FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE
1. THE STONE PONY'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY
2. THE PONY INTERVIEW WITH ALEX MCDANIEL OF JASKI
3. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
This Week at The Stone Pony: Dirty Wednesday with the Dirty Water Dogs (Wednesday), Body Art World presents Tattoo Expo (Friday), John Monnecka CD Release Party (Saturday)
New on the Stone Pony Calendar: Max Music Search (February 8), Soulive (February 13), Streetlight Manifesto (February 15), Black 47 (February 21), bandcamp (February 22), The Stone Pony 30th Anniversary Celebration with Soozie Tyrell, Glen Burtnik, Pat DiNizio, Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band and Dawne Allyne (February 27-28), Ian Hunter (March 6), Tooth and Nail Tour with Further Seems Forever (March 7), Winter Stokefest 2004 (March 12), Edwin McCain (March 26)
The Stone Pony is proud to announce its 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION on Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28.
"Very few clubs are around long enough to announce their 30th anniversary celebration," said the Pony's Domenic Santana. "We're positive that with the upcoming redevelopment of the city, the Pony will be around for many more anniversaries."
On Friday, SOOZIE TYRELL will be joined by the GLEN BURTNIK BAND and PAT DiNIZIO of the Smithereens. On Saturday, it's JOE GRUSHECKY and JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND along with Dawne Allyne. Doors for each night will open at 7:30. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
Commemorative merchandise for the 30th anniversary will be available. The celebration will include guest appearances, photo displays, slideshows and more.
Since 2004 is the Pony's 30th year, many more big events are planned, including a giant Memorial Day bash.
Now at AsburyPark.net:
Sale of Convention Hall complete: The
city has completed the sale of the Convention Hall/Paramount Theatre complex
to Asbury Partners after receipt of a $2 million payment.
The Stone Pony's Jam Band tradition continues during our 30th Anniversary Celebration when Magic Hat presents Soulive with special guests Jaski performing at the club on Friday, February 13th. The Jersey Shore-based quintet Jaski has stood-out in the local scene with a jazz-funk sound, infused with rock and soul. Jaski calls itself a band born of sauce, "the stuff that makes your head nod, your booty shake and your mind quiver with aural goodness." After establishing themselves through a consistent string of gigs at local venues and festivals, the band now prepares to enter the studio to record their second album. The Newsletter spoke with the group's lead vocalist/guitarist Alex McDaniel about some of the challenges in breaking into the big-time and how lucky Jaski will be on Friday the 13th opening for one of their favorite bands.
The Stone Pony: You're going to be opening for Soulive as part of the Pony's 30th Jam Anniversary. As local boys, how does it feel to be a part of this special occasion and how significant is it for you to perform on this famous stage?
Alex McDaniel: It's always a huge pleasure to play at the Stone Pony. Not only is the stage spacious and the sound system excellent, but they take great care of us. We've played at the Pony as a local, an opener, and a headliner. This show has us very excited because we are all HUGE Soulive fans. It's very cool that we get to be part of this event.
The Stone Pony: Your last performance at the club was a show-stopper at the Asbury Music Awards back in October. How did you enjoy being a part of the Awards show, and what were your impressions about the state of the local music scene after that event?
AMD: The Asbury Awards were a blast. We were really pleased with the response from the crowd. As far as the state of local music, we realized just how big a minority we are. Almost all bands and categories were rock-related. Although we love rock music and incorporate rock styles into our music, we are certainly a funk/jazz band. Aside from Brown, Sunny Daze, and a few others, we are one of the only bands of our genre in this area.
The Stone Pony: One of the big pieces of news for the band recently is a licensing agreement with Harley Davidson to use your song "Chico's Singles Lounge" on the Harley Davidson 100th Anniversary DVD. How did your involvement with Harley Davidson materialize and what does it mean to the band to be included in such a mainstream project?
AMD: For a while, we were distributing promo discs at our shows. When we opened for Jimmy Cliff, we gave out about a hundred of them. Someone was listening to one of these discs in their car and the guy who does the licensing for Harley and a few other companies heard it. He took the CD and contacted us immediately. He said our song "Chico's Singles Lounge" was exactly what he needed for the Harley DVD. When we got the DVD we were so tickled to hear our song played over a pancake breakfast for bikers. Every bit of exposure helps, and it's great for our résumé.
The Stone Pony: "Chico's Singles Lounge" comes off of your debut self-titled CD, which you released a couple of years ago. Share some details about the disc: when and where it was recorded and which songs on it have become crowd favorites?
