound because they both act like an amplifier. So, when you thunder into the beginning of a number the building talks back to you which is great.”

published on 03/24/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/17/22

“Well, what would you like to know about us? There is a lot,” said Kira Annalise with a laugh, “We are a married couple that play country music acoustically; we make our living at it and we adore being on the road and we adore being on stage,” adds her husband, stage mate and partner in music Willie Heath Neal.

published on 03/17/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/10/22

“I’ve been keeping busy, interestingly enough, as things were closing down, my partners at SceneFour Art Collective had made a connection with Christian O’Mahony the owner of the Wentworth Gallery chain and they commissioned me to do a whole bunch of paintings. I did 11 guitars and over one hundred canvases and I’m working on another 30 that I have to finish in about a week-and-a-half before I head back to L.A. to do another music video. So, that’s been really great that I’ve had these two ultra-creative things that I can immerse myself into while I’ve been going stir crazy and not traveling the world with my guitar strapped on.”

published on 03/10/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/3/22

 “I went all out there, I was a little racy. I didn’t have any barriers, I didn’t feel self-conscious or any of that and coming from Boston I just thought; you know what? If you don’t like me, see you later! I kind of had a hard-ass attitude; Prince once told me that I was cold with a hard-ass and I think he was right!”

published on 03/03/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/24/22

“The producer of the show, Toby Ludwig has been doing this since the early 2000s and we found each other a few years ago when they were looking for a bass player with a little bit of a pedigree to join an all-star band,” explained bassist and vocalist of “It Was 50 Years Ago Today”  Jason Scheff as he discussed how he became involved with the unit and their upcoming March 1 appearance at The Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. “They went out to do “The White Album” and I found out it was Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Micky Dolenz and Joey Molland of Badfinger and I said, absolutely; I’d love to do it! So, I got involved in their world a few years ago and it’s such a blast; it’s really, really a lot of fun.”

published on 02/24/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/17/22

“I’ve played in Morristown a lot and in Red Bank too; like everybody else, I’m trying to regroup and figure out how to do this thing again,” said a laughing Marcia Ball as she discussed her upcoming show at the South Orange Performing Arts Center on February 19 and her latest release, “Shine Bright.” People would say, “I haven’t seen you in so long” and then I’d kind of catch myself  and say, well hey, I haven’t seen anybody!”  

published on 02/17/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/10/22

“Bucky and I did an album, basically to sell at the concerts; it was kind of a good way for Bucky to learn the show and get acquainted with all of those songs,” explained Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers as he talked about moving on after the passing of Bobby Hatfield, his friend and now stage partner Bucky Heard, movie placements and their current tour which sees them stopping at Parx Casino in Bensalem, PA and State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. That is really what the album is, it is all of our old songs. I did a duet with Van Morrison on his new album and I get called quite a bit to do a duet or this and that and if I like the song, I’ll do it; I’m 81 so, I’m not holding my breath waiting to record. I feel very blessed that I’m able to still come out on the road and perform so, I feel like I’m way ahead of the game.” 

published on 02/10/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/3/22

“This is a one-off single, the song felt like it lived in its own bubble because of the environment that we are in now. I didn’t see this as part of a collection, this is almost like an album’s worth of ideas or music in one song for me and it really addresses the life we are living right now and I couldn’t really see any companion pieces for it; you know?”

published on 02/03/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/27/22

“The hours and the money,” jokes Pennington, NJ resident and funny lady Anita Wise as she explained why she got into comedy; “It’s fun, it’s very fun, it’s really fun. Nobody who knew me growing up expected this to happen.”

published on 01/27/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/20/22

“The pandemic,” explained vocalist/entertainer and now author Gloria Carpenter as to how and why her new book “Power Up Your Dreams: Moving From Self-Defeat to Self-Belief”  came to be. “I had a chance to slow down and sit with my thoughts. I’m usually going and going as I’m sure you know for yourself; we are just constantly doing and with the pandemic everything just stopped and here we had all of this time. I’m in a really great spot in my life right now; I have a really supportive, wonderful, giving, loving husband who is my rock and things are going really well in my singing career and writing the book was just another aspect of joy for me and having joy in my life is huge and that was another way other than music of expressing myself and as serious as things are and were with this COVID crisis, I just made the best of it. That is what we have to do in life; accept the “What is” and work around it.” 

published on 01/20/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/13/22

“You know right where you are when you get here, the big black ominous awning outside, the sign is a sharp centerpiece for the room right when you walk in; it has character which I think is very important for a shop like this. I’ve worked in other shops over the years where it needed something like that; it’s a music shop, it’s about the arts and It needs something like this,” stated Charles Laurita confidently as he discussed his soon to be open Mischief Studios in Pennington, NJ. “This definitely is the widening of The Mischief brand in an interesting way.”

published on 01/13/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/6/22

As 2021 begins to shrink in our collective rearview mirrors; this space thought it would be enlightening and informative to publish some thoughts, musings and what some of our indie artists both locally and abroad have in store for 2022.

published on 01/06/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/6/22

As 2021 begins to shrink in our collective rearview mirrors; this space thought it would be enlightening and informative to publish some thoughts, musings and what some of our indie artists both locally and abroad have in store for 2022.

published on 01/06/2022

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/30/21

Well, another challenging year has come and gone; venues have closed, artists have struggled and the overall vibe has not been fully restored to what it once was but don’t fret my friends. You see, the musicians and entertainers of this era are tough, they have survived lockdowns, cancellations, job loss and everything else thrown their way; kind of like all of us.

published on 12/30/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/23/21

“My folks got divorced when I was two so, I didn’t live with Mel Torme past the age of two. I was taken in by Hal March who married my mom and became my step-dad and all of Hal’s friends were the Borgfeld comedians. So, our dinner parties just about every weekend were Lucy and Milton Berle, Phil Silvers and Shecky Greene, Buddy Hackett and Red Buttons. So, I grew up around all of these comedians and it was great and a lot of laughs; these were the people who were our best friends. My original desire was to be a major league baseball player. I would listen to the Yankees as a kid in Westchester County and that was my first goal was to be a major league ball player; I played a lot of baseball. After hearing the games I’d listen to the radio, I would listen to the AM hits of the day and like a billion other kids when I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan I went, oh this, this is turning me on. This doesn’t sound like Jerry Lee Lewis, this doesn’t sound like Elvis, this is a completely different thing and pop music became my influence. As much as I do a lot of jazz in my shows because there is obviously some influence from my dad because I do have his genes, I cut my teeth on The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan and Todd Rundgren. Those are the people that I listened to; again, very melodic pop writers. I really kind of connected with my dad in the last 15 years of his life and we started having a more common ground musically and that’s how things kind of came about.”

published on 12/23/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/16/21

“I got into Newark really late and I had the show over at the Wentworth Gallery at The Mall in Short Hills,” relayed drummer and artist Rick Allen of the quintessential 80’s rock band Def Leppard as he discussed his career as a visual and musical artist, his latest body of work and some upcoming band news.

published on 12/16/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/9/21

“Yeah, the music still sounds good and people still want to hear it; there’s nothing like it is there? I was listening to some of the old be-bop and blues the other night and they still sound great; it’s timeless,” stated founding member of the Yardbirds, drummer Jim McCarty.

published on 12/09/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites....12/2/21

“I’ve been good, been busy all day; doing a lot of interviews for the album and my other project, the “Guitar Zeus” video. I’ve been doing a lot of interviews for both; talking about everything,” says one of the quintessential rock drummers of all time, Carmine Appice as he discussed his hectic schedule in support of his latest efforts; “Guitar Zeus” and “Appice Perdomo Project.”  

published on 12/02/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/25/21

The year was 1978, a then teenaged future writer was prepping to go to his first ever concert at Jadwin Gym on the campus of Princeton University. That concert was Emerson, Lake & Palmer; an event which not only left a lasting impression but also increased a hunger for live music while broadening horizons to include a genre called “Progressive Rock.”

published on 11/25/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/18/21

“I’m taking a bite of a croissant as I speak to you , please forgive me,” and so began a lively, spirited and humorous conversation with Go-Go’s drummer and now author Gina Schock. “I’m very busy, really happy and good and everything is happening and it’s wonderful! I couldn’t be happier my friend; I mean, I could be but not much more (laughs).”

published on 11/18/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/11/21

Words such as “Gifted” and “Influential” with a “Warm expressive voice” have been used to describe Tom Rush. Artists like James Taylor and Garth Brooks have listed him as one of, if not their top influence and he will be appearing at The Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA on Saturday November 13 at eight o’clock p.m.

published on 11/11/2021

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Kittens and Fish are a Winning Combination at The Stone Pony

A noteworthy show on Saturday November 13 takes place in Asbury Park, NJ and that is Samantha Fish with River Kittens at The Stone Pony. Recently, Mattie Schell of River Kittens spoke about the upcoming show and the interesting partnerships this duo has formed.

published on 11/10/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/4/21

Steve Tyrell; know'em? Well, you should because he has worked with some of the largest names in the entertainment and music industries, has written and produced music with legendary icons, won a 9 and even had his talents on display on the big screen but his latest effort, a tribute to Ray Charles called, "Shades of Ray" gives us a glimpse of Tyrell and what makes him tick.

published on 11/04/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/28/21

“I’ll just give you two words; “Road Dogs,” laughed Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson  as he discussed the band’s upcoming October 29 show at The State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ, their October 30 show in Atlantic City at The Hard Rock, their penchant for touring, possible new music and more.

published on 10/28/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/21/21

Jalacy “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins was one of music’s most interesting characters whose career never realized its full potential or received the recognition it deserved. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929, put up for adoption at the age of 18 months and adopted by Blackfoot Indians; it was these beginnings that he began walking his path which lead to acting, boxing, opera singing and eventually blues and rock music where he became one of the pioneers of what would later become known as “Shock Rock.”  

published on 10/21/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/14/21

“I’ve done so many different things in music and I just really want to keep my hands in it because it’s a part of me. I’ve always had the Heart tribute band but there’s always that feeling that there is something more I should be doing; so, I’m going to just keep doing it,” says vocalist and current Josie Award winning “Artist Of The Year” Sandy Hall. “I didn’t think anybody cared and when this nomination happened, I was like; huh! Even with all of those submissions and different age groups, someone took notice and said, this is pretty good. So, it is actually inspiring for me to think, well maybe I should continue to do this because there is an audience for me.”

published on 10/14/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/7/21

When one decides to take charge of their  vocation and pursue fulfillment be it in an office, the outdoors or an artistic setting, good things can happen and when you are vocalist Patrick Kearney and guitarist/keyboardist Chris Lane of New York City based rock band Station; you discover that parallel paths sometimes converge and sometimes these chance meetings lead to bigger and better things. Recently, vocalist Kearney discussed the formation of Station, their new record “Perspective,” upcoming gigs, the band’s name and more.

published on 10/07/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/30/21

“Friday October 1 at 7 p.m. and the doors open at 6 p.m. in the Biergarten at the German-American Society of Trenton in Hamilton,” proclaimed Rainbow Full of Sound founder Waynard Scheller as he and his group prepare to take the stage for the second of 21 individual shows from a bygone era.

published on 09/30/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/23/21

"I had moved to New York City a while back and I can't tell you what a thrill it is to be back in that area. I'll probably have some friends come to the show; we don't get up there that often and I'm really looking forward to it,” said Atlanta Rhythm Section original and current lead singer Rodney Justo as he enthusiastically discussed their upcoming October 8 “Ultimate 70’s Show” at the Bergen PAC in Englewood, NJ with Pure Prairie League and Orleans.

published on 09/23/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/16/21

 "We were slammed and that's the weird thing; we all kind of joked that we couldn't wait to get back to work so we could stop working so much,” laughed Styx keyboardist Lawrence Gowan as he talked about the band’s workload during the COVID pandemic, their new album “Crash Of The Crown” and the ever changing fan base to which they’ve grown accustomed. “It  was really fun actually, because we kept ourselves extremely busy working on this record and I'm really glad that we did because it has already connected so well with people. We did a bunch of streaming things too so we could stay connected with the faithful out there throughout; let's call it, "The Break."

published on 09/16/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/9/21

"The significance of the title is; I was in Los Angeles and it is where I was from when I first met Gary. I'm a mid-westerner just like Gary but we actually met in Los Angeles. A song that he wrote in the seventies was called "L.A. Is Mine" but he never actually finished it, I finished the song and put it out on this new 10 track album that we have now," relayed guitarist and vocalist Michael Jahnz as he discussed his relationship with REO Speedwagon’s Gary Richrath, the Richrath Project 3:13 and their recently released album.  

published on 09/09/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/2/21

When a band leaves the comfort zone of its own backyard and tests the waters beyond their own sphere of influence, a.k.a. friends, family and local venues; there is a certain amount of trepidation and perhaps self-doubt. Will these new audiences like us? Will they like our music? Our stage show? Will the venues and sound guys work with us? These are all legitimate questions and have kept many new road warriors awake at night and then there are others who welcome the challenge, throw all caution and concerns to the wind and view any failures or setbacks as experience and part of a learning curve. 

published on 09/02/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/26/21

"Both albums are very good; one has a retro feel about it and the Long Shadows Dawn uses all of the new technology and that one is bang on the money and the other is 11 years old and was done 13 years ago but it took me two years to get a deal for it," said a laughing Doogie White about his recent releases, proving that what was once old can easily be new again. 

published on 08/26/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/19/21

When you are a multi-platinum selling rock band who rose to fame in the mid-eighties, toured your rear-ends off and lived the "Lifestyle" full tilt for a decade; why would you ever split? Better yet; what caused the split and how or why does one re-unite? 

published on 08/19/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/12/21

"Cosmo's vault of course," he said with a hearty laugh, "it is out there and chuck full of musical delights which will eventually see the light of day and we've got one of the best ones right now; The Clifford/Wright Project. This has some really terrific players on it; it sounds great. I actually listened to it like a guy who just picked it up at a local record shop (laughs); I sat and listened to it and I don't do that too often." 

published on 08/12/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/5/21

"Jazzforpeace.org is the website; there is a lot of stuff on YouTube and Vimeo but there is a recent livestream that took place at a club in Upstate New York and you can Google Jazz For Peace, Rick DellaRatta or Caffe Lena which was the name of the place and you can see a very recent performance." 

published on 08/05/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/29/21

"OK, let's see, I grew up on Long Island, New York and then moved upstate to Ulster County to go to college at SUNY New Paltz where I studied Public Relations and started my first band. I kind of fell in love with the area and I've lived in Ulster County ever since where I've played a lot of music in a lot of bands throughout the years and about 10 years ago I started playing with this band; not all the same members but The Ark-Tones formed around 2011/2012 I believe and since then we have released three albums of original material, have toured extensively around the country, a little bit in Europe and just put out our third studio album. My husband and I also play as a duo called The Gold Hope Duo and we released a live album a couple of years back."

published on 07/29/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/22/21

"Whole Nother World," it's eight tracks and it came out on May 28 and it hit number one on roots charts for soul/blues album, it hit number two on International Broadcasters in the UK so there was a lot that has happened and it's not just me it's the whole project. The musicians are just experts in what they do and the sound engineer; the recording was done in Baton Rouge but he resides in my area and the guy has elephant ears (laughs) and that really was the end point, the mastering was incredible."

published on 07/22/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/15/21

"That's just the name of the band, the last time we existed we were 19 years old and it was just sort of a goofy name. There's no huge meaning; we were walking down the street on Telegraph Avenue and noticing people chattering in our group about this thing and that thing with a Jenny and a second Jenny and a third Jenny; the name just kept coming up so we just sort of thought that was cute but now we're not particularly attached to it, it's just what you call us."

published on 07/15/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/8/21

 "I am one third of the band, we are co-conspirators, we're collaborators, we write everything together, we play everything together, we all sing lead and we all sing harmony; I can also play guitar," stated statuesque Grace Pettis of Austin, TX based Americana/Pop/Folk trio Nobody's Girl.

published on 07/08/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/1/21

“In my mind, each of the songs is a tiny boat I constructed, which I now hope to launch across a glassy pond, or -more like it- a turbulent sea," said multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, session player and performer James DiGirolamo in a recent press release about his new EP titled "Paper Boats." 

published on 07/01/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/24/21

Some artists burst onto the scene, others toil for years until they catch a break and then there are others who start their journeys and due to undeniable talent rise up almost immediately; Taylor Tote falls into the last category. 

published on 06/24/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/17/21

Alan Hewitt, and his band mates which comprise One Nation have extensive resumes; very extensive resumes. The Moody Blues, Pat Benatar, Motley Crue, Britney Spears, NSYNC, Martina McBride and John Lodge are only a handful from the list of artists this group of musicians have performed with or supported. 

published on 06/17/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/10/21

Greg Kihn, Sammy Hagar, Ambrosia, GTR with Steve Howe are just a few of the world renowned musicians and bands that multi-instrumentalist Robert Berry has worked with both on stage and off but perhaps it is his association with the great Carl Palmer and the late Keith Emerson in the band "3" that has been one of his greatest accomplishments and with the release of "Third Impression" things have come full circle.

published on 06/10/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/3/21

"A big thing for me with this album on top of putting out number two and the special guests who are on it; it is actually going to be on vinyl. I kid you not, I wrote out my bucket list and having my original music on vinyl is on there. So, soon I'll get to check that off and that's very, very big; I'm very excited about it," stated Johnathan Pushkar as he gets set to release his second album on June 4; an album which features special guests, a new single and one that has him positively over the moon with enthusiasm. 

published on 06/03/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/27/21

There are various schools of thought when releasing a record, one could be every couple of years, another immediately on the heels of the previous but rarely does a band wait nearly three decades to release a follow up; especially after a successful debut album. 

published on 05/27/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/20/21

"For me it's where I started; I started in the blues-rock world and that's kind of where I am," says blues rocker Dustin Douglas as he discussed his band The Electric Gentlemen, their new record, video and more. 

published on 05/20/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/13/21

"Definitely the academics; I had a lot of favorite teachers. I also liked The Bent Spoon with the cupcakes and the ice cream; I'm kind of a sweet tooth person so The Bent Spoon was good for that, I like to look back at those memories," laughed multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Cristina Vane as she recalled her time spent as a student at Princeton University; just a part of this young talented music maker's journey which has been continued with the release of her first full-length album, "Nowhere Sounds Lovely." 

