Asbury Park
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REVIEW — ‘Midheaven’ by Cory Blair
As an avid music listener, I’ve had no shortage of music to soak up in August. New releases at the tail end of summer capture a particularly warm feeling that, with luck, will stick with listeners as the weather slowly, or not so slowly, cools. Regardless, this month a variety of artists are gracing music…
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In conversation with Sandi Joy: beauty from the ashes
“I don’t think I had a choice,” Sandi Joy says about her love of music. “And that’s not a complaint whatsoever. I was literally born into music.” With a pianist, vocalist, and professional dancer mother and a touring guitarist father, Joy grew up in an aspiring musician’s dream household. Her musicianship, though, blossomed not at…
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In conversation with Halogens: looking back on 15 years
Fifteen years is a long time to dedicate to anything—but for Asbury Park-based rock band Halogens, the journey has been, in the words of their appropriately titled 2023 EP, Time Well Spent. For lead vocalist and guitarist Zach Henry, his relationship with music felt serious “pretty much right from the beginning.” “I started playing guitar,…
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REVIEW — BACKHOUSE’s debut album ‘Songs in the Key of Orange’
A debut album has one job: convince listeners that a band is worth paying attention to. Great ones become more than just introductions, instead establishing themselves as almost mythological benchmarks that every future release is measured against (such as Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not or even The Killers’ Hot…
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In conversation with Conni Freestone: proof she was here
Every photograph is, in some way, an act of preservation. For photographer Conni Freestone, whose camera has captured everything from sweaty club shows and wrinkled bulldog faces to classic cars and the changing landscape of Asbury Park, photography has always been about proving a moment existed before it didn’t. That philosophy became the foundation of…
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In conversation with Bobby Mahoney: playing in the key of Jersey
Since the early days of rock and roll, New Jersey has demanded greatness from its music scene, inspiring transformative acts like Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, and My Chemical Romance. Now, Bobby Mahoney is answering the call. Growing up in East Brunswick, NJ, 31-year-old songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Bobby Mahoney first began cultivating his…
