You have to love when you get a CD from a bunch of kids because you want to see how they measure up in talent as you did when you were their age. Well, Going Dark out of Livingston, NJ, really pushed my measurement to its limits. These kids…

ROBBIN’ PAIN—Midland Park, NJ

Robbin’ Pain guitarist Rick DalCortivo recently reached out to me letting me know about his band’s debut CD, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. When you listen to this CD, you’ll know why they can’t have nice things! The CD is pure, raw,…

The Fifth Annual Singer-Songwriter Cape May Music Conference Sails Into Jersey

It seems each year comes faster than the last. At least it does for anyone keeping track of annual events here in the Garden State. With that whimsical wisdom in mind, I once again remind you that the…

The Project Matters – Helping budding musicians grow and flourish in the Garden State

There’s probably not many of us that think about where musicians come from as much as we wonder where they all go. It is a short lifespan for most and the result is usually not…

Matt And The City Limits is the brainchild of Matt Berman, a 20-year-old saxophone wonder child who has a resumé that includes playing and/or studying with jazz legends such as Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis. But his new release, Crash, coming out via Sweet Sounds Music/Island Def Jam Records,…

I always marvel at the new artists that materialize in New Jersey. I have been on the scene since 1980 and I have seen a lot of talent come and go, but I never seem to catch a lot of it as it sneaks up on me. However, that is…

Boy Things

Taking a break from the Central Jersey vibe, I bring you Boy Things, a five-piece eclectic indie band from Hackettstown, NJ. The female fronted band recently came on my radar after one of my Bandcamp hunts. Beth Hansen, the band’s vocalist, has an old style voice that…

LITTLE DEVIL—Warren, NJ
I was recently on ReverbNation, scouting out the talent in North Jersey, when I found a great little rock band out of Warren called Little Devil. Now, there’s an easy, commercial name that’s never been used before! Anyway, while I was on their page, reverbnation.com/littledevilband, I…

Holding Back Entirely

The Saint

December 28, 2011

ASBURY PARK, NJ—The time between Christmas and New Year’s can be a strange and depressing space. What with the culmination of Santa’s cruel jokes and guilt stacked up from the past year of bad habits running through your head, it is…

SHADOWPLAY—Mount Laurel, NJ
Kenny Colgate from Romulus X Records seems to be really beefing up his roster, as of late. He already has InDisguise, Voodoo Terror Tribe and Sundown Conspiracy, but now he can add Mount Laurel’s Shadowplay to his growing list of Jersey bands. I was recently contacted…