published on 05/13/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/6/21

"You've got it, that's where I get my fix and I don't get it anywhere else; not like there," emphatically stated legendary guitarist and founding member of Grand Funk Railroad, Mark Farner as he discussed the joys of performing as well as his new concert DVD, "From Chile` With Love." 

published on 05/06/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/29/21

"That whole album was made in Muscle Shoals with the Muscle Shoals band; The Swampers. The same guys that played with everybody from Aretha to Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Stones with Roger Hawkins on the drums, David Hood on the bass, Jimmy Johnson was alive then on the guitar, Clayton Ivey on keyboards because Barry Beckett had passed; Steve Cropper co-produced it with me and yeah, we had a blast making that record because that was a great band."

published on 04/29/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/22/21

Bill Schnee (Pronounced Sch-Nay) has worked with some of the biggest names in music covering all genres, all styles and all walks of life. He has been nominated or won Grammy Awards for his work through the decades and has worked with artists such as Melissa Manchester, Carly Simon, Marvin Gaye, Ringo Starr, Olivia Newton-John, Pablo Cruise, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, David Sanborn, The Jackson 5, The Pointer Sisters, Steely Dan and the list goes on and on and on; a list which has paved the road for his latest endeavor, a book or as he says, "Memoir" of his illustrious career called, "Chairman At The Board Recording the Soundtrack of a Generation." 

published on 04/22/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/15/21

"You know, if it's not me; I don't think people will like it," laughed blues artist Gina Coleman as she emphasized how personally and deeply connected she is to her music and the blues. "There is a level of authenticity that has to come across for it to be legit for people who want to hear it; not all blues music is sad and downtrodden and I don't want people to slip into that notion. It has to be deeply personal in order to relate to the masses and if it's not personal then I don't feel the sense in putting it out there. So, yes, absolutely, everything I put out there has a personal connection whether it be from my own personal experiences or the personal experiences of people who are close to me."

published on 04/15/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/8/21

Thee Holy Brothers are comprised of two mainstays; Johnny B Holy aka Willie Aron and Buddy Holy aka Marvin Etzioni and this pair of experienced musicians have a long history both on and off the stage; no matter who may join them.

published on 04/08/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/1/21

Very few people know the meaning of passion, let alone understand the sacrifices required to follow it but musician, singer-songwriter, podcaster, activist and author Danny Rongo not only understands; he has made it a way of life.

published on 04/01/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/25/21

Emily James began what is a very promising career by writing her first music at the tender age of just 10 years old. Claiming influences ranging from classic rockers like Bob Dylan and Fleetwood Mac to recent pop such as Adele; James is that rare combination of driven and passionate yet possesses a softness that makes her the real deal; genuinely likeable with innocence that draws one to her like moths to a flame.

published on 03/25/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/18/21

The unexpected passing of guitar great Larry Coryell caught the jazz world off-guard leaving many in shock and disbelief. Widely considered to be one of the most innovative and greatest players of all-time, Coryell is often credited as one of the founding fathers of the jazz fusion genre and as the saying goes; "Often imitated and never duplicated." 

published on 03/18/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/11/21

 Shaw Davis & The Black Ties; if you haven't heard of this trio from Pompano Beach, Florida, don't worry you will. 

published on 03/11/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/4/21

"It's a full-length album; 10 tracks and it's in heart shaped packaging. Those were a fun thing and I'm glad we got them printed in time to get them; the guy was like, we are going to chance it and I thought well, let's just chance it and if they don't get done in time we'll just send them out next year," laughed the effervescent voice artist, comedienne, actress and musician Grey DeLisle. "It was just a cool idea; they aren't just for Valentine's Day; heartbreak happens all the time." 

published on 03/04/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/25/21

"I've complained about it my whole life because I've got to spell it and spell it and spell it but it has served me well," said Nashville recording artist Brennen Leigh as she lamented her name's unique spelling.

published on 02/25/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/18/21

"We have our fourth album in the works and we're going to be releasing four songs from that as the first EP; the album is due out later this year as it's been in the works for a while but the EP we are aiming to have out by March or April. It is going to be called "Coalescence" and this first EP and the subsequent EPs will be volumes 1, 2 and 3. So, "Coalescence Volume 1" will be out; that's what we've agreed to," says Cold Weather Company keyboardist and vocalist Steve Shimchick as he and guitarist Brian Curry discussed the band, their upcoming multi-part release and more.

published on 02/18/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/11/21

"We just finished another record and we'd love to be out playing but that's not going to happen because everything is closed down. So, the record company is trying to promote the record which just shipped out on the fifteenth of January and they're doing the best they can and the publicists and all that to promote it. So, that's that; I know that's kind of dull but there is nothing going on because of COVID. We are lucky enough to have a label that's active, Carry On but yeah, most people are making music and then it's; what do I do with it now?"

published on 02/11/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/4/21

"I couldn't be better; well, I suppose I could be but I'm perfectly happy where I am," joked Walking Papers lead vocalist Jeff Angell as he discussed the release of "The Light Below;" the band's third album, their formation, assembling during a pandemic and more. 

published on 02/04/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/28/21

"It boils down to the songs; whether it's my song, "Way back When" or "Real Fine Day," a number of those songs really sound in the spirit of Firefall. So, we're really happy with it and really happy to hear that we accomplished sounding old and reminiscent of how great the music of the '70's was but also with our eyes on the future." 

published on 01/28/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/21/21

When the word "Quartet"  is at the end of a moniker, one would expect the number four to be prevalent; not so much the case for the three veteran musicians who make up The Lickerish Quartet.

published on 01/21/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/14/21

"Battened down the hatches, sittin' around twiddling our thumbs and wanting to go on tour," laughed guitarist Freddy Ordine as he elaborated on the current status of North Jersey based Weapons Of Anew. 

published on 01/14/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/7/21

"I'm doing alright, I'm hanging in there and still doing music my own way; still with The Catholic Girls, still writing books and music no matter what goes on because I'm hoping for a good future." 

published on 01/07/2021

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/31/20

"I'm in the Bahamas and this is where my children were born; I've been here for a number of years and we're back and forth to Spain which is where I met Adam and Christian. Adam and Christian are from England but they're now over in Spain. I'm American but our rhythm section, our bassist and drummer are friends of mine who are studio musicians here in the Bahamas; so they are Bahamian. So, it is kind of an intermingled group; it kind of reminds us of what we saw with The Police who had cross Anglo-American synergy but it works really well." 

published on 12/31/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/24/20

"It's been a long journey so far; it feels long but it has been less than 10 years, "stated world renowned Tenor Jonathan Antoine as he discussed his newest album, his literary career and more. 

published on 12/24/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/17/20

What do you do when the new album you are set to release gets pushed back by a pandemic? Well, if you're Candice Night you create an EP of timeless Christmas classics designed to enlighten and revive the holiday spirit in all. 

published on 12/17/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/10/20

WARNING: The following article contains strong language.

published on 12/10/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/3/20

"I am very, very fortunate to be a blues man from Israel and to be signed to an American blues label; I paid my dues for it and I've worked for it," states Israel's most notable blues guitarist Andy Watts as he discussed his new album, working with blues greats Kenny Neal, Joe Louis Walker and Eliza Neals, the blues scene in his native land and more. 

published on 12/03/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/26/20

"I'm Northern Irish and living in Los Angeles, California and this is my fifth solo record, it's called "When Life Was Hard and Fast" and it came out February 19 on Nuclear Blast. I'm very excited about it,"stated guitarist Ricky Warwick as he discussed his new record, his childhood, growing up near Belfast during "The Troubles" and much more. 

published on 11/26/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/19/20

"I'm working on a couple of different things. I'm constantly putting out singles of some of my original songs and some covers; there will be some more music videos down the line too but for now I'm chillin' and having a good day. I'm usually in L.A. but when COVID hit I was on tour so I decided to come back and hang out with my parents a bit here in Prescott, Arizona."

published on 11/19/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/12/20

"We're all from New York City but different boroughs. I'm originally from Massachusetts, Julien Budrino our drummer is from France, Martin(Stubbs) is from Pennsylvania right outside of Philadelphia and Marley Myrianthopoulos our bass player may be the only one who is actually from New York City; I rehearse more for his name than I do the music; it's always fun to say that on stage depending on how many beers I've had,"said a laughing Chris Paine guitarist and lead vocalist of The Midnight Callers as he and lead guitarist/vocalist Martin Stubbs spoke of the band's origins, Jem Records, their new album and more. 

published on 11/12/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/5/20

"I really don't have a whole lot to complain about, the bills are paid and so is the rent,"says analways jovial John Nemeth."I'm very excited that my new record released and I've been signing records all day, everyday and getting them out to the post office; so things are grand and I'm lovin' it!"

published on 11/05/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/29

"I'm in the middle of recording my ninth album; I can't get any players in now so I'm doing it all on my own."

published on 10/29/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/22/20

"Most of these songs are like old friends to us; we grew up with them and they stuck with us both musically and lyrically. A song like "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian is one that we covered and it helped all three of us get through our teenaged years and it still resounds with people today. So, we've gotten to be old friends and these songs certainly are like that also."

published on 10/22/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/15/20

“I’ve never seen 4 men with more ambition and hunger to get into the music world!!” Jeff Howell of FOGHAT, SAVORY BROWN & THE OUTLAWS 

published on 10/15/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/8/20

"This record is for people that are struggling with addiction, it's for people who are in long term recovery, they will hear something in there that will remind them of why they are in long term recovery, it's for people who support the recovery lifestyle; whether you have somebody that is struggling or in recovery and last but not least this is just a loud and proud rock 'n' roll record for all of you fans of the bands that I played with over the years." 

published on 10/08/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...10/1/20

"Gypsy soul," "Unforgettable Character" and "Gorgeous with a unique voice "have all been used to describe Melody Federer; one of the most talented singer/songwriters out there today. 

published on 10/01/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/24/20

"I'm hanging in there," said guitarist Kirk Fletcher with a laugh."I'm doing fantastic over here in Switzerland but I'm originally from the Los Angeles, California area." 

published on 09/24/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/17/20

So, if you are a Connecticut Yankee in Paris, France's food court; what do you do on September 26, 2020? You celebrate "National Pancake Day" and you do so even if you're on another continent all together.

published on 09/17/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...09/10/20

This is Karen and I'm in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This is Sharon and I'm in hot and sunny Phoenix, Arizona." 

published on 09/10/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/3/20

"I am over all very well," said a buoyant and excited Nick Perri as he discussed his recent release, the single which was dropped ahead of the album and much more. "I was born and raised in and around the Philadelphia area; I'm an east coast guy through and through. I did happen to marry a California girl so I was bi-coastal for a bit and living in the Southern California area but I am back now in the Philadelphia area and happy to be back home."

published on 09/03/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...08/27/20

"I'm safe, I'm COVID free, it's a sunny day in Minneapolis and nothing has gone wrong today; I'm good," said a laughing Jonatha Brooke as she began discussing her latest effort entitled "The Sweetwater Sessions," her one-woman play, living in Minnesota and more. 

published on 08/27/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/20/20

"That's a just a funny tongue in cheek southern thing; it's kind of sassy tongue in cheek. I think everyone may have their own meaning for it as to why we named it that. I remember my grandmother on my dad's side was southern and I'd go over there and she'd be cooking fried chicken and collard greens and say, "Bless Your Heart" kind of sarcastically; like they don't know anything but not derogatory, or you can say it literally; it can be taken either way.

published on 08/20/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/13/20

Forty-one albums in forty-five years doesn't leave much down time but if you're Georgia folk artist John McCutcheon, you thrive off of the "Creative process" and if you happen to be in self-quarantine mode; it makes it that much easier.

published on 08/13/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/6/20

"We have everybody involved," said Brian Erick with a laugh as he elaborated on his latest endeavor, "Demos For A Difference." "It's a fundraising compilation and it benefits the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; we have just a shade over 180 artists involved. There are plenty of people from our area; Dave Vargo, Renee from Lowlight, Tara Dente, Mark Tappan, Bobby Mahoney are all involved and that's just off the top of my head. We have artists from New York City, from across our country, we have a couple from Europe and I say artists because it's not just musicians. We have some spoken word, poetry; a lot of interesting stuff here." 

published on 08/06/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/30/20

"There's no re-creating a live performance whether you're playing for four people or 4,000; it's just irreplaceable but I'll be honest with you, there's the whole process of it too; getting your stuff ready, getting there, the whole thing. There are parts of it that you probably didn't even realize or at least think or say that you'd ever miss; like setting up your gear to play a gig or a sound check but you do; you know?"

published on 07/30/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...07/23/20

"We did some celebrity videos; Tico Torres from Bon Jovi giving us his voice, Kenny Gamble from Gamble and Huff giving us his voice, Rob Hyman from The Hooters giving us his testimonial endorsement, Christine Ebersole, Siobhan Fallon from SNL; there's a lot of celebrities coming out to back us."

published on 07/23/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/16/20

According to "Webster" the definition of respect is as follows: "A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements" and perhaps there is no musician more respected in the Trenton, NJ music scene than Tom Reock.

published on 07/16/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/9/20

"That's why I'm on your show, something big is gonna come from this," laughed comedian Poppy Champlin as we talked Covid-19, comedy, bird calls, swim suits and more on an upcoming episode of "Danny Coleman's Rock On Radio." 

published on 07/09/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/2/20

"What We're Made Of" is an older song but during the pandemic we kind of decided to do the whole social distancing Zoom thing," says American Nomads keyboardist and co-founder Walter Kenul (Pron. Kennel) with a laugh as he discussed the band's recent release of two older singles which are very relevant in today's world. Richard Humann our lyricist thought of it and we all agreed; it turned out great and we're very happy with it."

published on 07/02/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/25/20

"I'm trying to; it's just such a tough business and with everything else going on," and as his voice trailed off, a pensive but forthright Billy Craig began discussing his most recent release, the status of The Brownsville Station and his current single "Margarita Way." 

published on 06/25/2020

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Zara Phillips

”It’s great working with Zara because she has clear ideas of what she wants to achieve. Her life has been eventful, so she has no shortage of subject matter, and she sings beautifully. I feel she is about to start another phase of her career.”  -- Richard Thompson

published on 06/23/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/18/20

"I'll take it all, I'll take any title that you can give me," said screenwriter, producer and actor Jeff Auer with a laugh as he discussed his latest venture; a film which he calls a "Rock 'n' roll comedy" titled "The Incoherents."

published on 06/18/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/11/20

"Shout" turned out to be rather prophetic because it's really about the idea of being stuck in a place; stuck in a place that you can't get out of for a period of time, that you don't know how long it's going to last and I think that a lot of us are feeling that way right now." 

published on 06/11/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...6/4/20

"It’s great working with Zara because she has clear ideas of what she wants to achieve. Her life has been eventful, so she has no shortage of subject matter, and she sings beautifully. I feel she is about to start another phase of her career."                                           ~Richard Thompson~

published on 06/04/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/28/20

"My mom says "Stein" and my dad says "Steen" so there ya go that's why I'm still confused about it," said Foreigner's Michael Bluestein with a laugh as he corrected this particular journalist on the pronunciation of his last name; "I always went with mom's version." 

published on 05/28/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/21/20

"The release has been pushed back a few weeks because of delayed shipping with the LPs; we could see that there was going to be a delay anyway so we pushed it back a few weeks," says Nick Piunti as he discussed his band's latest release "Downtime" and much more. "The distributors are going to hold off until early June but it will be digitally available on May 22 and not in the stores until June but it will also be available on our Band Camp."

published on 05/21/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/14/20

"I'm doing actually really well all things considered," said Styx drummer Todd Sucherman with a hearty laugh as he discussed pandemics, Styx and the trials and tribulations detailed on his first solo effort called, "Last Flight Home."

published on 05/14/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/7/20

"All That Matters," it's a phrase one usually hears during an argument or perhaps when someone tries their best and fails. However in the case of vocal group Lights Out; this particular phrase means a whole lot more. 

published on 05/07/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/30/20

"The timing was not in our favor but we are happy with the end product," says blues musician Michael Mills as he discussed the band which bears his name, their new CD, its release party and more. 

published on 04/30/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/23/20

The following are the recollections of a fortunate man; someone who considers himself to be very lucky for reasons too numerous to mention. 

published on 04/23/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/16/20

"We are where we are, this is such an insane time; it seems so unreal, it's like apocalyptic or something."

published on 04/16/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/9/20

"I've played with WC handy Award winning vocalists and on a number of CDs, some distributed by Rounder Records; I don't have a ton of credits but I've always made my own music and I've always made my way as a hustling musician and produced my own projects."

published on 04/09/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...4/2/20

"I was born there and lived there until I was about eight years old," says singer/songwriter Tom Sless. "My dad's side of the family has lived in the South Jersey area since they came here from Europe in the early 1900's. They all settled in Atlantic City and I was born in Somers Point, grew up for a little bit in Ventnor then we moved to Linwood on the mainland when I was two years old. I lived there until around 2000 when my parents, siblings and I moved to Baltimore."

published on 04/02/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/26/20

Sometimes things are what they appear to be and others; not so much. Such is the case with Syracuse, NY based rock band Epic Tantrum who have drawn comparisons such as this one from graphic artist Ioannis, "Epic Tantrum is like the bastard children of Rush and Steely Dan. Powerful clever songs with twists and turns and musicianship to match."

published on 03/26/2020

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Gloria Gaynor Enjoys A Gospel Rebirth

“I plan to continue recording gospel music. I think this is like the beginning of a new era for me and it’s off to a good start, so my purpose is to do another gospel album this year and see where it takes me,” explained legendary songstress Gloria Gaynor as she discussed her revitalized career. 

published on 03/23/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/19/20

"The Outlaws always turn in a great performance at that particular venue and that's why they always ask us back." 

published on 03/19/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/12/20

"Well I plan to continue recording gospel music. I think this is like the beginning of a new era for me and I think it's getting off to a good start so my purpose is to do another gospel album this year and see where it takes me," so says legendary songstress Gloria Gaynor as she discussed her revitalized career. 

