It’s called Skid Row 18 and Life Single Origin Ultra Premium Rum. It’s been 35 years since Toms River band Skid Row launched the song “18 & Life” into the stratosphere. Now, after a year of development, “combining the artistry of Guyanese rum distillation with European aging methods, and after being housed in American oak barrels in Guyana, the rum was finished in rare teak wood leggers in Europe,” according to a band press release.

Guitarist-Composer Dan Lorenzo, from Paramus, founding member of Hades, Non-Fiction and Patriarchs In Black (who also partnered with Overkill’s Bobby Blitz in The Cursed) has announced the December 15 release of an all-covers EP from Brutal Planet Records called Covered In Black.

Cleopatra Records has been releasing Melanie music of late what with its reissues and “new” releases from the alt-folk singer who graduated Long Branch High School to become a 1960s icon. The latest of which is In Focus Live ’88 with Jan Akkerman of the Dutch prog-rock band Focus (known for its biggest hit “Hocus Pocus” in 1971).

It’s called “Hold On Me.” The new single from Newark’s Raheem DeVaughn and Louisiana’s Mariah. (with a period) is a sensual slice of sophisticated soul.

The two campuses of the Lakehouse Music Academy—in Asbury Park and Red Bank—teach performance, composition, recording, engineering, production, theory and marketing to aspiring musicians from age three onward. The Asbury Park band October Man is one of its success stories.

Monmouth County has a beautiful new piano showroom on East Main Street in Oceanport. Helmed by Todd Sanders, a former Steinway & Sons VP, the showroom will feature Estonia Pianos, handcrafted in Estonia by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, as well as Cristofori Pianos, makers for over 70 years of some of the finest pianos in the world (with their Siberian spruce soundboards).

Hero Sgt. John Basilone will be remembered November 18 at the New Jersey Hall of Fame. During World War II, the Raritan native fought heroically at the Battle of Guadalcanal, for which he won the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Guitarist-Vocalist-Keyboardist Jimmy Vivino, 69, of the Paterson Vivino family (which also includes Uncle Floyd and sax man Jerry) will participate in the December 7 John Lennon tribute at Symphony Space in Manhattan when Kenny Loggins receives the 2024 John Lennon Real Love Award.

Asbury Park band The Break Plans will celebrate the November 15 release of their debut Mistakes Are A Friend Of Mine EP by performing live at The Wonder Bar Saturday, the day after their “Happy Again” single comes out tomorrow.

How about six hours of good food, drink and music from the lead guitar guitarist of the Asbury Jukes, Glenn Alexander, and all for a good cause? The Italian American Hall in Scotch Plains will rock this Sunday, November 10 for six solid hours:  from 2:00 in the afternoon to 8:00 at night.

The Ronnie James Dio “Stand Up And Shout” Cancer Fund will have another fun fundraiser November 14 in Studio City California at the PINZ Bowling Center. Trunk—who tells his great story of just how Metallica got its start right here in The Garden State in The Jersey Sound documentary—can be heard on SiriusXM’s 103 Faction Talk channel.

As Antoine Poncelet says, “this song is for all us weirdos who ‘Live For The Night.’” Dedicated to those late-night/early mornings at Newark nightspot QXTs, “Live For The Night” has the band—whose members live in such far-flung Jersey locations like West Orange, Totowa, Lodi, Hasbrouck Heights and Matawan—performing at QXTs. It was shot and edited by Brian and son Jacob Jude.

Friday we announced the five finalists of the 13^th Annual New Jersey Performing Arts Center Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition (otherwise known as The Sassy Awards). Jazzmeia Horn, from Dallas, was the 2013 winner. Her new album, Messages (Empress Legacy Records) was just released (see video here).

On December 7, the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center Ballroom in Edison (97 Sunfield Avenue)—from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.—will be the site of the 2024 Horror Sideshow Holiday Flea Market. It is but a prelude to the 2025 Horror Con & Film Festival in March. The one-day event features artists, vintage movie posters, pop culture artifacts and plenty of shopping for the most bizarre gifts on the planet.

They call him “The Love King.” Raheem DeVaughn, born in Newark 49 years ago, has released seven albums in 19 years all with LOVE in the titles. Son of jazz cellist Abdul Wadud, inspired by Babyface, he’s been compared to D’Angelo, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. He describes himself as an “R’n’B hippie neo-soul rock star.”

Orrin Evans, 49, born in Trenton—a Rutgers grad (where he still lectures)—has taken a time-out from his career as a bebop piano man with 29 albums as a leader to arrange and perform in a new musical based on the life and times of Frederick Douglass [1818-1895].

He just opened for the Jayhawks at the Newton Theatre Saturday and now James Mastro of The Bongos, Health & Happiness Show and Ian Hunter will flex his musical muscle as a solo A-List Americana rockin’ singer-songwriter in support of his debut solo effort, Dawn Of A New Error.

The top five finalists for the 13^th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition—known as The Sassy Awards—have been announced by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Over 220 entrants from 21 countries submitted songs and now only five remain.

When Melanie Anne Safka [1947-2024] graduated Long Branch High School, she had no idea she’d become a cultural icon (known only by her first name), perform bravely by herself at the Woodstock festival in 1969 (capturing the heart of a generation) or have a composition of hers that she never even properly recorded be brought back to life by an acoustic goth folk cabaret duo from Brooklyn, Charming Disaster.

Jack Antonoff is carving out a damn impressive career with his Bleachers band and as Taylor Swift’s producer. The Bergenfield native has also been active in raising funds and awareness for the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender kids (LGBTQ), the homeless, and those crushed under the weight of today’s society. He founded The Ally Coalition with his sister Rachel Antonoff, and on December 17 in New York City, the 10^th Annual Talent Show at the Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts will take place.