Little River Band @ Bergen PAC, Englewood NJ

The evening’s weather forecast was at the very least, ominous. Severe thunderstorms would be passing through close to showtime, and again at the end of the show. Most of us were lucky, having beaten the raindrops into the comfort of the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey.

The Little River Band opened the night with a little a capella intro into “It’s A Long Way There,” just in case you may have forgotten just how strong their five part harmonies can be. Though the band has gone through many changes of personnel over forty years, the integral sound is still very much alive.

Bass player Wayne Nelson has taken over most of the lead vocal duties, though Greg Hind gets plenty of lead time as well. The LRB has a deep catalog of hits with hooks that you can’t get out of your head. All the songs you remember would be played this night, with “Man On Your Mind” as the next in line.

After greeting the crowd and asking if they were ready to sing, the band launched into “Happy Anniversary.” While the set list was heavy on the hits, they didn’t ignore their most recent album, Cuts Like A Diamond, with fine versions “The Lost And The Lonely” and “I’m An Island.” But with an older crowd, the night would indeed be about “Reminiscing.”

For the rest of the review and additional photos, please jump over to Little River Band @ Bergen PAC, Englewood NJ at OnstageMagazine.com

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CMJ Music Marathon Opens in NYC

As if the New York City music scene wasn’t already in overdrive, 1400 band performances are about to drive the city’s noise ordinances into the red zone as the CMJ Music Marathon opens its five day run beginning tomorrow. In over eighty venues spread out across Manhattan and Brooklyn, CMJ will host artists from every musical genre.

After picking up a press pass and checking out the press party at the CMJ Penthouse, it will be time to get to work. With an overwhelming amount of music from which to choose, figuring out a game plan is the hard part. The mobile CMJ Music Marathon app has been extremely helpful, searching by artist, venue, or date brings up all the info you could need. While not every band I’ve been listening to has been exciting enough to check out their show, I’ve found more than enough music to keep me busy watching and writing about for the entire five days of the marathon.

I’m looking forward to a couple of interviews set up through Big Picture Media, the official media company for CMJ. The first is with a bluesy band out of Dallas, Somebody’s Darling. With the release of their third album, the band is fast becoming a favorite in the neo-blues tide rolling up from the south. Another band I am excited to talk with and watch is The Suffers, a wild ten piece band out of Houston. Behind the huge vocals of Kam Franklin, are horns, percussion, guitars, and keys, all throwing down a rock-soul-r&b gumbo. So much fun to be had, and that is only part of one day.

OnStage will be covering the CMJ Music Marathon and reporting on what’s good and what’s not. It’s now 34 years running for CMJ, which is not only a music party of epic proportions, it’s a meeting place for people within the industry to get an intense primer into what is happening right now. Starting on Tuesday, each band in the CMJ Music Marathon lineup has a chance to be the one everyone talks about. OnStage will have ongoing reports on which bands are worth a listen.

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Jimi Jamison, When the Spotlight Fades to Blue

I can't even believe I am writing this tonight. It just doesn't seem possible that the news is real. But it is.

Jimi Jamison has died, and I need to write a few words about him.

Though I have a vague recollection of him as the lead singer of Cobra, really it was Survivor where most of us became aware of the voice and the entertainer that he was. I saw him for the first time in '87, actually a couple of times that year, then again in '91 and for me he was the epitome of a front man. He sang great, he looked great, he owned the stage.

I first met him in 2012 and shortly after I began asking him to do an interview. After a few months he agreed. Well, agreeing to and actually doing it were two different things, and it became a running joke between us of  exactly when the interview would take place. I'd email him, he'd promise we would do it. I'd see him at shows, he'd swear it would happen. When I saw him at a small show in March of this year, I felt something was different and this time it would happen.

I told people, even Frankie Sullivan when I was interviewing him, that I always kept the questions for Jimi's interview with me because I knew one day he would just call out of the blue and say let's do it. And that's pretty much what happened. It took two years but true to his word, he did the interview. He told me he waited so long because he wanted our interview to be special. Yeah, we both laughed at that one.

I don't pretend to have known him well, but over the course of a dance that lasted for two years, you learn things about each other, and you learn to trust. I'd like to think that's why he waited so long.

He was a good man and I will miss him.

The interview we did took place in May and if you'd like to see a little different side of him, click on the link below for the post in onstagemagazine.

"Catching Up with Jimi Jamison"

Easy Journey Jimi.

The Trews @ Bowery Electric NYC

While the New York Rangers battled to stay alive in the Stanley Cup Finals taking place a little north of Bowery Electric, a group of musicians from Canada, who this year had no team in the last round of the hockey playoffs, plugged in and turned it up to max vol.

The Trews were back in town.

While north of the border, the Trews continue to top the charts, win awards, and play to ever growing crowds, here in the States they are working hard to reach the same level. If achieving that success was only based on talent and hard work, the Trews would be a household name. So until luck and timing fall in line, the band will continue to drop into select markets around the U.S., and blow away new audiences, and probably a few amps.

For the entire review, please click on The Trews @ Bowery Electric NYC at OnstageMagazine.com

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My Grammy Coverage, One Neat Little Post

By now most of you know I went to the Grammy Awards out in LA last weekend. It seems I've written an awful lot about it and I'm sure some of you...and I know who you are, are saying "yeah, you wrote an AWFUL lot about it."

Settle down, this is it. The fact is this post is number six on the subject. I've posted in several places and, well I'm worried that y'all might have missed one or two, or five, so I thought I would just write this little post with the links to all of them. And yes there will be a quiz.

As part of the Earth Hertz Records crew, I posted two articles on the Earth Hertz blog.

Earth Hertz at The Grammys, The Appetizer and
The Grammys, Party On

Then over at Lefty Pop, I posted Meanwhile at The Grammys

I decided to put more of my 2 cents over at Onstage Magazine with The Grammys Pre-Telecast or What The Awards Show Should Be

And of course I had to rant on Kat's Theory of Life with I Love LA... Wait, What?

One last note. Just before the Grammys,  I had the privilege of interviewing a Grammy nominee who would go on to win a Grammy in the Best New Age Album category. You can read my interview with Laura Sullivan here: An Interview with Grammy Nominee Laura Sullivan

So that about sums up one hell of a weekend. Interesting people, fun events, good food, and two dear friends who made sure my first Grammy experience was a great one. Next year, hopefully we'll be there again... this time cheering for an Earth Hertz artist.