published on 03/12/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...3/5/20

"I've been very good; I'm incredibly busy and it doesn't get any less busy. I'm just putting the finishing touches to my autobiography which is already officially on sale before I've even finished it but it's really in the finishing touches so I'm trying to get this all sorted before I head into rehearsals for the forthcoming tour."

published on 03/05/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/27/20

The Dictators helped launch the CBGBs era of punk rock in New York City, then came Shakin' Street, Manowar, Brain Surgeons, Death Dealer and now a solo career and the common thread throughout is New York City raised Ross The Boss.

published on 02/27/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/20/20

" I'm an entertainer, I love it and when I walk on that stage I become another person. I know my audiences and I know what to do to make them smile and how to make them happy. I always like to fulfill requests if I know ahead of time; I love to do that; who doesn't like to make people happy?"

published on 02/20/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/13/20

"No I'm driving all the way up just to play Lizzie's and then I'm driving right back, " joked talented blues man John Nemeth as he discussed his February 13 appearance at the Lizzie Rose Music Room in Tuckerton, NJ; just one of the stops on his current East Coast Tour. 

published on 02/13/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...2/6/20

"Man, ya know, once you really start getting into it and really studying the nuances of what some of these guys did in laying the groundwork for all of us in rock and music in general; it's heavy, it's a heavy thing."

published on 02/06/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/30/20

"We've been together for 17 years, we've been together a long time," says guitarist/vocalist Pete Bernhard. "I was a teenager when I started playing out live by myself and then in a few punk bands and then I started The Devil Makes Three in my early twenties."

published on 01/30/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/23/20

"It's pretty busy around here; my ongoing joke is that I'm juggling about eight or nine knives and I'm trying not to cut anybody right now," stated a laughing Barbara Newman as she discussed the upcoming International Blues Challenge.

published on 01/23/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/16/20

"I'm lucky, I've got a great and fun hobby playing music," says the happy go lucky artist Matt Portella as he talked music, his band mates and more ahead of his upcoming January 25 show at The Vault in Berlin, NJ.

published on 01/16/2020

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...1/9/20

"You can't judge a book by its cover" is an old adage and Jesper Lindgren and Jonas Ericksson may be the perfect example of this tried and true saying. Together the duo make up the Swedish act Velvet Insane and even though they have the look of 80's metal musicians they have a sound which begs to differ.

published on 01/09/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/2/20

"The champions are the people who are pointing to the future and that

published on 01/02/2020

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/26/19

Another year is in the books and as we get set to turn the page on 2019 and look back upon our triumphs and tragedies, successes and failures of the last 12 months we should all keep this in mind; it is never as good or as bad as it possibly could have been. 

published on 12/26/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/19/19

"That's the power of music; some people put their foot in the water and they get out but the stage is a jealous mistress and it wants all of you or none of you. When you choose that, there's a lot of things that you give up in life; you could do both, it's all doable it's just that it is a struggle and you do get those glorious moments and I find it worth it. Choices, you've got to choose, to me life is risk; one week you're struggling and then the next you're doing great."

published on 12/19/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/12/19

Most artists in today's climate like to release a single here, a single there or perhaps even a three or four song EP every six months under the guise of, "Staying relevant" or catering to, "People's short attention span" but Dave Vargo isn't like most.

published on 12/12/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...12/5/19

"Fake Jazz & Theme Songs" is the "Official" debut album from Lady Antebellum guitarist Slim Gambill and it is representative of a career, no, make that a journey which seems to have come full circle. 

published on 12/05/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/28/19

"I'm the only one singing lead vocals but the other guys kind of scream in the microphone once in a while for back-ups," laughed former Child's Play drummer turned Charm City Devils lead vocalist John Allen as he discussed the band's new EP "1904" his personal "Crusade" for his hometown and more.

published on 11/28/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/21/19

"I just got back from Denmark about four days ago and I

published on 11/21/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...11/14/19

"To be honest with you, that happens to everybody; doesn

published on 11/14/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/7/19

There are soundtracks to movies, television mini-series, documentaries and more; then there are what perhaps may be the biggest ones of all; the soundtracks of our lives. 

published on 11/07/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/31/19

"Our band goes for it every live set and I think "Attitudinal Olives" reflects that vibe. Slee and this CD bring the hard, classic rock as if it

published on 10/31/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/24/19

"My last album had three original songs and this one has six; it's 14 tracks all together. I never understood that honestly, why bands drop music months apart. I mean I understand the argument for it because it's been said that the more frequently you're putting music out the more attention you can get but I feel like the amount of time, effort and thought that goes into creating something that's full length has a huge impact on the quality of what you put together."

published on 10/24/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/17/19

"I think it's great when music inspires people to do things. I find that absolutely fascinating and I think it's an important part of how the people who are listening to music and get into music can actually relate to the people making it and also how the people who are making it can relate to those who are listening to it."

published on 10/17/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/10/19

"Oh no, that's like asking if you have a favorite Beatle album," laughed Micky Dolenz when asked if he had a favorite song from The Beatles "White Album." It's impossible, I get asked that all of the time; there's so many great songs off of the album. I know I'll be doing "U.S.S.R" which I love and "Rocky Raccoon" which I used to sing to my children as a lullaby (laughs). There's just so many; gosh where do you start? There's so many great tunes." 

published on 10/10/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/3/19

"A friend of my mom and dad's was playing "The Only Thing Is Love" and "Trilogy" on a stereo at their house and I wasn't much of a rocker at the time, I was probably about nine and I had been playing classical music like Bach but he was  playing"Trilogy" and it got to the synthesizer part and I wondered; what is that sound? Then one day my mom gave me a compilation of ELP tracks and that was the start," says musical virtuoso Rachel Flowers as she recounted how she became enamored with progressive rock music at an early age. 

published on 10/03/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/26/19

an·a·log /ˈanlˌôɡ/ adjective relating to or using signals or information represented by a continuously variable physical quantity such as spatial position, voltage, etc.

published on 09/26/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/19/19

"When we made our debut we had been together for two months and we did like a five song set," says Brian Erickson of The Extensions as he and the band prepare for the release of their first six song EP, "Bellicose."

published on 09/19/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/12/19

The Bucks County Playhouse means various things to various people; to some it's just, "That building that gets flooded by the river," to others it's, "The old gristmill" and yet to thespians and others in the know; it's a pre-Broadway launching pad, destination for aspiring entertainers and one of the finest theaters in the entire country. 

published on 09/12/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...9/5/19

"Yacht Rock," the very words conjure up images of stuffy, ascot adorned, wealthy individuals on insanely large boats; or perhaps Ted Knight's Judge Smails character in the comedy cult classic, "Caddyshack." 

published on 09/05/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/29/19

Grim Reaper was formed circa 1979 in the UK and featured Nick Bowcott and vocalist Paul de Mercado. Their fate was short lived however and after a break up was quickly reformed by Bowcott; this time with Dave Wanklin, Lee Harris and Steve Grimmett. The four jelled instantly and from there began their ascent to prominence after they bested 100 other groups in a battle of the bands competition; eventually leading them to signing a deal with Ebony Records.

published on 08/29/2019

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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...8/22/19

"We're coming up to the Northeast on August 24 for a show in Clifton, NJ and because we released a new CD," says Lola Montez lead vocalist Inga Rudin as she and band mate Blake Scopino discussed their new release and upcoming area shows

published on 08/22/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/15/19

"Ambosia is playing quite a bit, we do about 60 dates a year; not as much as some but more than others. We're having a lot f fun, we do our own shows where we do the prog, the pop, the rock; we do it all and a couple of months out of the year we do "Yacht Rock" shows where we get together with all of our friends like Steven Bishop, Peter Beckett, John Ford Coley, Walter Egan and we do like a review show and we are doing a lot of that over the next month."

published on 08/15/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/8/19

A little more than a year ago, Neshanic Station, NJ songwriter/guitarist Tom Flynn released "Travels," a 10 track disc that lives up to its name. "Travels" meanders in and out of styles, genres and tempos while taking the listeners on an eclectic journey inside the artist's songwriting mind. 

published on 08/08/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/1/19

"Raw; I'd say raw is probably the word," says drummer Josh Roossin of  Southern California based band, The Jacks. "The energy, our sound and the way we perform; when we're on stage we are playing everything that you're hearing. We don't use any backing tracks or any extra things. When we record we do it the same way, we're not adding any crazy production that we wouldn't be able to play live. I'm not knocking any bands that do that, that's totally fine and there is nothing wrong with that; that's just the way we like to hear our music, just us playing it so that's why I feel like it's raw and energetic."

published on 08/01/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/25/19

"Boy has radio changed; has it not? The whole business has changed, it's a different world," says the man simply known as Kreskin as he discussed his upcoming July 27 appearance at Tuckerton's Lizzie Rose Music Room. 

published on 07/25/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/18/19

"We're in San Antonio Texas today and it's been great! The crowds have been really responsive, it's kind of really cool for us because we're the heavier band out here so we kind of stick out so it gives us the chance to go out there and set the bar pretty high; it's been a great tour."

published on 07/18/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/11/19

"We're a full blown band but it's a singles environment again and we released two of them in the last year; so we do two or three single releases a year. We have an agency in Los Angeles that handles our music in terms of publishing, so it's a serious effort all the way around," says American Nomads lyricist Richard Humann as he discussed the band, their writing process and more. 

published on 07/11/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/4/19

When you're Franke Previte and you've had success as a front man for the popular 80's group Franke & The Knockouts; what's next? Well in Previte's case you pen two of the most recognizable tunes of a now iconic movie soundtrack, win Academy and Golden Globe Awards for "Best Original Song" and go on in life doing what you love and loving what you do.

published on 07/04/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/27/19

"I really enjoyed my eight years in Sammy's band; what you see is what you get with Sammy. He's always in a good mood, very optimistic, a great singer, terrific musician; he'd always give us a pep talk and tell us how each year was going to be bigger than the last and he was right. We'd sell more records, play to bigger crowds; I really hated to see it break up."

published on 06/27/2019

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Anthony Gomes: Canadian Bluesman

“The blues, for me, made sense of everything,” said Anthony Gomes, a blues artist from Toronto who currently calls St. Louis home. “I love Jimi Hendrix and I love a lot of rock ‘n’ roll music, but when I heard B.B. King it all came together for me. It was sort of like I was on the outside looking in and when I heard the blues I was on the inside for the first time. I understood what was out there and it was a great feeling. So, to me, the blues is the truth.”

published on 06/24/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/20/19

Collective Soul has recorded, released and performed music for more than 25 years and even though there have been deviations from the original line up they have persevered, adapted and continue to move forward as this current "Now's The Time Tour 2019" supporting their recent release, "Blood" can attest. 

published on 06/20/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/13/19

"Music seems to last in all shapes and forms and progressive rock will always survive in some shape or form," states Alan White, one of rock's most revered and respected drummers as he discussed "The Royal Affair Tour" which kicked off June 12 in Bethlehem, PA with scheduled stops June 15 at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, NJ and June 16 at The PNC Bank Center in Holmdel as well as his long career with YES and more. 

published on 06/13/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/6/19

"As much as I love the internet, sometimes I think if it just went away; in a lot of ways we'd have a much better society."

published on 06/06/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/30/19

"I was born the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas but grew up mostly in the Columbia, MD area but have recently settled a bit south of the Philly area," says blues/funk artist Vanessa Collier who is about to make The Levoy Theater in Millville, NJ her next stop this Saturday June 1. 

published on 05/30/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/23/19

"The blues for me made sense of everything. I love Jimi Hendrix and I love a lot of rock 'n' roll music but when I heard B.B. King it all came together for me. It was sort of like I was on the outside looking in and when I heard the blues I was on the inside for the first time. I understood what was out there and it was a great feeling; so the blues to me is the truth."

published on 05/23/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/16/19

People become musicians or artists for various reasons; some are pushed into it by parents aspirations, some develop an aptitude early on through experimentation and others, well, they just love being creative. The common thread within this cloth is a love of performing and sharing these talents with friends, family and although some may deny it; an audience. 

published on 05/16/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/9/19

"I thought of that name for the group because first, I always liked the candy and thought it was very special stuff; kind of like medicine that tasted good," says lead vocalist and guitarist Mimi Betinis of the '70's "Power Pop" group PEZBAND. "What really kind of fascinated me was the letter combination; P E Z. I thought it was kind of unusual and out of high school we had a little jam band and called it PEZ and then I thought; why don't we make it something that people will only associate with us instead of the candy? So I decided to call it PEZBAND so that the name just meant the group instead of the candy."

published on 05/09/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/2/19

"Middletown" is a production written by playwright Dan Clancy and stars Cindy Williams, Didi Conn, Adrian Zmed and Donny Most; a veteran cast of thespians brought together in what's being called a, "Dramady." 

published on 05/02/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/26/19

"Steve DeAcutis is a treasure; he's a really talented guy. I'm with Deko Records, Steve is Sound Spa Productions; it's an amazing place."

published on 04/26/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/18/19

"In Germany when we started out it wasn't like a bar scene that we played. We played in a lot of youth places; where people congregated in art centers and stuff like that or at school events. It was only when the Scorpions came that I started playing bars and places like that." 

published on 04/18/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/11/19

"We had great success with "You Really Got Me" and "All The Day and All The Night" and "I Need You" and "She's Got Everything;" there's quite a few Kinks tracks recorded that have my guitar sound on it. The Kinks music was very varied, it's not just hard rock, it's a mixture of many things really."

published on 04/11/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/4/19

"It was a development; I know what you're asking but there's no answer," says legendary guitarist Martin Barre as he discussed 50 years of Jethro Tull, his time spent with group and their success. "I never had a eureka moment, the band never had something happen that changed our lives overnight. We just worked really, really hard every week of every month of every year for a long, long time and it developed a career. We had good albums, we had albums that weren't so strong but it was always the touring that was really good, we were always known to be a live act, a live band and it just grew. It was a really slow development like being on the back burner of a cooker, the flavor is rich and intense but it's well seasoned. It wasn't a flash in the pan and I quite like that, so there were no gigs where I could say wow that really changed my life and I enjoyed everything. I loved the tiny clubs, the huge festivals; live music can be really varied and it brings the same sort of joy in whatever format it is but I just like the history because it was never crazy. We never had a year where we were flying around in private jets and staying in five star penthouse hotel suites; we never did it. We were comfortable, we were successful but it was always the music came first and the work came first. We worked hard and I think that brings a different reward." 

published on 04/04/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/28/19

"I think that I have a rebellious nature and it's always bothered me that people aren't more willing to talk about sex; especially female sexuality. I think I talk about sex for the same reason that I talk about radical politics because nobody else is talking about it" and rest assured that there is nobody else like Carsie Blanton.

published on 03/28/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/21/19

Dean Friedman is yet another example of the depth of New Jersey's talent pool. This native son of Paramus has eight albums, more than four decades of experience, multiple hits and a zest for making music that many of today's artists lack. 

published on 03/21/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/14/19

"We flew in and did our first ever opening show in the US at The Fillmore East with Bill Graham who had previously booked our friends Ten Years After from Chrysalis Records; an embryonic record company, they had proceeded us by a year in the USA, rather like Led Zeppelin did. So Ten Years After were the senior model for the beginning of our career there because we shared the same management and agency and that began our long journey." 

published on 03/14/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/7/19

To the current generation a "Cosmo" is a pretty drink, a character from a cartoon or a space reference but to those who've come before; Cosmo is the middle moniker of one Doug "Cosmo" Clifford drummer and one half of the legendary rhythm section of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

published on 03/07/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/28/19

"We're absolutely thrilled to be coming back to the States! We absolutely love coming over to see you guys and you're always so lovely to us and always give us such a warm lovely reception," says Mairead Carlin of the phenomena that is Celtic Woman.

published on 02/28/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/21/19

Damon Johnson may or may not be a household name to some but to others such as Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Brother Cane and Black Star Riders he is very well known. 

published on 02/21/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/14/19

"Looking very much forward of course to coming back to one of our favorite theaters in the world; it has that magic about it. I remember the first time we played it, it was in the mid to late seventies and we took photographs on the stage because it has that beautiful old feel about it. A U.S. tour would not be the same unless we went to McCarter."

published on 02/14/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/7/19

"I'm doing a show on February 22 in Sellersville, PA. I have never played at the Sellersville Theater; I've wanted to do that for a long time but I never had the opportunity to do so and now I will."

published on 02/07/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/31/19

"We're all from Galveston; our drummer Dexas Villarreal and I have known each other since before high school and we've played together in projects while growing up and then we were in a project for a few years before this band and when that broke up we decided to start working on the three piece idea," says guitarist/vocalist Jonathan Jourdan of the Texas trio To Whom It May.

published on 01/31/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/24/19

"I was like anybody else, I originally just liked their hits and the stuff that you heard on the radio but I think I got into them more later on in life as I started to appreciate their talent. What always amazed me was their ability to perform live as well as they did and the way they segued from one tune to another; it was just brilliant rock 'n' roll and I don't think anyone sounds like them. I thought this well before anyone suggested I write a tune so it was not a recent discovery."

published on 01/24/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/17/19

Dream Feed is a four piece, "Indie/Alternative rock band" from the state of Colorado led by guitarist/vocalist Miguel Dakota whose star began rising when he was a 2014 season nine finalist on "America's Got Talent" where he sang "American Woman" alongside of Lenny Kravitz.

published on 01/17/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/10/19

There are performers, there are entertainers, artists, composers, producers, models and multi-instrumentalists. There is flamboyant, sexy, gutsy, glamorous and confident and then there is the incomparable Phoebe Legere who encompasses all of the aforementioned qualities in abundance and more.

published on 01/10/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/3/19

"I think that when people think you have an agenda it makes them very uncomfortable."

published on 01/03/2019

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/27/18

Sabrina Fallah is an indie recording artist from Ottawa, Ontario Canada who has worked with producers such as Stuart ("Boogie with Stu") Epps, Chris Birkett and Kent Wells who has recently she released her next round of music, an EP titled, "Kiss Is a Killer."

