When I think of Norway, my first thought doesn’t usually turn to all-female garage rock bands. That is until I recently saw the Cocktail Slippers perform at South By Southwest. Now the Oslo band is back with their second album for Steve Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records.

Saint Valentine’s Day…

Brian Wilson and Bruce Springsteen are famous for writing songs about cars, but Fork In The Road is the the first album that I can remember that is about one car. The vehicle in question is Neil Young’s precious Lincoln Continental that he’s had converted to hybrid technology. Now he…

RED BANK, NJ—It’s hard to think of a more legendary performer from the NJ club scene than Bobby Bandiera. The Orange native began his career with the Dodd’s house band Holme in 1970 before moving on to Cats On A Smooth Surface. The latter band’s Sunday night residency at the…

MONTCLAIR, NJ—People who stayed home to watch the Academy Awards missed something of an award-winning performance a bit closer to home, as Ryan Adams and the Cardinals brought their tour to Montclair’s refurbished Wellmont Theatre. The newly-engaged Adams (to Mandy Moore) recently announced that this will be his last tour…

Tribute records can be a very hit or miss proposition. Oftentimes they feature a few good tracks, and the rest are, well, not as good. So it must have been gratifying for longtime radio personality and WBJB Music Director Jeff Raspe when his call for artists to contribute to this…

RED BANK, NJ—Last night I was fortunate enough to be offered a last minute ticket to see Kevin Smith’s return to the city of his birth, Red Bank, NJ, for an evening of storytelling and question answering. I had seen the first of the three “Evening With Kevin Smith” DVDs…

For the last 17 years, Columbia Records has been gathering Bob Dylan’s demos, alternate takes, unreleased songs, and live performances for the outstanding Bootleg Series. The just released eighth volume of the series, titled Tell Tale Signs, is one of the finest installments in the venerable series.

Volume 8 consists…

In 2007, I placed the Kings third album, Because Of The Times, near the top of my list of the best albums of the year. Only By The Night is even better. This time out, the Kings have made a somewhat more accessible record without giving up any of the…

ASBURY PARK, NJ—Bob Dylan comes to Asbury Park. A historic event in the making. Everything was in place for a very special evening. The show had been an announced sell-out within minutes of the tickets going on sale. At least that was the word. I met two friends on their…

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ—What is there left to say about Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band? After more than 35 years, and hundreds of shows, it seems that everything that can be written has been written. The man and his music have been dissected, analyzed, deconstructed and reconstructed.

I saw…