SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND ISSUE
1. FRIDAY, MAY 24: DAVID GRISMAN'S OLD & IN THE GRAY
2. SATURDAY, MAY 25: JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS
3. SUNDAY, MAY 26: LA BAMBA'S BIG BAND / JOHN EDDIE
4. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Memorial Day Weekend is always special at The Stone Pony. Two years ago, the club celebrated its grand reopening and return to the forefront of the Asbury Park music scene. Last year, the Summer Stage played host to a memorable show by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. This year, the entire weekend is booked to be a special celebration, filled with rocking performances and great music. It's a good thing we all have off on Monday to recover!
Memorial Day will be the start of another wild summer at the club. As the back wall of the Pony is opened up to admit the (sometimes) warm breezes off the Jersey shore, the club will welcome a diverse selection of talented artists, including Melissa Ferrick (June 1), Peter Rowan (June 7), Living Colour (June 18), Ronnie Spector (June 22), Gov't Mule (July 7) and Derek Trucks (July 19). Watch for more information about all of these great events on the Pony's web site, www.stoneponyonline.com, as well as upcoming issues of the newsletter. Plus, you just know there are more events and top acts to be announced in coming weeks and the Pony is always good for a few surprises, so keep an eye on the calendar.
Look out for details about the "Sounds of Asbury Park" concert, being held at the 12,000-seat Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey, on Friday, August 16th. We can't tell you who will be performing there just yet, but we promise that the show will feature some of the artists who have defined the Jersey Shore sound, and made it an integral part of rock music.
The weather's getting warmer, and The Stone Pony is ready to turn up the heat even more. Ok, that's a bad cliché, but you get the idea: This summer will rock at the Rock of the Jersey Shore.
HIP-HOP FILM SHOOT AT THE STONE PONY
For all of you who wanted to be in the movies - here is your chance. Europe's hottest hip-hop group will appear at The Stone Pony on Saturday, May 18. VIENNESE VOODOO is a group of four musicians - two Viennese, a Cameroonian, and a Austrian-American, whose cultural diversities form the background for their musical inspiration. Their success story is being filmed for a documentary and their performance at The Stone Pony will be a major portion of the film. Doors for the show are at 8:00 and the admission is FREE, but you must be 18 to enter. Don't miss the chance to see these guys at a rare small club appearance.
Some musicians define musical genres, others create new genres all their own. David Grisman, who opens the festivities of The Stone Pony's Memorial Day Weekend, with his band Old & In The Gray, on Friday, May 24th has a style of playing and composing so unique, he created the term "dawg music" to describe it. His unique approach started at a young age, when he ignored a piano teacher's warning that his choice of instrument, the mandolin, wasn't a "real" instrument. He went on to become its master, blending the playing style of "The Father of Bluegrass" Bill Monroe with the sounds of swing, latin, jazz and gypsy. Grisman has collaborated with several notable artists and performed in many groups since his first recording in 1963. The most noteworthy of these was his close friendship with the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, who christened Grisman "dawg" in 1973, and was a founding member of the seminal progressive bluegrass band Old & In the Way. Old & In the Way's debut, a self-titled live album, is considered by many to be the transition point from traditional to progressive contemporary bluegrass, and remains one of the best-selling and important documents of the genre. Since 1990, Grisman has recorded over 45 critically-acclaimed recordings of acoustic music for his own label, Acoustic Disc, earning five Grammy Awards in the process. Since the late 1970s, Grisman has performed extensively with the David Grisman Quintet (DGQ), a group of talented acoustic string musicians who have influenced a new generation of artists, including Bela Fleck. Since 1996, Grisman has made select special appearances with the re-cristened "Old & In The Way", featuring members of the original band; Vassar Clements on fiddle, Peter Rowan on guitar and vocals and Bryn Bright on upright bass. Joining them, and filling in Garcia's spot on banjo and vocals, is Herb Pendersen. Fans shouldn't miss a very rare opportunity to see these musicians together on The Stone Pony stage on Friday, May 24th. More information about David Grisman and the DGQ can be found on the official web site of Acoustic Disc, at www.acousticdisc.com.
Now at asburypark.net: Keep up with all of the latest news about what's happening in Asbury Park and a complete events calendar for the area.