published on 12/27/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/20/18

"It has been absolutely amazing and it just keeps growing," says Uriah Heep founding member and guitarist Mick Box. "I mean, here we are 48 years later still talking about a new album, "Living the Dream" and still going out on tour for months on end. It's an amazing thing; it's the power of music my friend isn't it? Because we are really passionate about what we do, that fuels us with the energy to do it; we do nearly 150 shows a year and just love getting out there and playing, it's what we do." 

published on 12/20/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/13/18

"We started out as fans and then we got into the business and then sometimes the business can be an interesting experience and then you just deal with it and move on and you find out that you really are a musician and this what you're supposed to be doing." 

published on 12/13/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/6/18

"That's Band fan territory so we're really looking forward to it," says Jim Weider, one of rock music's most admired guitarists and member of The Weight Band as he discussed their upcoming 7:30 p.m. December 9 show at the South Orange Performing Arts Center, their new album and more. 

published on 12/06/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/29/18

"If we have to be away from our families we might as well make it count so it's a collection of our best stuff," says Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees as he discussed their current, "98° At Christmas The Holiday Tour," the band reunion, their new release, "Let It Snow" and their upcoming Mayo PAC and Borgata shows here in New Jersey. 

published on 11/29/2018

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Roots Rock Legends: Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore

“Forty years on the highway, living on dreams and gasoline” That’s a line from the wonderful title track of the album  Downey to Lubbock  the first collaboration from Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.  The longtime friends embarked on a series of acoustic shows in Texas, which were so much fun and well received that they decided to create an album. 

published on 11/27/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/22/18

"We've had some really nice stuff said about us over the years and been offered some really nice shows on the back of that so yeah, it's been fantastic," says Killer Queen front man Patrick Myers on receiving glowing reviews from multiple websites; including that of Queen's own guitarist Brian May. 

published on 11/23/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/15/18

"As you get older and the distance and the time goes away, you realize that they might be just people but in reality they are, "Led Zeppelin." I remember saying to those guys in a rehearsal; do you know who you are? You're Led Zeppelin! They laughed a bit and asked when I became such a fan and my response was; too late! Without realizing it; I had been too close to it at the beginning to notice."

published on 11/15/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/8/18

"It never stops, it's crazy because I manage the band right now I'm wearing 10 hats; it's the only way to do it really because too many things have gone wrong in the past because of people who didn't have the same vision. So we're doing things now though, it's amazing." 

published on 11/08/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/1/18

"We toured together just the two of us for most of the year last year and then went out to L.A. in December and January and made the record. After the record was made we started touring with the band so it leaped up a notch," says Jimmie Dale Gilmore as he spoke about the current tour and the November 1 show at the South Orange PAC with duo partner, David Alvin.

published on 11/01/2018

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Bird Streets Take Flight at The Saint in Asbury Park

Brooklyn based band Bird Streets will be making their Asbury Park, NJ debut on November 8 when they come to roost at The Saint; one of the town�s well know original music venues.

published on 10/30/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/25/18

"Basically what we've got here is quite a cinematic approach because I play a lot of instrumentals. We've got a lot of footage being shown at the same time we play that obviously corresponds with the music that you're listening to. There's some epic moments up there and obviously some old pictures from the past, a walk down memory lane and stuff like that but overall it's quite a good experience," said legendary rock drummer Carl Palmer prior to his three night run at New York's famed Iridium.

published on 10/25/2018

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50 Years of Cream Comes to Count Basie Theatre

"It's going over really well I think," says Will Johns of Cream. "We've got a really nice range of age groups coming to the shows and a lot of young guitar players as well; which is really great to see; every young guitar player that I know plays that riff from, "Sunshine of Your Love." 

published on 10/21/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1018/18

"It's pretty exciting to be asked to be part of this thing. I did the week on Broadway as did a few other of my peers and I've been asked to return and do more shows with them and that is really flattering," stated Dee Snider as he once again readies to take the stage as part of, "Rocktopia" at The Bergen PAC in Englewood, NJ Thursday October 18. 

published on 10/18/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/11/18

"You can't just sit down and say I'm going to write a song. You've got to be in a creative mood," says John Lodge, legendary bassist of the Moody Blues as he discussed his latest solo release, "Live From Birmingham," his current tour and two upcoming area shows; October 15 at The Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA and The City Winery in New York City on October 17.

published on 10/11/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/4/18

"Music is always being fine tuned. I think that's the way we want it to be, we never sit back and think we're happy with everything we do. We think it's a necessity to always examine and try to improve, it's a musician's job, you never want to sit still; you're always looking ahead." 

published on 10/04/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/27/18

"Yeah I'm excited to have Kingdom Come back up and running and I'm so excited to have the original four; we have me, Rick Steire, Danny Stag, Johnny "JB" Frank but unfortunately Lenny Wolf the original singer didn't want to come in but we've got Keith St. John and he is phenomenal! He sang with Montrose and I played drums for Montrose and I'm very proud of that and I'll tell you what man, it's come together awesomely!" 

published on 09/27/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/20/18

"Earlier we did a week long run that started off in Kentucky, then the DC area, Jersey and ended up in New York but we had fun playing in Asbury Park," says blues man Reverend Shawn Amos after an appearance at The Wonder Bar. "I love it and I want to get back there, the people are really gracious and they did us right."

published on 09/20/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/13/18

"I couldn't keep a straight face! I can't tell you how many times we had to stop taping because I was cracking up and if I watch episodes now, I know my face and I can watch myself and see where I'm just starting to go and I'm trying not to smile; so much for Lilith and the dead pan. We had a very good editor and that's what that is," stated a laughing Bebe Neuwirth as she recalled her past role as Lilith Sternin-Crane on the popular 80's television sitcom, "Cheers." 

published on 09/13/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/6/18

"We're from Nashville as a band but I'm from New York," said an enthusiastic Elena (pronounced EL-uh-nuh) Franklin as she discussed her band Reality Something and their upcoming September 13 show at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ. "I am so excited to play in Asbury Park! I've not been to the Jersey shore since I was a kid with a friend's family I think it was; so we  are looking forward to it."

published on 09/06/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/30/18

"We had a little time off; at our age now they try and give us a little time off so that we can take our arthritis medicine," laughed a very relaxed and well rested John Corabi during a break in The Dead Daisies current tour which saw he and the band recently return from runs in Japan and Europe.

published on 08/30/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/23/18

"Well, I don't want to announce it as such because I've seen other artists do that and tour again after that; so you never know but it could be. So far I'm still in good physical shape to play an instrument that is tough to play but so far so good. So as long as I can still do that and as long as there's a demand, because the last thing that I want to do is just impose myself on stage like people who never want to go away even when there is no audience anymore for them. So if it gets to that I'll be happy to retire; I'm ready for that now. One thing for sure, there are not going  be many more tours; maybe another one after that at most," uttered legendary violinist Jean Luc Ponty as he discussed what may very well be one of if not his final tour prior to his August 23 show in Newton, NJ at the Skyland PAC.

published on 08/23/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/16/18

"That's a big question," she replied when asked what she enjoys about performing."I think it would be that I want to find ways to connect with people. I love hearing feedback from people as to how they feel about the music or how they experience the live show. I really just appreciate that and love connecting with people," says the artist simply known as, "Evangelia."

published on 08/16/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/9/18

"Heart By Heart plays a lot of Heart music," says original Heart bassist Steve Fossen. We play mostly from the 70's catalog, we do a few 80's songs and we try to play the music note for note as it was recorded and written." 

published on 08/09/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/2/18

"We co-headline with 3 Doors Down and it's a lot of fun. You get up there and you look at the set lists of the bands and you go, man it's like a dang radio hit show, it's exciting and I love watching the audience line up and say, wow I remember that song and our true followers; we still do pack'em in and we pack a lot into each set per show and it's a lot of fun. We try to do the best every night and we never take it for granted that we're getting to play live in front of fans as well." 

published on 08/02/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/26/18

The Quick Chek Festival of Ballooning kicks off Friday July 27 and runs through Sunday July 29 at the Solberg Airport in Readington, NJ. This event features entertainment throughout its three days, culminating with a 3 p.m. headlining performance by Creedence Clearwater Revisited featuring bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug "Cosmo" Clifford of the original Creedence Clearwater Revival. 

published on 07/26/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/19/18

Asbury Park Music Foundation was the scene of a recent performance featuring Echo Black and City of The Weak. This unique and intimate venue provided the perfect setting for this show and the bands did not disappoint. 

published on 07/19/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...07/12/18

"That's kind of like asking who your favorite kid is (laughs). I like the title track, I like them all," says veteran rocker Joe Grushecky as he discussed his new CD, his songwriting process and more as he preps for his July 14 Wonder Bar show in Asbury Park, NJ. 

published on 07/12/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...07/05/18

"We picked Tuesday nights and it's not always the same Tuesday nights necessarily because it used to be a pretty open night but everything around here is getting busier and busier so the competition for an audience is growing. No matter what night you pick, there seems to be eight other things going on that compete for an audience," says David Vargo, creator of, "The Pierce Sessions" on how this fantastic monthly original performance showcase struggles for consistent visibility. 

published on 07/06/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/14/18

"That's what I like about shooting shows, the variables where you have to hack around the rules and circumstances," says photographer Rob Lundberg as he discussed the fine art of photography; more specifically concert photography and his June 27 exhibit at The Bowery Electric in New York City.

published on 06/14/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/7/18

"A gin blossom is slang for the capillaries in your nose and face that burst because of excessive drinking."

published on 06/07/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/31/18

"It was definitely always a dream, it's a lot of people's dreams. I wish I had more of a memory of it because it's always interesting to see, I mean, it's happening now for sure. When you slow down and take time to write down things and save some of the memories, maybe take pictures or videos; it's good because it is the dream but it's becoming so much more personal, it's surreal that's what it is."

published on 05/31/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/24/18

"It's my parents fault; it's a biblical name. People don't know how to spell it, everybody adds a, "C" to the beginning and it's just, "Sh." I'm going to put up a billboard one day; although I don't care that much so maybe I won't put up a billboard (Laughs)," says singer/songwriter Shlomo Franklin as he discussed his show at Salt Gastropub on Route 206 in Stanhope, NJ, his music and his recently released EP, "Don't Love Anybody."

published on 05/23/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/17/18

"I'm 71 this year; can you believe it? I take care of myself; I never abused my voice with drugs and things. The last tour tired me out a little bit because I had to do everything myself but with Micheal Dunford gone I have to make it happen." 

published on 05/18/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/10/18

"Funny, there's a part of me that's never really quite comfortable unless I have a guitar in my hands. The trick is A. Don't make any mistakes B. If you make a mistake, cover it or C. Just don't give a shit if you make a mistake (Laughs). The three are not mutually exclusive and at any given moment you can be operating on all three of those principals," says The Spin Doctors Chris Barron as he discussed his new release, "Angels and One Armed   Jugglers," his past and his upcoming gigs at, "Randy Now's Man Cave" in Bordentown, NJ on May 11 and "JCC of Central Jersey" in Scotch Plains on May 12. 

published on 05/11/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/3/18

"Blackwood is in a village in South Wales," explains Welsh duo, Into The Ark as they discussed their humble beginnings, travels, aspirations and eventual successes prior to their show on May 4 in Englewood,NJ at the Bergen PAC as openers for their mentor turned friend, Tom Jones. 

published on 05/03/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/26/18

Danny Blu formed Echo Black in 2015 and this New York City based outfit has just released their first full length album; “Dawn” and are currently out on the road with City of the Weak on, “The Turn It To Eleven Tour.”

published on 04/25/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/19/18

"One more show tomorrow; "The Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame" induction dinner and then I'm staying for the ceremony Saturday and I'll be coming home Sunday," says Low Cut Connie front man Adam Weiner as he discussed the band, their relentless Appetite for touring, their music and their relationship with Elton John from Ohio as this leg of the tour wraps up. "We've done a lot of shows in Cleveland and the folks over there have become big fans and the museum asked us and we're just so excited and I was asked to do the Howard Stern wrap up show because they were broadcasting live from the Hall of Fame; I can't wait to see who will be there." 

published on 04/19/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/12/18

“Some places stay the same and some others we like to swap out a bit; ya know? We like to try some new places and test the waters and see if there’s an appetite for our particular brand of offerings," says bassist Frankie Poullain of long time rock band The Darkness as he discussed their upcoming area shows in Philadelphia and New Jersey and their current, "Tour de Prance." “It’s pretty self-explanatory isn’t it? We like to prance around and we’re on tour so it fell into place very easily. The simple idea is the best, the most economical simple idea that actually captures every aspect of what we’re doing is the one that is the best; we’re pleased with it. It just captures exactly what we’re doing and almost precisely what we’re doing because there’s something very English about a bunch of men prancing around in tights; isn’t there? (Laughs).”

published on 04/12/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/5/18

"I've been writing since I was 14 years old," says Nashville recording artist Liz Longley. "I write really honest songs about my life and I've shared my stories and my songs for the past 13 or so years on the road. I just call myself a singer/songwriter because it's broad enough. I started off writing folk music but I grew up with some jazz and country so there's a lot of different influences in there."

published on 04/05/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...03/29/17

"I was born in Jersey City and moved out to the suburbs, Scotch Plains when I was about eight years old," says the man known as, "New Jersey's Bad Boy," as he discussed his upcoming appearances at the NJPAC in Newark on Saturday April 7

published on 03/28/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/22/18

Jersey Shore area artist Gil Velazquez has done it once again. He has released more music and done so in the shortest of manners; a three song EP titled, "Sol Celebration." 

published on 03/22/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/15/18

"I had a lot of emotional abuse with my mother; she was schizophrenic. She went into a very dark period where her insane anger just overtook her and I was the target for it and on my father's end there was very violent sexual abuse and of course that's coming to the forefront in our culture and our world right now in a lot of different areas. It's interesting because it took me a lot of years to write this book and the timing of it seems to be rather amazing considering how that's surfacing."

published on 03/15/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/8/18

"I think all artists want to do new material and I say that including myself we always want to come up with new things or just play different grooves or new beats or whatever you can do. I mean nobody is gonna reinvent the wheel drum wise or I'm certainly not but it's fun to do different stuff and new stuff but the creative side for all of us, again, all musicians want to keep creating and come up with new stuff and in our world when this tour kicks off it'll be almost three years since we played live. So in other words, that's a big gap and you've gotta do something in that time and as a working band you're either going to be touring in that gap or make a record and in our case it was obviously the latter," says Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis as he spoke about the band's new release and upcoming tour. 

published on 03/08/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/1/18

"I love that Willie has expanded into these little towns. I'm a huge fan because he's so personable; I'm a huge fan," said an obviously elated Meryl Greig as she exited the recent Willie Nile show at The Hopewell Theater in Hopewell, NJ.

published on 03/01/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/22/18

"We've been touring with this band now since 2000 and the show has changed considerably over the years but really we focus on doing the hits," said an upbeat Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad as he discussed the band and their upcoming February 24 show at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ.

published on 02/22/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/15/18

"It's been two weeks and a bit of a whirlwind just getting it started but we have had so much fun," said legendary guitarist Joe Satriani of his current "G3 Tour" from a hotel in Denver, CO. "We have this beautiful day off and I almost don't know what to do with myself (Laughs)."

published on 02/15/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/8/18

"Oh geez no! It certainly doesn't feel like 40 years ago but it feels good to do old stuff. "Wind and Wuthering" turns 40 and it will be good to celebrate it. The material stands the test and over the years the experience changes you; there is a certain amount of fog involved (laughs) but it feels good to know that the music is in people's emotional calendars."

published on 02/08/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/1/18

"We're 100 percent mediocre," says Doc Rotten guitarist/vocalist Wes Dzurkoc with a loud laugh; "I'd say we are punk rock but more melodic." 

published on 02/01/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/25/18

Michaela McClain currently hails from Madison, NJ but this Somerset County native has far reaching talent way beyond the borders of the Garden State. “Take A Chance,” her fourth EP, showcases that ability once again as this effort shines from start to finish.

published on 01/25/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/18/18

"Well, probably should be asking my road manager about that," laughed Patrice Hawthorne as she recounted the story of how she became, "Peaches" of Peaches & Herb. "I was singing in a talent show down in DC and I can't quite remember what happened but I remember that he told Herb to come to the show and when he heard me sing he said, "That's my new Peaches" and that's how it happened. I was young I was ready and I was inspired." 

published on 01/18/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/11/18

"Interstellar Fortuneteller" is the second release from Hamilton, New Jersey rockers Charles Laurita and The Mischief.

published on 01/11/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/4/18

"Anyone can make a record; doesn't mean it's going to be good but the possibility to do so is there," laughed multi-instrumentalist and horn player Jeff Oster as he and fellow FLOW band mate Will Ackerman discussed their latest release.

published on 01/04/2018

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/28/17

Most artists who record their original music do so for various reasons. Some relate their life experiences, others to promote a point of view and still others just because they have something inside them screaming to get out. Kate Grom however had a different set of reasons and circumstances for the recording of her nine track release, "Heroine."

published on 12/28/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/21/17

"We are super stoked to come up and meet the other bands that we're playing with," says guitarist Tyler Plazio of the Virginia based duo Soldiers of Suburbia as he discussed their two upcoming shows in New Jersey next week. "We jokingly call each other "Bounce Punk" because we have such high energy, always have a good time on stage and in reality; we're just an upbeat dance band."

published on 12/21/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/14/17

His website says that he's a, "Gentleman Rock & Roller" but the man who is sometimes known as, "Chito" is far more than that. You see, 18 year old Colorado resident Jacob Cade is setting the music world ablaze with his material; most recently a six song EP titled, "Hunger."

published on 12/14/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/7/17

There was a curious quiet which fell over Asbury Park New Jersey's Wonder Bar as ALA.NI took the stage with her guitarist on this evening. A quiet which gave way to a full blown hush as this powerful siren hit the first notes of her original song, "Cherry Blossom." 

published on 12/07/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/30/17

"I played the trumpet before the drums actually," says Trixter's Mark "Gus" Scott as he discussed the release of his new holiday disc titled, "Christmas Miracle." "It's seven songs, so I guess it's more of an EP. I did it because, well, everybody in the band kind of took off and started doing other things and I still wanted to play with Trixter. I had been doing music for video games and a movie and then I was watching an episode of, "The West Wing" and there were these hit men committing a murder and there were flashes to a lonely little boy singing in a Church during the murder and he was singing, "Ave Maria" and I had a thought...."

