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 no wonder everyone has to get out of the house and into a loud bar. At least that was my thought on the whole thing. The bonus is that when I got there, I found a pleasant and talented distraction by way of a band called Holding Back Entirely. This…

The true story of Tom and Margaret Potter’s Upstage scene

   In a time when social unrest and Vietnam were reaching a boiling point, music was the communal salve that healed all wounds. In the city of Asbury Park, culture and art clashed head on into some of the biggest musical innovators of the moment and the results are still being felt today. This is the story of two people, Tom and Margaret Potter. It’s the tale of humble beginnings and aspirations that inexplicably lead to one of the premiere music scenes in the country. And though the innovators…

Kill The Alarm

JC Dobbs

December 9, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PA—When New Jersey performer Garen Gueyikian (aka Kill The Alarm) sent an invite for a South Street Philly show, I thought, “What the hell?” A night out of the Shoreworld zone and into the City of Brotherly Love sounded like a fun distraction. The club he was playing was the old Pontiac Grille, which used to be the original JC Dobbs that went out of business back in 1996 and then recently returned to being JC Dobbs in 2010. Dobbs is probably the most famous club on the block, having played…

Mike Chick: Hello Mountain

   Grand Alto was a band that graced the Shoreworld pages more than once. Featuring dark, tongue-in-cheek compositions, the band used killer chops to make their climb to the top of the Jersey heap before mysteriously calling it a day.

   Rising from the ashes of that trio is singer/songwriter extraordinaire Mike Chick. Chick is a writer that doesn’t take defeat lying down. His immediate plan of action included going into the studio, where he set about the task of reaching real goals for his ongoing career.

   With a non-stop schedule of performance,…

Pete Myers: Jigsaw Monet

The old saying, “You can’t keep a good man down” was custom written for this Manasquan, New Jersey, artist. Peter Myers is a songwriter with so much background history that I’m always shocked that writers don’t talk about him on a regular basis.

Myers’ professional songwriting career started after an in-house showcase was arranged at CBS with A&R director John Hammond, which resulted in a three-year staff writing position at April Blackwood/CBS and a recording/production contract with producers Hank Medress (The Tokens) and Dave Appell, who co-produced “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole…

   There seems to be fewer bands that utilize antics and theatrical mayhem. To be honest, when I go see a rock band and they all kind of mope around like emotionally troubled vampires staring at their Sketchers, it doesn’t do shit for me. The fastest way to disconnect from an audience is to act like you don’t care about what you’re doing on stage. Unless you’re Morrissey or Wilco, the whole melancholy, “Woe is me” thing just doesn’t cut it.

   That’s why I love Scarlet Carson. Steeped in the historical bad boy swagger of Mötley Crüe and…

Double Breasted – Head To Toe In Holiday Sparkle

Yeah, I know, when I first heard about this band I pictured some Jenna Jameson, twin-fronted cover band that specializes in songs like “Black Velvet” and “Get This Party Started,” but I’m happy to say that I was way off base. This rock and roll trio can only be summed up as extremely different.

Featuring the Odd Couple combination of cellist Ardith Collins and full-sized harp courtesy of Kristy Chmura, Double Breasted creates rich and alternative compositions that appeal instantly to the ear and mind. At the center of…

Since its humble inception as the Golden T-Bird Awards back in 1993, the goal of The Asbury Music Awards has been to reward those who have put their blood, sweat and time into the local music scene. Going all the way back to those golden T-Bird days, this show remains true to its vision, regardless of the naysayers and conspiracy theorists that pop up like prairie dogs throughout the landscape of music scene drama.

Speaking of drama, the show is famous for participant hissy fits and over reactions. After all, except for its location, it’s really not that much…

Lisa Bianco – From The City That Never Sleeps To The Jersey Shore

Lisa Bianco is probably the East Coast’s number one most apt pupil. I say this because every time there is a workshop or an industry related show, I see her front and center intent on being the best she can be, and gaining a sharp edge over some the musicians that take this art form largely for granted. Sure, not everyone fits the description in the story of the tortoise and the hare, but there are a few that seem to think they are immune as…