Jon Andrew - Photo by Sarah Andrew

Folking Up The New Year

One of my resolutions for 2007 is to blog more so let me tell you about last night. It was the January edition of "Folk You," and in case you're not a regular around here, that's the monthly acoustic showcase that I book at The Goldhawk Bar in Hoboken with my friend Lazlo (of BlowupRadio.com)

The night started off with Jon Andrew, formerly of Souls Release (and before that, the Angry Monsters) and it was nice to see members of Souls Release, Angry Monsters, Hero Pattern, and a few other bands turn out to support the cause. (You can't have a scene if bands don't go out and see each other play, I always say.) Jon's never been the lead singer in any of his bands so it's escaped notice what a truly beautiful singing voice he has, and some of the new solo material he's writing is really nice. You can hear a couple of demos here.


Kate Hart - Photo by Sarah Andrew

Next up was Kate Hart, who discovered Folk You through her boyfriend Dan (who plays in Mazeffect and Grover Kent, two familiar bands to Jersey Beat readers and BlowupRadio.com listeners.) After Kate had attended several Folk You shows, she mentioned that she wrote and performed herself, and an invitation was soon extended. She has a lovely voice and her songs tend to be funny, often self-deprecating folk-pop tunes. Dan accompanied her so you had two guitars strumming topped with strong, pretty female vocals... nice.



Photo by Sarah Andrew

Finally Mike Robertson and Amy Miles of Mason Dixon finished up the night with songs mostly from Mason Dixon's brand-new CD, Hurry Through The Night. Mike's got his hair long with this 70's handlebar mustache, and hearing him and Amy sing Mason Dixon's rootsy Americana/pop in perfect two-part harmony couldn't help but stir up memories of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris from the golden age of cowboy rock in the early 70's. Robertson's got this touch of Springsteen to him too that just piles on the charisma. I've watch Mason Dixon blossom since Mike's very first solo gigs and it's been a joy to watch his songwriting prowess and confidence as a frontman grow over the last few years.

Photo by Jackie Roman

The Return of Weston

Weston - the Lehigh Valley pop/punk band that broke up 8 years ago following an unsuccessful release on a major label - reunited right before New Year's for three shows, including one at Rebel in New York City. Rebel is the club that used to be Downtime on W. 30th Street, a few blocks from Madison Square Garden. It's been remodeled to substantially expand the first floor; it still does double-duty as a dance club and rock venue, but the set-up is much more amenable to rock shows now than it used to be, when live music was relegated to a cramped space on the first floor. Unfortunately, where Downtime always had excellent sound, the new space is big and warehouse-y and the sound - especially for the opening bands - was muddled and boomy.

When you remember that Weston played its last-ever NYC show to less than 100 people (on a Sunday night at Brownie's), the energy, emotion, and enthusiasm at this show was really amazing. The place was packed with fans (mostly in their late twenties and thirties) who obviously remembered the band (and a whole lot of the lyrics) from Weston's heyday, which was a good 10 years ago. At one point, Weston could routinely sell out the 1,000-capacity City Gardens in Trenton, and I remember a sold-out show they co-headlined at Tramps with the Bouncing Souls that was one of the best punk-rock shows I've ever seen in NYC. But that was a long time ago.


Photo by Jackie Roman

But the band was in fine form at this show, focusing on classic albums like Got Beat Up, Real Life Story, and Splitsville and pretty much ignoring their career-ending major label misstep, when the band turned lead vocals entirely over to Jimmy Snyder. At Rebel, it was Dave Weston and bassist Jesse Short (singing many of the parts originated by departed bassist Chuck Saltern) who commanded the mic and the spotlight, with old singalong favorites like "Retarded" and "Little Mile." As always, they were funny and catchy and even a little silly, with Dave Weston ending the night barechested and everybody - band and crowd alike - bathed in a sweaty sheen of happiness.

It was a night of reunions, with NJ's Sticks And Stones (featuring Jack Terricloth of World/Inferno Friendship Society) on lead vocals and NYC's Latex Generation reforming for the night as well. Neither band packed the wallop or inspired the nostalgia of Weston but both bands sounded sharp and well-rehearsed after long layoffs.