published on 11/30/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....11/23/17

"My favorite part," laughed "The Wizards of Winter" founder Scott Kelly, "That's a good question. For me this is a full time job. Between writing music, tour logistics and a thousand hours to produce 20 shows; I'd say being on stage is the pure enjoyment. There's also nothing like hearing your own music on the radio or on a United Airlines flight, it's very rewarding."

published on 11/23/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....11/16/17

"We all met in a composition class at NYU and we wound up writing a couple of tunes together and that's where it all started," says bassist Nick Katz of the New York based band Upright Man as they prepare for their November 19 show at The Stanhope House in Stanhope, NJ. 

published on 11/16/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....11/9/17

"I think," says Mike Reukberg who comprises one half of the retro-sounding band known as The Red Button. "I think we are rock's greatest odd couple. We don't agree on much but we do agree on music!"

published on 11/09/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....11/2/17

​​​​​​​"Yeah it sounds a little strange; doesn't it? Well, number one, you can fight everything but you cannot fight old age; even  though I still feel 29 inside," explained a laughing John McLaughlin as he discussed his latest and last North American tour along with  his November 10 show at the NJPAC in Newark, NJ. "Second, only for America will I feature the Mahavishnu material. This is where it all started so I feel that it should end here as well. I've got Jimmy Herring opening up who is a great musician and whom I discovered by watching performances of him doing my material and I thought; why didn't I do it like that? (laughs)"

published on 11/02/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/26/17

"It's just another day in the global office, just variations of where," said a resolute Ian Anderson as he discussed Jethro Tull's upcoming appearance at Red Bank, New Jersey's Count Basie Theatre, different aspects of the Tull theme, and nearly 50 years of the band itself. "Whether I'm jumping on a plane to Germany or a show in New Jersey I'm very fortunate to still be doing the job I love for nearly 50 years." 

published on 10/26/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/19/17

"It has been a dream of mine and ours to perform in the United States. It is a big country, a great country, a beautiful country and it has been a childhood dream of mine to play there and it is finally happening. The promoters are doing everything possible to make it a great experience for us," says guitarist German Vergara of the Chilean progressive rock band Aisles as they landed in America for their first ever tour of the U.S. beginning with the recent "ProgStock Festival" in Rahway, NJ

published on 10/19/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....10/12/17

"This is my first ever east coast tour outside of New York. I met Son Little beforehand; I think we're going to have some fun with it," says an excited ALA.NI as she prepares to head north from Brazil to kick off the U.S portion of her tour with an October 18 show at Asbury Park's Wonder Bar.

published on 10/12/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....10/5/17

The definition of being in, "The right place at the right time" and "Making your own breaks" may differ, albeit slightly but for long time Frank Zappa guitarist Ike Willis, it led to a career.

published on 10/05/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....9/28/17

"We're looking at a new record at the beginning of next year. This time around though it's my solo stuff;  just a piano and me. There is such a dynamic range in the music which allows me to do things vocally that I can't do with my band," says lead singer and front man of Blues Traveler John Popper as he readies for an appearance at the Union County PAC on Saturday September 30.

published on 09/28/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....9/21/17

They call themselves, “Symphonic Metal” but Elantris vocalist Tom Ullom says that one must see the band to get, “The full effect of what they’re about.”

published on 09/21/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....9/14/17

"I'm not one of those that sits backstage or in the green room before or after a show. I love hanging out with the fans, I love to make the human connection with the fans and hear the stories from them directly of how my music affected their lives."

published on 09/14/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....9/7/17

When you're a 12 year old boy and you think that you're accompanying your musically inclined parents to a recording session and then suddenly you're the one turning heads, that's a dream come true; or is it fate? 

published on 09/07/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....8/31/17

Guitarist Eddie Fernandez and bassist Tony Nemati had discussions about music and more during their high school days but according to Fernandez they had, "Never intended on establishing themselves." However, like so many others before them, the pair added a drummer and performed locally until the call of higher education came beckoning.

published on 08/31/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....8/24/17

From the opening chords of, "Long Way To Go," to the closing of the encore, the Dead Daisies rocked Asbury Park's House Of Independents to its very core.

published on 08/24/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....8/17/17

"I received e-mails, phone messages, been approached all over and they all want to know  if we are playing or doing anything. People are asking me, so essentially yes, the people asked for it," says co-founder and drummer Bobby Caldwell ofCaptain Beyond as he explained the band's recent reunion. "I just want to put the music back out there, it's quality stuff." 

published on 08/18/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/1017

"We were on the road since May 23, I just got home yesterday," said a relaxed John Corabi of The Dead Daisies as he elaborated on the next leg of their tour and an upcoming August 16 show at Asbury Park, NJ venue House of Independents. "We've got some time off, it feels a bit weird (laughs)."

published on 08/10/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....8/3/17

"I've worked hard at it and it's not easy. You're constantly having to raise the bar to stay relevant, it's a lot of hard work," said legendary performer/composer/songwriter Neil Sedaka as he discussed his long and illustrious career prior to his appearances; August 11 at The State Theater in New Brunswick and August 12 at The Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ. 

published on 08/03/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....7/27/17

Rhonda Ross wears many hats; singer, actress, speaker, spouse and mom. Currently she is on tour and wearing the hat of daughter/opening act for her mother, Diana and the duo is coming to The Mann Center in Philadelphia, PA for an 8 p.m. show this Saturday July 29.

published on 07/27/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/20/17

"My mother and father got me into the blues, that's my point of reference," said Joe Louis Walker as he explained the roller coaster ride of popularity or lack thereof associated with blues music. "Everybody's is different but we've all been exposed to them at some point. People think Stevie Ray Vaughn and relate to his version of, "Mary Had A Little Lamb" but people don't know that Buddy Guy did it first. People don't understand that it all came from a funkier place but that's their point of reference."

published on 07/20/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/13/17

"I felt like I was disingenuous the last time we spoke but we had made a pact within the band not to talk about it until it was a definite thing," says Styx keyboardist Lawrence Gowan as he discussed the recent release of the band's first original studio album in 14 years called, "The Mission." "We all talked about it and we thought if we gabbed about the new record that it may alter it in some way; it was a hard year keeping the cork on that bottle (laughs)!"

published on 07/13/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/6/17

"No," said a confident Mick Jones as he began to discuss the changes made to Foreigner, one of the biggest selling rock bands of all time. "I mean, there was one period  in the early '90's where we were shuffling a bit but the changes have not really been an issue. We've had this new line up for 11 years and I have to say that it's the best line up we've ever had. I don't mean that as a slight to the original band or anyone who has ever been in the band but it took me a long time to finally get it right and I really appreciate things now; not that I didn't before but it's something I guess that only come with age (laughs)."

published on 07/06/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....6/29/17

"From the second or third song on the record, there's meat, there's also a sublime message; follow your dreams."

published on 06/29/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/22/17

"Um, they're going to be OK for the first five minutes, then they're probably gonna look at each other and say; whose idea was it to go see Gilbert Gottfried anyway?" 

published on 06/22/2017

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An Interview With Louie Anderson

“I never wanted to be a comic. It’s not something that I ever said I wanted to grow up and be,” said world class comedian and actor Louie Anderson who performed at South Orange Performing Arts Center on June 17.

published on 06/22/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/15/17

"I never wanted to be a comic. It's not something that I ever said I wanted to grow up and be," said world class comedian and actor Louie Anderson with a slight laugh as he discussed his upcoming June 17 appearance at New Jersey's South Orange PAC.

published on 06/15/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....6/8/17

Brian Ray began playing professionally as a teenager making stops along the way with Etta James and The Bayonets and currently can be found plying his wares along side of Paul McCartney. He is a guitarist, composer, producer and very much the epitome of being in the right place at the right time.

published on 06/08/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/1/17

What do you get when you add two Danish born brothers, two old friends, lots of different influences and the zest to tour and make music? You get the Colorado based band Slow Caves and they're coming to a town near you!

published on 06/01/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/25/17

"The emission of light from a substance caused by rubbing, scratching, or similar frictional contact."

published on 05/25/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/18/17

"I stopped playing for six years and well, that didn't work out too well," said Jesse Colin Young, founder of the iconic 60's group The Youngbloods with a laugh. "I had some health issues, turns out I had Lyme Disease and I didn't know it and it was really a struggle. I was on thin ice there for a while and wasn't sure if I'd ever be strong enough to get back out there but so far we've done quite a few shows and things are going well."

published on 05/18/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/11/17

There's something to be said for a band that is so raring to go that they actually start early. Such was the case with the Outlaws at a recent show in Red Bank, NJ at the famed Count Basie Theatre. 

published on 05/11/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/4/17

"REKIHNDLED," as in, I'm hoping it rekindles my career," said long time rocker Greg Kihn with a laugh as he discussed his recent release, his past, present and future. "I think it's a good album and not just because I made it but because it's really something I'm proud of and the guys in my band are so good and that helps."

published on 05/04/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/27/17

Sharon Isbin has received a B.A cum laude from Yale University, studied with the likes of Aldo Minella, Sophocles Papas and Andres Segovia among others, as well as won multiple Grammy Awards, toured the world, became the founding director of the Guitar Department at the famed Juilliard and well, you get the idea; Isbin is a very talented lady, possibly without equal in the world of classical guitarists.

published on 04/27/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/20/17

"We do get contacted," says Graham Alexander the go to guy at The Vault in Berlin, NJ. "It's a hard thing to get people to understand what we are doing here. Recently we did a thing for Disney, licensing for film and TV is possible. I'm very passionate about it all. I want to build this place into a musician's ecosystem; I love it so much and never want it to leave Camden."

published on 04/20/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/13/17

Ann Wilson's recent April 6 performance at Glenside's (PA) Keswick Theater can be summed up in a series of one word refrains. Adjectives such as, wow, outstanding, amazing, unbelievable and driving all come to mind. There could be many more added to the list, however the point is; the "Ann Wilson of Heart Tour," is one of the best shows of this young 2017 concert season.

published on 04/13/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/6/17

There's a bridge spanning the Delaware River connecting the town of Morrisville, PA to the city of Trenton, NJ and on this bridge are the simple words, "Trenton Makes The World Takes." 

published on 04/06/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/30/17

"I'm a fine art painter but I've had a huge career in collaborative art. I do these paintings called "Finger Smears," I sort of coined that term I guess," said a smiling Kelly Sullivan; the owner of "Kelly Sullivan Fine Art" in Lambertville, NJ. "Collaborative art", she went on to say, "Is Where hundreds of people paint on one canvas and I orchestrate them from beginning to end." 

published on 03/30/2017

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Ann Wilson Flying Solo

“Expect the unexpected,” she said with a slight laugh. “Yeah that sums it up. I’ve never done a show like this; expect to be given something that’s new, old, wide awake. There will be my songs, cover songs that have special meaning to me, Heart songs and more; it’s definitely a production,” says legendary siren Ann Wilson as she discussed her new EP and upcoming tour.

published on 03/27/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/23/17

"Struggling musician? Yeah, for the most part it's definitely a struggle but it's a struggle that's worth it. This is far better than working the corporate life, you can't put a price on doing what you love."

published on 03/23/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/16/17

"Yeah I am, yes I am in the band. I've been in this band for so long in one capacity or another that when I left or leave it's like a hiatus," said a laughing Mary Ramsey of the recently revitalized 10,000 Maniacs. "I've been with the band as a background singer, fiddle player and once Natalie left Lombardo and I decided to go on. We are doing lots of great gigs now and we see a lot of joy in our audiences."

published on 03/15/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/9/17

"The Music," says lead vocalist Chandler Mogel, "The Music is Great! It's a very classic sound, it sounds like '70's classic rock and Angel meets Bad Co. It's kind of eclectic but it ties together so well. Punky said to me once that he wanted a sound kind of like David Cassidy and I'm like, I don't know who that is (laughs)!"

published on 03/08/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/2/17

"Expect the unexpected," she said with a slight laugh. "Yeah that sums it up. I've never done a show like this; expect to be given something that's new, old, wide awake. There will be my songs, cover songs that have special meaning to me, Heart songs and more; it's definitely a production," says legendary siren Ann Wilson as she discussed her new EP and upcoming tour.

published on 03/02/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/23/17

"It's a lot different," says KXM drummer Ray Luzier when asked about the differences and/or similarities between KXM and his "other" band KoRn. "It's a lot different style and with all of the experience that the three of us have; well, there's nothing preconceived. We just all put our ideas together and go from there."

published on 02/23/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/16/17

"I think it's in our similarities that we celebrate our differences," explains former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett as he discussed his upcoming February 17 show at the Victoria Theater inside the NJPAC in Newark, NJ and his latest CD, "The Night Siren."

published on 02/16/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/9/17

"We had a gig booked and we had no name," recalls Glam Skanks guitarist known simply as, "Veronica" as she discussed the band name and their current tour as the opening act for Adam Ant. "We were all sitting around one night trying to come up with a name and my one friend out of nowhere says, "I could go for some lamb shanks" and then we started playing off of that. We started writing down all that came to mind and then Glam Skanks came out and we were like; yeah."

published on 02/09/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/2/17

“We have a lot inside of ourselves,” says Killer Bee co-founder and bassist Anders “LA” Ronnblom as he discussed the return of the band and their two upcoming shows here in California. “Me and Brian (Co-founder Brian “Bee” Frank) are the only original members left. We are getting older but we’re not ready to dump the apartment key in the mailbox (laughs).”

published on 02/02/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/26/17

"The tour? Well this tour has always been more about the book but also the music as well," says John Hall, former U.S Congressman and a co-founding member of the classic rock band Orleans.

published on 01/27/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/19/17

Shall one look up "Candiria" online, this band based out of Brooklyn, NY owns the searches. Page after page has the band, like their music; coming at you in waves.

published on 01/19/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/12/17

Definition of mayhem 1. 1a : willful and permanent deprivation of a bodily member resulting in the impairment of a person's fighting abilityb : willful and permanent crippling, mutilation, or disfigurement of any part of the body 2. 2: needless or willful damage or violence

published on 01/12/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/5/17

Now that 2016 has drawn to a close, there were a few things of note but these are just some things to contemplate if you're a supporter of your local music and arts communities in 2017 and beyond.

published on 01/05/2017

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/29/16

Many bloggers, columnists, entertainment writers and journalists use their final columns of each year as a "Best Of" or a "Recap/Year In Review." Well, rest assured this is not one of those.

published on 12/29/2016

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A Look Back At Rock On! Interview with Taylor Hicks

New Jersey Stage is fortunate to have many writers contributing to the magazine and our daily site. Among them, one of the hardest working writers is Danny Coleman who writes “Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites” - a weekly column found on the website. Danny is known throughout the New Jersey music community for his weekly radio show and recently added a video talk show as well. While those shows largely promote independent artists from the tri-state area, his weekly column promotes local artists as well as national ones.

published on 12/22/2016

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A Look Back At Rock On! Interview with Tiffany

New Jersey Stage is fortunate to have many writers contributing to the magazine and our daily site. Among them, one of the hardest working writers is Danny Coleman who writes “Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites” - a weekly column found on the website. Danny is known throughout the New Jersey music community for his weekly radio show and recently added a video talk show as well. While those shows largely promote independent artists from the tri-state area, his weekly column promotes local artists as well as national ones.

published on 12/22/2016

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A Look Back At Rock On! Interview with Steve Earle

New Jersey Stage is fortunate to have many writers contributing to the magazine and our daily site. Among them, one of the hardest working writers is Danny Coleman who writes “Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites” - a weekly column found on the website. Danny is known throughout the New Jersey music community for his weekly radio show and recently added a video talk show as well. While those shows largely promote independent artists from the tri-state area, his weekly column promotes local artists as well as national ones.

published on 12/22/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/22/16

"Jenny, Katie and I had all come together, we all had solo things but Katie and I met Jenny at a musicians cooperative. We talked and hit it off and Jenny had a big show coming up as part of a large singer/songwriter event at the "Falcon Ridge Folk Festival" and Katie and I were asked to join her on backing vocals," explained current Massachusetts resident and former Lambertville, NJ musician Stephanie Marshall as she discussed the formation and the name of the exquisite all female trio known as, "The Boxcar Lilies." "This was a pivotal moment for us because we realized immediately that we had something here."

published on 12/22/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/15/16

"Ya' know," says legendary member of the OutLaws Henry Paul, "It's still fun for me and for us, it's just different fun. The first fun was during our age of discovery. These days we know how to dance and what it's all about. So I challenge myself and the band challenges itself to put on a good show every time we take the stage. The band, the fans and the music are older but the rewards are priceless. The band doing well every time we take the stage is our main concern and it usually always works out."

published on 12/15/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/8/16

"I'm originally from Pennsylvania but I've been in Montreal for the last year and a half. I'm here in school to study music," explains Aubreylyn as she willingly discussed her music and upcoming tour which begins on December 14. "The school and Montreal in general has a huge jazz culture which is what I love."

published on 12/08/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/1/16

"I grew up not being able to watch TV so I found other alternatives," says a laughing Lily Virginia as she preps for a tour which coincides with the release of her new effort, "Play Me Twice."

published on 12/01/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/24/16

"When I was young my mom had a job working in a local pharmacy that had a food counter; she got me a job there and I started earning money. I walked past Herman Rednor's Music Store every day and he had a sign in the window advertising this Gene Krupa drum set. I went inside and he said, "You have any money? You got a job?" I said, "Yes sir I have a job" and I gave him all of the money that I had and he kept it in his drawer and every week after I got paid I'd stop and give him my money. It took me a while but I got that drum set, a "Slingerland" drum kit just Like Krupa had."

published on 11/24/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/17/16

"It's like starting over again, so if you're coming to see Twisted Sister; don't! If you're coming to see Dee Snider, please do," said a laughing Snider as he discussed his new music, his past and what's to come for one of the most recognizable names in rock music history.

published on 11/18/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/10/16

"I always try and play to the song first and foremost whether it's progressive, pop, metal or whatever," says drummer Mike Portnoy as he discussed the latest upcoming tour and CD release, "The Similitude Of A Dream," from The Neal Morse Band. "I adapt to different styles whether I'm a leader or a collaborator."