The story of Joan Jett is well-known to music fans. At age 15, Jett was a member of the all-female glitter-punk band, The Runaways, and enjoyed the first trappings of rock success. The band proved more commercially successful in Japan than the United States, and eventually performed their last concert on New Year's Eve 1978. Joan began seeking out the resources needed to put together a solo project. An album was eventually recorded, but suffered from a complete lack of label interest. Turning to the classic punk D.I.Y. ethic, Jett and her manager released the album on their own Blackheart Records label and it was eventually picked up for a minor distribution deal in early 1981. Throughout that year, Joan assembled her band, The Blackhearts, from the ranks of New York musicians. By Christmas, they had released their debut LP, which included "The Little Drummer Boy" and the title-song, "I Love Rock and Roll". By spring 1982, the later song had reached #1 on the Billboard chart, remained there for seven weeks and sealed her reputation as one of the exciting and engaging figures in rock and roll. The Blackhearts have continued to tour, and release albums, returning to the U.S. charts with "I Hate Myself For Loving You" in 1988. One of Jett's most recent projects is a contribution of the Beatles' song "The Word" to It's About Eve (Music For the Cure), a compilation CD with tracks by indy female musicians. All proceeds from the CD, which is scheduled for release in June, will be donated to charities that benefit research and outreach programs for breast cancer. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be making their return to Ocean Avenue, sharing the stage with Bug, on the second day of the Pony's Memorial Weekend festivities, Saturday, May 25th. More information about the It's About Eve CD can be found at www.itsabouteve.org. Complete information about Joan Jett's music and career, including tabs, lyrics and merchandise, can be found on her official web site at www.joanjett.com. The Stone Pony Cafe will be open for lunch and dinner on Saturday and, for those of you attending the Convention Hall show, the ticket stubs and wristbands from that event will get you free admission into the Pony after 10 pm.
Check out the all-new Photos page of The Stone Pony online web site, featuring a gallery of past performances and other events at the club. Recent additions to the gallery include Clever Hans, Mojo Love Dog and Osiris Rising from their March 6th show.
The last time La Bamba's eighteen-piece Big Band played at The Stone Pony, they were seen playing on the bars and dancing with the audience. John Eddie remains one of the most consistently popular and entertaining performers on the Jersey Shore and everyone leaves his shows wet with sweat, John's ever-present water bottles, and (hopefully) a few cocktails. Don't worry, though, you're off on Monday, so you can rock out to four hours of the most exciting music at the legendary Stone Pony rock club, and rest up the next day and recover!
Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, an original member of Southside Johnny's Asbury Jukes, as well as the trombone player with Max Weinberg's band on NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", has also been a regular member of Bruce Springsteen's horn section. In addition to his work with the Max Weinberg 7 on "Late Night", where he became a popular figure among fans as "The Year 2000 Guy", Rosenberg's résumé includes twenty-five years of creating the "Asbury Park" sound. His trombone, and sometimes vocal work, can be heard on several of the essential rock albums of that period, including I Don't Want to Go Home (Sony) and Reach Up and Touch The Sky: Live (Polygram Records) with Southside Johnny, Men Without Women (Razor and Tie) by Little Steven and a fairly successful record titled Born in the U.S.A. (Sony) by Bruce Springsteen.
"Who the hell is John Eddie?", you ask? His killer live act, which is chronicled on his long-awaited live album Guy Walks Into A Bar (Lost American Thrill Show), has made him a favorite performer for a rabid cadre of fans. Just be careful, 'cause he might be coming to a town near you, relentlessly serving up "deep fried, gas guzzling, heartbreaking rock n roll." If you missed the newsletter's wonderful Q&A interview with John, it's available in the December 13, 2001 issue, on the back issues page of the Pony's web site.
The Danny White Band will start-off the evening's fun on Sunday, May 26th and tickets for Sunday, and all three days of the holiday weekend, are on sale now! La Bamba's official web site can be found at www.labambaandthehubcaps.com. John Eddie's official site resides at www.johneddie.com.
The Stone Pony House Band Search Update
Evelyn Forever and Sprout finished in a tie in week three of The Stone Pony House Band Search. They join previous weekly winners Matt Witte's New Blood Revival and Brown. The final round takes place Wednesday, May 22nd with Red Engine 9, Jody Joseph, Jason Lockart and Dibs. Doors are at 8 and admission is only $5. Arrive early because the first band takes the stage at 8:30. All the winners return to face off in the Finals on Saturday, June 15.
Thursday Nights. Bounce Thursday: The Ultimate Dance Party with DJ Matrix and MC BJ, 20-oz. $1 drafts and $1 tube shots all night long, ladies free until 11, $5 with Monmouth University ID, 18 & up for everyone with two forms of ID, doors at 9:30.
