Asbury Park
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In conversation with Reagan Richards: finding a friend in music

When Reagan Richards tells you that she drove down to Nashville in a hearse, your first thought may be that she has to be joking. “A hearse, believe it or not,” she began, “is a great vehicle for loading musical equipment because it’s got the rollers in the back.” Your second thought immediately after will…
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Blaise interview at Sea.Hear.Now Festival 2026

Asbury Park’s music scene encompasses many genres, and is home to a variety of singers, songwriters, and artists. Among them all, only one has been dubbed “The People’s Pop Star”. When he takes the stage in his hometown, get ready for a show that’s bigger than the music. Blaise, the independent alternative-pop artist and Asbury…
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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…