published on 11/10/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/3/16

"Musicians, we have something that other people don't," started guitarist Andy Timmons as he took a moment to discuss his current tour and career. "About 10 years ago it hit me; not many people have the passion to keep doing things after all these years. A friend had come to one of my gigs and afterward we were talking and he said, "I wish that I loved doing something as much as you do" and he was talking about my playing and performing. I realized that he was right, I love playing music and I'll never take that for granted."

published on 11/03/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/27/16

"Ya' know, I love doing the intimate venues. These small acoustic performing arts centers and the such are something that I've always wanted to do. I'm a weekend warrior with my music so I'm really enjoying this," says former "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks as he discussed his upcoming November 3 appearance at the South Orange Performing Arts Center.

published on 10/27/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/20 16

"Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Our age makes us very interesting, yet it also holds us back," says Vittorio; one half of the twin brothers better known as V2."Yeah, like when we were supposed to open for AC/DC and they decided to go in a different direction because they felt our age was a liability," added Vincenzo.

published on 10/20/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/13/16

"The Stanhope House is like coming home," says an excited Sari Schorr as she prepares a return to her roots with a 6 p.m. show on October 14. "I love going back there, it's where I established myself, it's familiar and it's always great to see a lot of friendly faces."

published on 10/13/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/6/16

"Well, about two years ago on the music site, "BandMix.com," says front man/vocalist Matthew Makin as he explained the formation of New Brunswick based Experiment 34. "I found Kevin and it turns out that he lived like ten minutes away from me. We started meeting at open mics, next thing you know we had written 20 or 30 songs and then we met Jack and Jake through "Facebook" and it all fell into place."

published on 10/06/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/29/16

"I've been naively home schooling," says Trevor Rabin with a laugh as he discussed time spent since he last worked with members of the famed rock band Yes. "I've done 50 film scores and a 2012 instrumental album which was most enjoyable but I did it backward; I finished the record first and then I placed it with a distributor. The fans didn't seem to like it but that was fine, not all goes well in life."

published on 09/29/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/22/16

"It's where I find the pureness of my expressions," says world class drummer Terry Bozzio on the subjects of his drumming and music as he prepares for a series of upcoming area shows.

published on 09/22/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/15/16

"Make Some Noise," is our first CD with Doug Aldrich and it's just kick in the teeth rock; from the first track to the last it just kicks ass," says lead singer John Corabi of Dead Daisies. "The record, the tour, it's all going great; the response from the crowds, the promoters, they've all been great too!"

published on 09/15/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/8/16

"You know what? When you listen to non-guitar players playing solos; you'll actually learn something," says jazz rock guitarist Larry Coryell as he elaborated on that which influences him and his innovative style. "Miles Davis,Chick Corea, Andy Brecker and the great sax guy Steve Marcus have all taught me a thing or two and I'd love to say that maybe I influenced Steve a bit too; we had that kind of relationship."

published on 09/08/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/1/16

"I was 14 when my first album came out and then I turned 18 and wanted to do things differently and nobody knew what to do," said '80's pop icon Tiffany as she elaborated on her career then and now. "It was scary but I learned a lesson; do what you love."

published on 09/01/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/25/16

"Five years removed from Jethro Tull and I haven't heard from anyone. The demise of Jethro Tull was orchestrated by Ian; the ball was always in his court," says long time Tull guitarist Martin Barre as he readies to launch the next leg of a tour in support of his latest release, "Back To Steel." "I'm having too much fun with my band now and the more I'm with them; the happier I am. I've got some big things coming and I can't give it away just yet but I'll announce them soon."

published on 08/25/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/18/16

He has performed or worked with the likes of Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, Vince Gill, Joe Perry, Joe Walsh, Edgar Winter and a host of others, yet Paul Nelson is often overlooked by those outside of the recording and music industry.

published on 08/18/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/11/16

"We're like a government experiment that went wrong," laughed Chains Over Razors guitarist Mikey "V" Vujasin as he described how he and his band mates craft their material. "We all have ideas but we welcome opinions because we believe it's good to get an outside perspective separate from each others."

published on 08/11/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/4/16

"You know, I'm touring constantly, I'm not just some weekend warrior; I don't do long six month world tours anymore but I'm always ready to play," said a laughing Edgar Winter as he discussed his recent show with Eric Burdon & the Animals at the historic Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ.

published on 08/05/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/4/16

"You know, I'm touring constantly, I'm not just some weekend warrior; I don't do long six month world tours anymore but I'm always ready to play," said a laughing Edgar Winter as he discussed his recent show with Eric Burdon & the Animals at the historic Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ.

published on 08/05/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/28/16

"A major change in the appearance or character of someone or something"

published on 07/28/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/21/16

"If you want to see what's new in the San Francisco Bay area, come check us out," says guitarist Roger McNamee of Doobie Decimel System. "It's a really cool thing we have going on and Midnight North will be opening for us; that's Graham Lesh, Phil's son's band."

published on 07/21/2016

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Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle to Perform at The Bergen PAC

"You write about what you know," said a seemingly taken aback Steve Earle when asked about what many would consider a "Chequered Past." "I got married a lot back in the '80's if that's what you're talking about. I'm retiring from that; defeated. All of those experiences and more can't help but creep in to your work."

published on 07/20/2016

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Kenny Neal Brings the Bayou to Bucks County, PA

"Good is good and bad is bad; I don't know about anything in between," says blues master Kenny Neal as he prepares to come east and perform at the "Bucks County Blues Society Picnic" in Morrisville, PA on July 16. "I like blues tight, not sloppy and not loose; blues needs to be played together as a team."

published on 07/15/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/14/16

"Deja Vu," "Quadrophenia," "Journeyman," "Coming of Age," "The White Album" and more have all been brought to the forefront of our musical minds over the years by Tom Reock and his "Reock & Roll Revue." Now he and they are back with a revamped lineup with their latest effort; Jackson Browne's "Running On Empty," live for two shows at Mercer County Community College's Kelsey Theater on July 16 and 17.

published on 07/14/2016

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Peter and Paul Bring Love and Music to Bergen PAC

"We only do shows once in a while now. We never tour any longer in the usual sense; both of us know when it's time to act and when we do it's still very enjoyable." Those are the words of singer/songwriter and folk music legend Peter Yarrow as he readies to perform with long time partner Noel Paul Stookey tonight July 14 at 8 p.m. at the Bergen PAC in Englewood, NJ.

published on 07/14/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/7/16

The Yardbirds came to be in the year 1963. Formed in London, England by Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja, Anthony "Top" Topham and Jim McCarty; the band became perhaps one of the most influential acts in music history; bridging the gap between pop music and late '60's psychedelia. This group, which helped launch the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff beck and Jimmy Page; is still on the road touring and performing to packed houses everywhere.

published on 07/07/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/30/16

"We've got a number of dates already down and we're going to the studio in Florida to re-learn some more stuff. This time we're going to be making live recordings on the road, see what comes of it; things have changed over the years and it's time for some new representations of our music. The world changes and there's nothing wrong with that, music changes too; without music life would be a mistake," says Roger Earl, drummer of the classic rock band Foghat.

published on 06/30/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/23/16

Randy Bachman is a songwriter who has penned some of the most well known hits since the '60s, yet he tends to soar under the mainstream radar. One of the founders of The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive, Bachman has written classics such as "Taking Care of Business," "Let It Ride,"American Woman," "These Eyes" and many more and has influenced generations of guitarists, songwriters and musician friends along the way.

published on 06/23/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/16/17

New Jersey is often the butt of many jokes, fodder for comics and script writers alike as the "Garden State" resides in the shadows of New York City and Philadelphia; both of which often dominate the news, sporting and music events of the day. However, on the night of June 11 in Holmdel, NJ; the PNC Bank Center was the focus as Joe Walsh and his 10 piece unit took the stage to thunderous applause.

published on 06/17/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/9/16

Fotomaker was formed in 1977 and included members of The Rascals and the Raspberries. However, it was the two "Unknown" members of the band who were considered the "Core talent" of the group and they were, Les Marchesi and Frankie Vinci.

published on 06/10/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/2/16

"Yes! I love performing there; it's one of the best places that we play. The audiences are great, there's people drinking wine and I'm a wine enthusiast so it's a great place to perform," says Al Stewart as he prepares to come to New Hope, PA for a two night engagement at the New Hope Winery.

published on 06/03/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/26/16

"Artists, musicians and preservationists agreed that the best use of this community gathering place was a mid-sized arts venue."

published on 05/26/2016

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Justin Hayward "Stage Door Tour" Comes to SOPAC

"I Think, for us anyway, it was a long slow success story. I recall Ray and I standing outside of Madison Square Garden the very first time we ever performed there; we were doing two shows in one day and we were between the two so we were walking around a bit when we came on a gigantic poster of ourselves. I turned to Ray and I said,"Hey, I think we've made it." The large laugh he exuded is exceeded only by his talent as Moody Blues mainstay Justin Hayward elaborated on his and the band's successes prior to this Sunday's 5/22 7:30 p.m. appearance at the South Orange Performing Arts Center.

published on 05/20/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/19/16

Matt Butler grew up in Manhattan, NYC a fan of punk and grunge music and then something happened. Something that was the sum of several subtle events which changed the course of not only Matt's career but his music as well. "I'm a singer songwriter who grew up in the city. I've always been in bands, I loved punk rock as a kid; I practically lived at CBGB and the alternative clubs. I listened to Black Flag, Fugazi, then later on Nirvana, Pearl Jam's "Ten" was my real first favorite record, then came my watershed moment; I heard the song "Back Streets" by Bruce Springsteen off of "Born To Run and it created a paradigm shift. I got more into writing songs and meaningful material that was important to me."

published on 05/19/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/12/16

Generation Axe has perhaps been the best kept secret in the rock world; playing to sold out or nearly sold out venues while flying seemingly under the radar.

published on 05/13/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/6/16

"Every musician has a moment and if you're a musician you know what I'm talking about. Mine was when I was 15 years old and I saw this guy playing harmonica; that was my moment. He was in a band called "Uptown Horns," he invited me up to play sometime later and we're still playing together 51 years later; it was a definite seminal moment for me."

published on 05/06/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/28/16

"The blues? Well, we, ya' know; it's kind of indigenous to where I grew up. I grew up in Texas and Louisiana and it's kind of embedded in our culture; I've always been drawn to it," explained a laughing Lance Lopez as he elaborated on his enthusiasm, career and love of the blues. "I sawStevie Ray Vaughn and B.B. King when I was 12 years old and I've been on a journey ever since."

published on 04/28/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/21/15

"I'm promoting it," says four time "Blues Music Award" winner and Blues Hall of Fame inductee Joe Louis Walker about his most recent release, "Everybody Wants A Piece." "We're going on a northeast tour, then through the mid-west and then over to Europe."

published on 04/22/2016

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This Is Radio Exile

“We put this thing together two years ago. Our drummer Dave and I have been friends since high school, I ran into him and said, “We’re getting up in age; remember how we’ve always said we need to do something? Well, we need to do something,” then we added Chandler and the three of us hit it off,” said Radio Exile keyboardist and co-founder Charlie Calv. “I needed a songwriting partner and Chandler fit perfect, Jimmy is a great guitar player, and Kenny is a fantastic bassist.”

published on 04/21/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/14/16

We've all seen the bumper stickers or the heard the sayings, "A bad day of golf beats a good day at work," or "I'd rather be driving a Titleist," well if you're Foreigner's Thom Gimbel; work and a round of golf are both guilty pleasures.

published on 04/14/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/7/16

"It's everything small music rooms should be. There's a patina, it's the perfect room for people or artists who are on their way up or down. I've played there several times before; I love the vibe, the town, I just the love The Saint!"

published on 04/07/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/31/16

"Tour? I've been on tour since 1980. I'm on the road all of the time," says observational comedian and "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" alumnus Bill Engvall as he discussed his upcoming April 15 Appearance at the Bergen PAC in Englewood, NJ. "The difference this time is that I spent my career talking about my wife and kids and now I'm back to writing like I did when I first started; it's challenging and kind of neat at the same time."

published on 03/31/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/24/16

"My music comes out of jazz. I studied and cut my teeth on jazz and expanded funk," says Rhonda Ross as she discussed her upcoming March 31 appearance at New Brunswick's State Theater. "I'm always looking for ways to express myself."

published on 03/24/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/17/16

"I've been a long time fan of rock music; I write about subjects that I'm passionate about," says author Greg Prato as he discussed his newly released work; "Scott Weiland - Memories of a Rock Star" (CreateSpace Publishing). "When I write my books, I do them on topics that are familiar to me. I like to know the story line and in this case I was familiar with Weiland; I was a fan."

published on 03/17/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/10/16

"It's quite nice actually, I've had a quiet couple of months and I was offered a special gig in Switzerland but I needed three hours worth of music. I needed to start writing again and I took the gig and then I realized; I better get my brain in gear," says the legendary Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre with a laugh as he discussed his latest tour and CD "Back To Steel." "It's a short tour, only 10 dates in April and then more in the fall but it gets me working and we've got plans for more into 2017."

published on 03/11/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/3/16

The local and not so local music scenes are starting to heat up as we speed towards the change of seasons and into Spring. Summer concert announcements, tribute bands, local cover and original acts are all gearing up for our entertainment and listening pleasure.

published on 03/04/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/25/16

"Opera," the very word evokes images of class, elegance, tuxedos, long gowns, balcony seats in regal theaters,and beautiful arias; if you're around the age of 50 it may also jog the memory for a few old Looney Tunes or television commercials. Regardless of which, it is perhaps the most beautiful form of raw human power in the entertainment world. Using one's voice to create emotion, dictate direction and the telling of a story, done so in a language that is foreign to many; yet moving to all.

published on 02/26/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/18/16

Radio Exile is a five member unit comprised of veteran musicians whose current successes not only reflect years of dedication to their individual crafts but are also a testament to their perseverance and talents. Their self-titled debut disc leaves no doubt as to their influences and what they were trying to accomplish; fantastic, hard drivin' rock 'n' roll with an '80's metal feel.

published on 02/18/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/11/15

"We put this thing together two years ago. Our drummer Dave and I have been friends since high school, I ran into him and said, "We're getting up in age; remember how we've always said we need to do something? Well, we need to do something," then we added Chandler and the three of us hit it off," said Radio Exile keyboardist and co-founder Charlie Calv. "I needed a songwriting partner and Chandler fit perfect, Jimmy is a great guitar player and Kenny is a fantastic bassist."

published on 02/11/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/5/16

Recapping the final "Best of 2015," one would have to be remiss not to mention "Jethro Tull The Rock Opera." Ian Anderson and crew did a fantastic job at welding together live stage performances with video and lighting unlike anything possibly ever seen before. The intertwining of live lyrics, alternated with recorded verses was done with impeccable timing and precision as Anderson told the story of Jethro Tull from his childhood to the scientist he'd eventually become. Utilizing such classics as "Aqualung," "Songs From the Wood" and "Farm On the Freeway," as well as "Locomotive Breath;" the story was easy to follow and the production was so well done that Anderson deserves multiple accolades to come his way. This particular performance from the Philadelphia Academy of Music was two hours and ten minutes in length and were it not for the 15 minute intermission; would have flowed seamlessly. Bravo to you Mr. Anderson; excellent production, fantastic technical presentation and truly a work of well done art.

published on 02/05/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/28/16

"WFIL AM,""Famous 56," "Philly Gold," "WFIL Dynamite," are all synonymous with one of the hottest radio stations in a major market city during the time when AM radio was king, FM was in its infancy and "Radio Personalities" were known as DJs or "Jocks." That city was Philadelphia, PA and the station; none other than WFIL 56 AM.

published on 01/28/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/22/16

Continuing a look back to 2015; one of the more pleasant surprises was Peter Frampton at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ.

published on 01/22/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/14/16

"This is our 27th year; we're insane," said a laughing Joe Pascarell; one of the co-founders of the Pink Floyd tribute band, The Machine as he relayed the band's origins and secret to its longevity. "Seriously though, we're all great friends; it's how we stay together."

published on 01/15/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/7/16

Looking back at some memorable shows from 2015, The Winery Dogs at The Starland Ballroom in Sayerville, NJ has to rank among the best of the year. The opening act of Kicking Harold did a fantastic job setting the tone and the rest as they, "Was History."

published on 01/08/2016

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/31/15

The year 2015 draws to a close and the music business and overall industry are no closer to figuring things out than they were when it began. Record companies, radio stations, newspapers and print publications continue to fold or struggle to stay afloat and more venues close their doors as digital media, downloads and the ability to purchase select songs all have a new generation of listeners picking and choosing without experiencing the entire work of an artist.

published on 12/31/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/24/15

Born in "South Jersey," Doreen Taylor has expanded far beyond the Philadelphia, PA skyline that is only a stone's throw from her suburban roots. A performer since childhood; Taylor has parlayed her passion for music and entertainment into a career which continues to blossom with each passing season.

published on 12/24/2015

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Dar Williams

“Music? Can I take a pass on that one?” said Dar Williams, laughing as she gave her take on the state of the recording industry and the music makers of today; “It’s hard to make a living in music, it’s hard to make a statement today and it’s hard to take the risks like I could years ago.”

published on 12/22/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/17/15

The danger of seeing classic rock icons far past their heyday is that one tends to remember what they were then; instead of what they are now. Some disappoint because they don’t play their greatest hit or have just lost the zeal to perform and others, well, others like Edgar Winter; they come to play.

published on 12/16/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/10/15

“Music? Can I take a pass on that one? “Said a laughing Dar Williams as she gave her take on the state of the recording industry and the music makers of today; “It’s hard to make a living in music, it’s hard to make a statement today and it’s hard to take the risks like I could years ago.”

published on 12/10/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/3/15

"You really don't know anything about me," said D.L. Byron with a laugh. "Well, I'm a singer/songwriter from South Jersey; let's start with that."

published on 12/03/2015

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George Winston comes to NJ for Two Shows

“Growing up where I did in eastern Montana; the seasons and topography definitely influenced my music and writing,” says renowned multi-instrumentalist George Winston. “Every season has its own personality and its own unique qualities and they all say something different; so I tend to look at things that way when I compose my music.”