AMD: We recorded the CD at the Cedar Room Studios in Brick [New Jersey]. Which, unfortunately, is no more. It took us almost a year because our bass player quit during the recording, so we had to redo all his tracks with our new bassist, Damien.
"Who's Your Daddy" and "Suburban Gangser" appear to be the biggest crowd pleasers off of that album.
The Stone Pony: The band has recently announced plans to record your second album, with the possibility of a release party in May or June. When and where are you planning to record, and can you give us a sneak peak of which songs are slated for inclusion on the new disc? Do you have a working title, or any other details about the record that you can talk about?
AMD: We're taking the month of March to record the album at Retro Media in Red Bank. We intend to include all of the material that we have which isn't on the first album. "Mullet Man," "Breeze" and "Barbeque" are just a few of the tunes that will wind up on it.
Our first album is very produced, and our drummer, Lew, isn't even on the album. (It's our old drummer, Nick) We're going to adopt a much more live approach to this album so we can harness the energy that gets the crowd movin'.
The Stone Pony: Is the band always writing and coming up with new material, and how long does it usually take from the time you first start playing around with a song idea, until it's ready to be performed on stage? How does the band usually go about writing new material, and is the whole band involved from the beginning, or do individual members make their contributions later on?
AMD: There are quite a few ways that we write new music. Sometimes, our jams in practice become songs. (We record them all for new song ideas). Other times, I will develop a central riff or groove, then everyone adds their input on changes, turnarounds, etc. Nine times out of ten, everyone writes their own lines for the songs. Some songs write themselves in a couple practices. Others are more complex and take a month to prepare for live performance. Still other songs are played live even though they are not finished.
Sometimes it takes live improvisation to come up with the right way we feel a song should go.
The Stone Pony: The band has been searching for a trombone player to add to your line-up. How has the search been going, and what are the qualities that you're looking for in a player and a member of the band?
AMD: The trombone player search has been useless! We have not had one response to our classifieds. We were really hoping to have someone on the roster by the time we recorded the album, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. We're looking for someone who is a capable, if not phenomenal, trombone player. Someone who can grow with the band the same way we've been growing with each other. Someone who has a love for Jazz-infused funk music. As far as personality is concerned, we hope for someone who is laid back, but very serious about taking their musical career to the next level.
The Stone Pony: You recently had a great write-up in the "Asbury Park Press," where you talked about how hard it's been to find a record label and take your music national. What have been the biggest challenges in taking that step to the next level, and how do you balance keeping your core fans happy and continue developing as a band, while still looking for opportunities to move into new areas?
AMD: The biggest roadblock in moving to the next level has been two things. First, we don't know anyone in the industry. It's surprising how important it is to know someone with leverage in order to get heard. We are constantly working at making these contacts, but it's so difficult. I've been hounding Ropeadope Records. That would be the perfect label for us. They've got Charlie Hunter, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and many other semi-underground bands that have national exposure.
Our fans would love to see us go all the way. They are the most supportive group of people I have ever met.
The Stone Pony: On that note, the band has been making a move into the New York City scene, with a recent performance at the Lion's Den. How did that show go for you, and do you think it'll lead to other opportunities to perform in Manhattan? Do you find that it's difficult to book the band with clubs that don't quite know how to classify your sound?
AMD: When we found out about the gig, we decided to charter a bus to take us and a bunch of our fans up to the show. The bus sold out within two weeks. We rolled into the Lion's Den with fifty people, then about forty of our fans from NYC came out to see us. It was a very successful event. We stocked a few coolers full of beer and the fans had a great time. We can't express how grateful to our fans we are. Everyone had a great time. The venue was impressed, and we've been asked back. We're playing there again on Friday, April 9th. Hopefully, we'll need two buses this time.
Venues generally don't have trouble booking us because of our sound.
The Stone Pony: We've covered a number of different goings on with the band, but finish up by summarizing some of your plans for 2004, and what the band hopes will be its accomplishments over the next few months.
AMD: We hope to build an even bigger fan base, keep playing in new venues, keep writing new music, and enjoying the ride. We hope that this year will be the year we get into some bigger shows and get some recognition from record labels. If not, we'll keep playing until we do.
Jaski's official website can be found at www.jaski.net.
Thursdays at the Stone Pony: Ladies Night
The hottest Thursday night continues with Ladies Night
at The Stone Pony. Music by DJ Prime spinning the best in house, hip
hop, reggae and trance, 18 to enter, 21 to drink, ID a must! Doors
open at 9:30 pm, dress to impress! 25 cent Budweiser drafts 'till 11
pm, $1 drafts after 11, $2 shot specials all night. Comes see for
yourself why Thursday nights are the hottest with Ladies Night at the Pony!