published on 11/29/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/26/15

"This is a classic situation," says well respected Trenton area jazz guitarist Dick Gratton; "Where a bunch of old bastards have said, hey, lets put the band back together," stated with a laugh nearly as big as his impeccable reputation and exceeded only by his stellar ability.

published on 11/26/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/19/15

"This is a one off show because I love New York," said a very enthusiastic Vonda Shepard as she preps for her one night only appearance at Manhattan's "Le Poisson Rouge." "I just got back from the U.K. and I'm home in L.A. but I'm looking forward to playing this gig."

published on 11/19/2015

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Steve Hackett Brings "Acolyte to Wolflight With Genesis Revisited" to The Newton Theater

"My show? My show is about three hours long. The first half is my solo material and the second is old Genesis songs; the Peter Gabriel years," says veteran guitarist and rocker Steve Hackett. "We'll be performing songs from "Acolyte," which is my first true solo album to my most recent "Wolflight."

published on 11/14/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/12/15

"Considering all things; we are very happy with the way this tour is going and just how far we've come over these last eight years," says Victor Micallef, one of the four outstanding vocalists who comprise the Canadian super foursome The Tenors.

published on 11/12/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/5/15

Ken Peplowski is no stranger to assembling things; big things, "I'm known for putting things like this together," said the musical director of New Jersey Performing Arts Center's latest installment of their "Sinatra Centennial" series with a laugh. "I've done a lot of projects like this over the years."

published on 11/05/2015

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Count Basie Theatre In Red Bank Announces $20 Million Expansion

(RED BANK, NJ) — "The Future Is Now," read the marquis on the revamped and revitalized former "Carlton" movie theater turned entertainment venue known simply as "The Basie" as it welcomed media, alumni and guests to an press conference on Monday October 26.

published on 10/30/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/29/15

"The Future Is Now," read the marquis on the revamped and revitalized former "Carlton" movie theater turned entertainment venue known simply as "The Basie" as it welcomed media, alumni and guests to an 11 a.m. press conference on Monday October 26.

published on 10/29/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/22/15

California, Los Angeles in particular, has given us many trends, movies and loads of entertainment, now the city of angels has given us perhaps the next big thing; Kicking Harold.

published on 10/22/2015

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Ian Anderson On Jethro Tull, The Rock Opera

“Our agent at the time was a history graduate, we were dithering about searching for band names and he suggested it and I was sort of like; yeah, well, OK. Then it dawned on me; we’re named after a dead guy,” explained founding member and music icon Ian Anderson with a laugh on how legendary rock band Jethro Tull got their name from an English agricultural pioneer that helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. “So let that be a lesson to you children; pay attention in history class!”

published on 10/21/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/15/15

"Me? I was born in Manhattan but grew up in Jersey; I'm definitely out there and in your face," says the hard rocking Madame Mayhem as she prepares to release her new CD, "Now You Know," with an October 16 in store show at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ. "I'm not rude but I am definitely out there and I have a power packed show."

published on 10/15/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/8/15

"We all have dreams and aspirations; I used to make plans and I don't anymore. Life is happening now and if you don't go with what's happening today; how can you tell what may happen in the future? I just go with what comes along and it seems to be working at the moment," says the self made "Social Media Artist" Tyler Ward about his future plans as he embarks on his "Yellow Boxes Tour."

published on 10/08/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/1/15

Stephen Joshua Sondheim (Pronounced Sond Haim) was born in New York City. He grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side and later, on a farm near Doylestown, PA. He saw his first Broadway play at the age of nine and the rest as they say, "Is history." In time, this son of dress making parents would go on to become a man whom many consider to be one of, if not the greatest songwriter of all time.

published on 10/01/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...

"It's alive! It's alive! It is alive!" A famous quote from the movie "Frankenstein," where a supposed mad doctor creates a human being from multiple parts of deceased others and brings it to life with a power surge from a lightning strike. Today's music climate sees multiple artists forming "Franken-bands" as they are varying from their main or defunct groups to collaborate in side projects.

published on 09/26/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/24/15

"It's alive! It's alive! It is alive!" A famous quote from the movie "Frankenstein," where a supposed mad doctor creates a human being from multiple parts of deceased others and brings it to life with a power surge from a lightning strike. Today's music climate sees multiple artists forming "Franken-bands" as they are varying from their main or defunct groups to collaborate in side projects.

published on 09/24/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/17/15

"I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea. I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me..."

published on 09/17/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/10/15

Ya' know; it's a lot less than ten years ago," says front man/Robert Plant portray-er Bruce Lamont of Led Zeppelin 2; a Zeppelin tribute band. "We all come from playing original music; in the '90's this wouldn't fly but it's a new era so we receive less and less criticism for what we're doing and the audiences are also much younger so we're turning on new and different fans to the music of one of the greatest bands of all time."

published on 09/11/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/3/15

On a warm, near perfect summer evening, Asbury Park, New Jersey's Stone Pony came alive to the sounds of its outdoor Summer Stage; headlined by Better Than Ezra along with Sugar Ray and Uncle Kracker on their "Under The Sun Tour."

published on 09/03/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/27/15

Joss Stone broke big with her multi-platinum debut album “The Soul Sessions,” followed up by five additional works and now her seventh release, “Water For Your Soul” has hit the masses in July.

published on 08/27/2015

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Melissa Etheridge

“Oh I totally remember it,” she said with an enthusiastic laugh. “I even remember where I was. I was rehearsing for my second, no wait, maybe just prior to when my second album was released; my manager came in and said I was nominated for the “Best Rock Vocal Performance Female,” or whatever the category was exactly, I don’t think it even exists any longer. I never expected it; it was an amazing feeling. It took me until my fourth nomination to win one but it was still unbelievable. Just being there with the other performers and industry people and the parties; it was an honor.”

published on 08/20/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/19/15

“Summer, Jersey Shore; there’s nothing like it anywhere else in the world,” says Hank Woji as he prepares to revisit the area with his first full band show in New Jersey in twenty two years. “I’m very excited to do this show at The Saint and to play with Sonny Kenn and George Wirth again too!”

published on 08/19/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/13/15

"Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend I want to guard your dreams and visions," It's hard to believe that it's been four decades since that line was uttered, since "Mary's dressed waved" and "When the change was made uptown and the big man joined the band."

published on 08/13/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/6/15

Anton Fig spent spent more than two decades sitting behind his famed drum kit as a member of the "Late Show With David Letterman" band and over that time period the magnitude of it all never eluded him. "Phenomenal, a life changing job; I mean that, literally a life changing job," says the now veteran time keeper. "Twenty nine years, fifty four hundred shows, I got to play with a lot of incredible musicians who either sat in with the band or we backed up and I got to hear Dave every night who was a genius at what he does; he was smart and just great. People think we were this great well rehearsed band. Truth is, I'd go to work every day and everything was very off the cuff. We never rehearsed the show, we'd rehearse little pieces and then we did the show; we never knew what Dave was going to do. I was very lucky to have a job like that for such a long period of time. While I was doing Letterman I could play with other people, other bands and I had the stability of the job as a constant which afforded me a steady home, a mortgage, as a musician to have that, almost like a regular job where you work days; I was very fortunate."

published on 08/06/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/30/15

"In 1955 I brought the first surf board to Wildwood, New Jersey. I was playing the Rainbow Bar and I'll not forget that Fats Domino was performing across the street. I brought that surf board in and people looked at me like I was crazy, they'd never seen anything like it; I had to get permission from the police to take it in the water because it was considered a weapon," explains the father of "Surf Rock" Dick Dale.

published on 07/31/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/23/15

"I've been playing guitar for 30 years. I started, oh God, my first band was when I was nine or ten years old; we were called Thunderbolt," laughed an excited Brian Quinn, the newest member of "Le Projet" and "Candlebox." "We played two songs well; "Wild Thing" and "Hey Joe" in our parents basements but hey, it was a start."

published on 07/24/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/16/15

With the Atlantic Ocean as a foreground, Sam Sims hit the first notes of "Sunday Sun" and the night was off to a feel good start; complete with the kind of vibe that says, "Every Little Thing is gonna be alright."

published on 07/16/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/9/15

"I owe it all to an old fashioned judge back in England," says Simon Kirke, former Free and original/current drummer of the legendary classic rock band Bad Co. as he elaborated on his abilities as a multi-instrumentalist. "My older brother was a musician and being competitive I wanted to be one too; so I started playing the drums. I'd practice every day after school and we lived in a small house with close by neighbors. I practiced so much that eventually the neighbors complained and we wound up in court. The judge ordered my father to allow me to go to school, do homework and limit my practice time to a half an hour a day. I couldn't let my brother outdo me so I started to teach myself how to play guitar because that could be practiced without the neighbors hearing!"

published on 07/10/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/2/15

"Known for living up to their name, the band partied so long and so hard that even Keith Richards thought they needed to slow things down."

published on 07/03/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/25/15

"Our agent at the time was a history graduate, we were dithering about searching for band names and he suggested it and I was sort of like; yeah, well, OK. Then it dawned on me; we're named after a dead guy," explained founding member and music icon Ian Anderson with a laugh on how legendary rock band Jethro Tull got their name. "So let that be a lesson to you children; pay attention in history class!"

published on 06/27/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/18/15

The stage looked like a garage rehearsal space, very comfortable with faux lava lamps, large cloths with designs and soft lighting; framed by a classic rock sound track, welcoming all as they filtered into Red Bank's Count Basie Theatre. A quick inventory revealed nine guitars (two of which were of the double neck variety), a grand piano, an amp and a whole lot of anticipation of what was to come.

published on 06/19/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/11/15

Most kids growing up with a view of Manhattan have aspirations of being in the big city; be it on stage, screen or in the music world. Teen sensation Chloe Baker is no different but with a successful video, a management team and her first full length CD already in tow; she's accomplished more than most and she's not even old enough to drive herself to rehearsals.

published on 06/11/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/4/15

"Oh I totally remember it," she said with an enthusiastic laugh. "I even remember where I was. I was rehearsing for my second, no wait, maybe just prior to when my second album was released; my manager came in and said I was nominated for the "Best Rock Vocal Performance Female," or whatever the category was exactly, I don't think it even exists any longer. I never expected it; it was an amazing feeling. It took me until my fourth nomination to win one but it was still unbelievable. Just being there with the other performers and industry people and the parties; it was an honor."

published on 06/05/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/28/15

I just want to say that we're having a blast on this tour and we want to thank everyone; I mean everyone. We are really happy with the way it's going and it's a great combo of bands," says Justin Symbol of the band that bears his name as they have joined forces with Requiem and William Control and the Neuromantic Boys on their most recent tour.

published on 05/28/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/21/15

"2008 was the first "William Control" CD. I was between records; a lull in my career," says the enigmatic front man William Control of William Control and The Neuromantic Boys. "I don't know; I've got a lot of things in my head that need to get out."

published on 05/22/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/14/15

Without hesitation, one of the best live bands around is Honey Spot Blvd. So it only stands to reason that with the upcoming release of their much anticipated second CD titled, "Under the First Floor," that this near technically perfect four piece unit would have a release party of the same nature. Saturday, May 23, the Ivy Tavern located at 3108 South Broad Street in Hamilton, NJ is the scene of the unveiling with a "Free" show complete with buffet and a cash bar.

published on 05/15/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/7/15

"CBGB? No, I don't miss it at all," says music legend, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and Ramones drummer Marky Ramone. "The club had its run; there is a time and place for everything and it served its purpose well."

published on 05/08/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/30/15

"Sixteen years now," says nineteen year old guitar phenom Matthew Curry in reference to how long he's been playing his instrument. "My dad played; it's the reason why I started. His dad played and that's it as far as music goes in my family but I do have a twin brother who is a pretty good drummer."

published on 05/02/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/23/15

“Sold Out” is how the latest press release reads for the “9th Annual Rock On The Range Music Festival” scheduled for May 15, 16 and 17 at Mapfre Stadium (Formerly Crew Stadium) in Columbus, Ohio.

published on 04/23/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/17/15

They may be from Provo, Utah but The Fictionist's resume reads like New York City, Hollywood and Royal Albert Hall all wrapped into one. Winners of an "Independent Music Award," semi-finalists in Rolling Stone's "Do You Wanna Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star" contest along with multiple song placements on various compilation discs, television shows and in festivals; the band has only begun to scratch the surface of their capabilities.

published on 04/17/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/10/15

"One of the weird things is that history has the biggest, most dominant presence in the arts; with the exception of music," says Al Stewart who will be performing at the Open Arts Stage Theater in Bordentown, NJ on Friday April 10 at 8 p.m. "It's always done it. History is impervious to fashion. What's cutting edge this year will be out by the next and everyone has moved on. Where as with music; we are always looking back. Great classical music, the Beethoven's and the like are still as prominent as they were centuries ago. People still go to hear classical music and see great works of art that have stood the test of time. History is constant in the universe; it's invaluable."

published on 04/10/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/2/15

"Really cool man; itit's just a natural progression for the band," says Fire From The Gods vocalist AJ Channer about the current "Headbang For The Highway: The Alumni Tour And The Battle For the All Stars Tour 2015

published on 04/02/2015

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Joe Marson Has "Electric Soul Magic" in Hoboken

"I'm from California originally, San Diego actually but I live in New York City just because I like the music scene here; it's better for touring. You can hit more places in less space; everything closer and more condensed," says Joe Marson of his decision to move east from his native California in pursuit of a music career. "I've not really tried the L.A scene but this is working out well."

published on 03/30/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/26/15

#34;We replace songs with similar ones to what's been removed,"says a laughing John Lodge; bassist for the legendary rock band The Moody Blues. "We usually encore with "Ride My See-Saw" because that keeps the audience going and let's face it; aren't we all on a seesaw going up and down through life?"

published on 03/26/2015

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Nalani & Sarina Spice Up The Bitter End

"We play there as often as we can," stated Nalani and Sarina about their musical home "The Bitter End" in New York City. "We had a residency there last year and we try and get back there as much as possible."

published on 03/25/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/19/15

"It was great!! I had no idea that we had sold it out; it was great," said an elated Dana Fuchs about her recent appearance at Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, NJ.

published on 03/19/2015

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Wyland On The Rise

“We’re very good at crowd participation. We take crowds that don’t know us and win them over,” says Wyland front man Ryan Sloan. “We never plan it out, if we need to get the crowd going we know what to do. A big part of our band is getting people to come together. That is the beauty of music.”

published on 03/19/2015

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Hiromi "Jazzes Up" Princeton and McCarter Theater

"Ummm, well, music is events in life. When my emotion is moved; I feel like creating music. I could be travelling in a car and the landscape along the road can inspire me; it's easy to work when you're inspired. One little flower in the street can move you; it doesn't have to be a big event," says the great Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara as she prepares to bring her amazing talents to Princeton's McCarter Theater on Sunday March 15 at 3 p.m.

published on 03/14/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/12/15

Fresh off of wrapping up the final shows of his "Mosaic Special Edition" tour; Jann Klose is catching his breath, wrapping up some unfinished studio work and beginning his next release before heading back to his native Germany in May. Klose, an incredibly talented instrumentalist, vocalist, dancer and actor says that he is, "Very excited" about his upcoming show on March 14 at Ethical Brew in Teaneck, NJ as well as his work with Renaissance songstress Annie Haslam and the pending shows in his birthplace.

published on 03/12/2015

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Rock On Radio w/ Darren Panelli and Deedee Pie Tonight!

Darren "De Jay" Panelli is a songwriter/guitarist from the Jersey shore area whose lyrics have been called, "Smart, inventive and articulate." Siting influences from Jerry Garcia to Pat Metheny and various punk rock artists; Panelli has crafted material which is fresh and full of surprises.

published on 03/08/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...3/5/15

The Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival is coming to Convention Hall on March 20 and 21 with three sessions and some great entertainment!

published on 03/05/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/26/15

published on 02/27/2015

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Rio Clemente: The Bishop of Jazz

I've always been an improvisationalist; I didn't know what I was doing," says Rio Clemente one of the jazz piano greats of our time. "I used to play like Liberace until I heard the improvisations of jazz players. My trio has no idea what I'm going to do and neither do I. All I can say is; it keeps it fresh!"

published on 02/22/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/19/15

"I was trying for that late 60's British blues sound; a return to the days of trios," says former Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive guitarist Randy Bachman about his new CD "Heavy Blues" due to drop on April 14 2015.

published on 02/20/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/12/15

He was known as Ted, Teddy, Teddy Z and even Flash to some but to the musicians in the Trenton area; he was known as a friend and major supporter of their craft. Sadly, Ted's untimely and unexpected passing has rocked all of those who knew him. On Sunday February 15 at noon, fourteen bands and solo artists are scheduled to pay tribute to the man who loved music, his patrons and bringing quality entertainment to the Trenton area.

published on 02/12/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...2/5/15

Normally this space has a dedicated interview or review; not so this week. There's much happening in various music scenes all around our great state and this space is going to highlight a few that have been brought to its attention.

published on 02/05/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/29/15

"A Cappella," said Jerzy Jung as she described her affections for the October project. "I was in an A Cappella group at school where I sang lead to the song "Sunday Morning Yellow Sky," Mary has such an incredible voice and I've always been obsessed with that song and her vocal ability; it's going to be so cool to actually get to meet her!"

published on 01/30/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....1/22/15

"Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive...." Recognize that great opening line? These words are sung by Gary Lee Weinrib; better known as "Geddy Lee," front man of the legendary Canadian trio, Rush.

published on 01/23/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/15/15

"Music!" Exclaimed a smiling Kelly Carvin as she offered up the reason for leaving her home town of Hamilton, NJ and taking up residence in Nashville, TN. "I went there for a visit, got the bug and wanted to see what it was all about. I felt if I wanted to expand my music that I had to get out of NJ and see what was beyond here."

published on 01/15/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/8/15

"I started like most during those days; due to the Beatles. I've been playing since the age of nine," says guitarist and veteran blues player Billy Hector. "I loved listening to that great AM radio stuff as a kid and then FM came in and things got psychedelic; things changed and not just for me."

published on 01/08/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/1/14

"Not only is Sam Cooke's music catchy, popular and beloved, it's groundbreaking in terms of importance, inspiring change and in elevating social awareness. Sam's classic "A Change Is Gonna Come," although inspired specifically about civil rights, can easily be applied in spirit to any cause or issue facing people. People struggling and hoping for that overdue change. In the context of Candlelight Concerts, that would be epilepsy," says Candlelight Concert for Epilepsy Awareness founder Eric Miller in preparation for the next installment of this ever growing popular series of shows. Miller suffered a loss when his young wife Carolina tragically passed away from an epileptic seizure in her 20's. Since then he has made it his mission to draw awareness to this condition which affects one in every ten people.

published on 01/02/2015

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/25/14

"It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more." .... Dr. Seuss via The Grinch.

published on 12/25/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/18/14

"It started small, just a few musicians, it was a clothing drive and very small," said Ernie White as we spoke prior to this Sunday's 15th Annual edition of his now highly successful Christmas Show, taking place at The Princeton Manor Banquet Facility located at 661 Rte. 33 in Hamilton (formerly known as Cedar Gardens). "Yeah it's hard to believe it huh? Fifteen years?," he continued with a laugh.

published on 12/18/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites... 12/11/14

"The Asbury Music Awards, presented each year by The Saint and Asbury Music Company, originally known as The Golden T-Bird Awards, premiered in Asbury Park in 1993. An annual music scene staple, the first Asbury Music Awards was held at the former T-Birds Cafe on Main Street in Asbury Park, NJ. Scott Stamper, of The Saint in Asbury Park, founded, and originally designed the Asbury Music Awards in 1993 along with Peter Mantas, formerly of The Saint, now the Entertainment Director at Langosta Lounge + Asbury Park Yacht Club, as a response to the area's hardworking musicians, singers and songwriters, artists, and the longstanding, ever-evolving Live Original Music scene in Asbury Park and at the Jersey Shore."

published on 12/11/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...12/4/14

"Besides helping charities? I love bringing people together and the camaraderie of it all; I just love giving something back!" Those are the words of a very excited Jennifer Chlebowski, owner of Heavenly Touch Cosmetics as she prepares for her "Mad Hatter Tea Party and Charity Fashion Show" this Sunday December 7 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

published on 12/04/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/27/14

The holiday band schedule is as usual, lighter than normal but there is still loads of great music happening this weekend.

published on 11/27/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/21/14

I consider myself very fortunate, not only as a writer and a musician but also as a radio show host. Over the last five and one half years I have been part of a musical revolution of sorts; an explosion of what's right with music and sadly what is also wrong as well.

published on 11/21/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/13/14

“Oh wow. Randy stuck out from other drummers, he had his own style, his own personality that was unique; it was so very much just Randy,” said Lita Ford as she elaborated on drummer Randy Castillo from her hotel room in Parsippany, NJ. Castillo is the subject of a new film from director Wynn Ponder and longtime friend Michael Bell titled “The Life, Blood and Rhythm of Randy Castillo.”

published on 11/13/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...11/6/14

"Beneath My Father's Sky," is a one woman play written and performed by Montclair, NJ resident, musician, actress and model Zara Phillips.

published on 11/06/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/30/14

Who is ken Sharp? He is the author of more than fifteen music related books; has been on the New York Times Best Seller list and has written liner notes for the likes of Elvis Presley, Heart, Hall & Oates and Kiss. Sharp has undertaken and successfully authored books on John Lennon, Elvis, Cheap Trick and The Raspberries as well as a slew of others in his impressive arsenal of rocks elite.

published on 10/30/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/23/14

"It is wide open. it's made up of all these different parts. There's a very cool indie underground, metal, rock scenes too. The hip kids seem to be in the city while the blue collar scene is more on the outskirts; the days of Hammerjacks are still hanging on," says the lead singer Niki Barr of the Baltimore, MD area based band The Last Year as she described their hometown music scene and prepare to launch a tour with Neon Hitch. Prior to departing, the band will be making their first ever appearance in NJ at the "Sinners and Saints Ball" at the Hebe Music Lounge inside Big Shots Bar & Grill on Route 130 in Burlington County.

published on 10/23/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/16/14

"I loved it! I am so glad to be coming back! My last time there I had to restrain myself from pawing through the vinyl but I'm not so sure that I can this time," says the "Beehive Queen" and SNL band member Christine Ohlman about her return to The Record Collector in Bordentown City, NJ on November 8. "I'm a collector myself, so it's not easy (laughs)!"

published on 10/16/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/9/14

"Telling stories is like fishing, you don't just throw a line out and reel in immediately, sometimes you have to work at it and go about it in a round about way; then when it hits you know you've got'em."

published on 10/09/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...10/2/14

Recently, tales of woe and thievery have arisen concerning unscrupulous promoters, venue owners and pay to play antics; all designed to take advantage of musicians.

published on 10/02/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites... 9/25/14

A little more than a year ago, I wrote a piece called "Red, White and Blues" which was centered around the perceived death or near death of blues music as a viable entity. In the piece, I interviewed blues musicians from the Jersey shore to Trenton and beyond and to a player, they all agreed that the genre is unappreciated, under credited and extremely tough to keep on people's minds.

published on 09/25/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites... 9/19/14

"I met Bob Steeler at an event. I was interested in his music, he was interested in my involvement with the Belmar Arts Council," says Chris Krebbs the man responsible for Saturday's September 20 opening of Steeler's art works at the council.

published on 09/19/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/11/14

"Really, I don't have any personal connection to anyone with epilepsy but I'm hoping to do some good for the cause."

published on 09/11/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...9/4/14

Perhaps best known for bourbon and baseball bats, the town of Louisville, KY began a metamorphosis of sorts over the last decade.

published on 09/04/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/28/14

"There has been no bigger impact on the whole band, we didn't know it at first but the overwhelming impact was just astounding," says Young Dubliners guitarist and front man Keith Roberts as the band readies to make their third appearance on September 7 at 7 p.m. EST in the Candlelight Concert for Epilepsy Awareness Series. "The raw emotion that comes with doing this, Eric's love for his wife and the circumstances that have prompted him to do this have really moved us. We get asked to do charity events all the time but this one, well, is really profound."

published on 08/28/2014

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Martha Davis and The Motels Check In at Pt. Pleasant NJ

"Well, it came about, it's a funny thing; the band formed in California and we moved to L.A. We had changed our name to Angels of Mercy and we were like, it's just not right, it makes us sound like we are some charity or hospital organization. We were driving down Santa Monica Boulevard and at the time it was where all of the motels were and one of the guys said, "What about the Motels?" I said, "Perfect!" We went to the gig and the guy was about to introduce us as Angels of Mercy and we said, "No! Wait! We are The Motels!" I remember that gig, we got paid in hamburgers!"

published on 08/26/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/21/14

Jenk's Pavilion in Point Pleasant, NJ came alive with a blast from the past recently as the timeless and tireless Gary U.S. Bonds took to the stage with his Roadhouse Rockers. The Tuesday night concert series produced by Sammy Boyd has featured some of classic rocks biggest names and continues to only get better as the summer draws to a close along the Jersey Shore.

published on 08/21/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...8/14/14

The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ was a "groovy" place to be recently as west coast groove artist Donovan Frankenreiter laid it down smooth to a packed house of enthusiastic fans.

published on 08/14/2014

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"Hollystock 2014" Takes Over Mt. Holly NJ

"The second one? Well, it was amazing!" These are the words of Zou Zou Mansour, front person for the band Soraia. Zou Zou, bassist Travis Smith, drummer Jeff Leonard, guitarist John Glaubitz and keyboardist Jack Faracchio comprise this Philadelphia area group who will be performing at the third annual "Hollystock" in Mount Holly, NJ on Saturday August 9.

published on 08/07/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....8/7/14

"Riot On The Dance Floor" is a soon to be released film documentary about the now legendary City Gardens, a now long defunct music club/venue, situated in a ghetto neighborhood of Trenton, NJ. Bands such as the Ramones, Green Day and Henry Rollins, as well as punk and thrash metal bands frequented its stage; many with regularity.

published on 08/07/2014

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Chris Cagle Comes To Newton

Speaking with country music star Chris Cagle, one gets the impression that he is a man at ease; a man living life on his terms and a man playing his music the same way. This Friday August 1, Cagle and his band will be performing at the Newton Theater, located at 234 Spring Street in Newton, NJ

published on 08/01/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/31/14

Speaking with country music star Chris Cagle, one gets the impression that he is a man at ease; a man living life on his terms and a man playing his music the same way. This Friday August 1, Cagle and his band will be performing at the Newton Theater, located at 234 Spring Street in Newton, NJ.

published on 07/31/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...7/24/14

"What was it like?" said Don Felder at a recent back stage meet and greet with several fans when questioned about being on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine while a member of the Eagles. "It was, well, let's say I was happy and a little ticked off at the same time," he answered with a minor chuckle. "The editor put us on the cover but panned our album in his review so...." The album which Felder is referring to was none other than "Hotel California."

published on 07/24/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....7/18/14

"I like good blues, that's my favorite kind and he plays good blues," said the one and only James Cotton in a recent interview about the now deceased Johnny Winter.

published on 07/18/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....7/11/14

College of New Jersey Alumni Cat London has been in the entertainment business since she was a young child. Music and dance first captivated her when she was a newbie and is still a huge part of her make up today. The release of 2012's "Box of Chocolates," a six song EP was instrumental in bringing Cat's incredible music ability to the forefront. The young girl who had booked herself in Coffee Houses by the time she was seventeen, had suddenly grabbed the Jersey Shore music scene by the throat and forced the few remaining who hadn't done so already, to take notice.

published on 07/11/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....7/3/14

"I guess you can say I'm the new guy and I've been with the band for over ten years," said (hed) p.e. guitarist Jackson Benge with a laugh as he discussed the upcoming July 22 release by Pavement Entertainment of their ninth CD "Evolution."

published on 07/03/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/27/14

Seventy years in the entertainment business is hard to imagine; unless you're James Cotton.

published on 06/27/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....6/19/14

We've all had various themes, songs, or movies which represent defining moments in life and for many, the music which accompanies these moments is as much a part of them as is the moment itself.

published on 06/19/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....6/12/14

"I view the stage as if I'm inviting the audience into my living room," says songwriter/musician extraordinaire Christine Ohlman as we spoke in advance of her scheduled 8 p.m. appearance this Saturday evening at The Record Collector on Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown City.

published on 06/12/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...6/6/14

"This movie? This movie is my homage to the Jersey shore," said screenwriter and Red Bank, NJ native Joe Basile of his new film "West End." "This is also an homage to the films I grew up loving; a movie where you have to pay attention, it has lots of twists and turns."

published on 06/06/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/29/14

Moot Davis is a Jersey boy through and through; just don't tell his music that however.

published on 05/29/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....5/22

Pork Roll was invented by John Taylor in Trenton, NJ in 1856.

published on 05/22/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....5/15

Pete Donnelly, founding member of The Figgs, former member of NRBQ, touring member of Soul Asylum, Graham Parker and others is a tireless performer, producer and engineer. Past artists including G.Love, Carsie Blanton and Amos Lee have all used Pete's production skills.

published on 05/15/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...5/8/14

2014 has seen the spawn of the Foo Fighters and Chevy Metal and it is known as The Birds of Satan!

published on 05/08/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....5/1/14

“The Name?” explains Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery, “It comes from Lajon. He’s always saying that we are like “Time Travelers” because we do our old and new songs on stage. The Bonfires represent our new songs, which are a little more up, rockin’ acoustic types.”

published on 05/02/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....4/24/14

The Standells formed in Los Angeles, CA circa 1962 and from their humble beginnings as a "garage rock band" have been considered by many to be the inspiration for bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. Recently they have reunited for their first new studio album and nationwide tour in over four decades and will be making stops in Bordentown and Long Branch, NJ.

published on 04/24/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....4/17/14

“I prefer to look forward and not back. I don’t know too many people who consistently look back twenty years all of the time. I mean, I’m glad that our fans still do; that’s a really good thing but I prefer to look ahead,” says Sebastian Bach as he elaborated on his recent release “Give ‘Em Hell” and his days as the front man for one of Atlantic Records most successful acts, Skid Row.

published on 04/17/2014

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ROCK ON! This week's Sound Bites...4/10/14

"My songs are like, I thought I'd be a filmmaker; I try to give vision to my songwriting. I try to make my song lyrics like little pictures, frames of a larger piece," explained seven-time Grammy Award nominee Joan Osborne as we discussed her music, her career, and upcoming performance on Friday April 11 in Ewing, NJ as part of the Candlelight Concert Series for Epilepsy Awareness.

published on 04/10/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...4/3

"Get the band back together? We've never been apart," said Living Colour front man Corey Glover with a hearty laugh as he discussed the band's upcoming performance at Trinity United Methodist Church in Ewing on Friday April 4 as part of the Candlelight Concert Series for Epilepsy.

published on 04/03/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....3/27

The Jersey shore area has spawned its share of talent, both musical and otherwise but rarely has it produced someone the likes of Michael Ghegan. This multi-instrumentalist and much sought after artist, will be taking the role of "featured saxophonist" in Cirque Du Soleil's "Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour," this Friday and Saturday at The Sun National Bank Center in Trenton.

published on 03/27/2014

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Jersey Shore Cigar Box Fest "Lights Up" The Saint

"A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points," says the definition as one searches for a little more clarification on a certain resurgence of a particular sort of "chordophone." The particular "one" would be the "CBG;" Cigar Box Guitar.

published on 03/26/2014

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WWE LIVE invades the Sun National Bank Center

Professional WWE wrestler Roman Reigns is 6’ 3” and 265 pounds of rock solid muscle, a former WWE Tag Team Champion and is extremely excited to be coming to the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton on Sunday March 23 on the “Road to WrestleMania.”

published on 03/21/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....3/20/14

“Well, I’ve got no personal experience with it; just some basic knowledge. I’m thankful that nobody I know suffers from it and having a chance to help is a very fulfilling thing,” says Ed Kowalczyk as he prepares to bring his acoustic show into Ewing, NJ as part of the Candlelight Concert for Epilepsy series.

published on 03/20/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites.... 3/13/14

"A lot of people know me as a keyboard player but I actually started out as a drummer," explained multi-instrumentalist and current Hall & Oates band member Eliot Lewis. "I also play guitar and bass as well."

published on 03/13/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....3/6/14

"The beauty of the club," explained author Amy Wuelfing, "Was that there was no judgment; you didn't have to dress a certain way, or have a certain look, it was a totally accepting environment. There were everything from Mohawks to totally normal styles, people dressed outrageous and like the average person next door."

published on 03/06/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites.....2/27/14

" My eyes were full of tears, I cried like a baby; I mean I was overwhelmed. I'm still shaking my head over it today, it's like, How'd "that" happen?" A very honest and candid response from Princeton, NJ native Mary Chapin Carpenter as she described the euphoria of winning her first of five Grammy Awards.

published on 02/27/2014

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ROCKON! This Week's Sound Bites....2/20/14

"I must be the most un-famous, famous rock and roll guy around," said Joe Cerisano with a hearty laugh. "I'm one of those guys, where people know my voice but not my face; it's actually beneficial that way."

published on 02/20/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....2/13/14

When talking with Vanilla Fudge guitarist Vince "Vinny" Martell, it is impossible to not get a sense of nostalgia nor to feel the pride that this man has for his instrument and his accomplishments. Whether it be his service to our country as a member of the U.S. Navy, the impact that "Fudge" had on the rock music world, his charitable undertakings or the many festivals and countries in which he has appeared; the man that now departed Doors keyboard legend Ray Manzarek once spoke,"A more soulful shredder may not exist in all of classic rock;" is definitely still very much a viable force to reckon with in rock 'n' roll music today.

published on 02/13/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites.... 2/6/14

"I love music documentaries," said Tom Reock as I took up residency in the front room of his Squirrel Ranch Studio in Hamilton. "I enjoy learning the where, the why and finding out the how..."

published on 02/06/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...1/30/14

Lately I've lamented my feelings as they relate to opinions, both of my own and some of my fellow musician friends who call the Trenton Music scene their home. I've related our feelings on cover bands, original bands, venues (or lack there of) and the trials and tribulations of various genres and the generation gap that faces music and in general, our culture today.

published on 01/30/2014

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"Emporors and Elephants" An interview with Jason Meudt and Jesse Andrews

“It’s funny, there’s a couple of stories, depending on who you talk to,” says Emperors and Elephants drummer Jason Meudt as he explained how this hard driving rock band from Chicago arrived at its name.

published on 01/28/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites.....1/23/14

Welcome to my musical world! This is one man's attempt to alert you to the best in area entertainment!

published on 01/23/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....1/16/14

"Groove rock! Yeah, that's what I'd say it is," says guitarist and primary songwriter Ian Bamberger of the trio which bears his name as he described their forthcoming EP, "Those Girls."

published on 01/16/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites 1/9/14

Lately, a debate tending to spring up in our local area music establishments seems to be on the topic of available venues in comparison to the amount of performers. Also included in the discussion is the ratio of cover bands vs. that of original acts, along with their differences.

published on 01/09/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites... January 2, 2014

The partnership formed one of the best blues/rock bands in the area and beyond, Blues In Disguise. Friday evening Paul, TJ and the rest of the band will be having a special CD/DVD release party at RHO Waterfront commemorating one magical evening and recorded at Trenton's War Memorial Building.

published on 01/02/2014

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites... December 26, 2013

It's that time of year again! No, not the passing of yet another year, not the time to make resolutions or renew gym memberships (which most of us will abandon before Valentine's Day); it is time once again for the annual "Monster Jam" Monster Truck event at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton!

published on 12/26/2013

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites...

"It started small, just a few musicians, it was a clothing drive and very small," said Ernie White as we spoke prior to this Sunday's 14th Annual edition of his now highly successful Christmas Show, taking place at The Princeton Manor Banquet Facility located at 661 Rte. 33 in Hamilton.

published on 12/19/2013

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ROCK ON! This Week's Sound Bites....

To say that this has got to be one of the strangest columns I've ever done, would be an understatement. Accurate but understated none the less. You see, I'm running the gamut from a Christian rock show at the Sun National Bank Center here in Trenton; to a Metal show in Clifton.

published on 12/12/2013

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