He came out of East Brunswick, settled in Asbury Park, and led his band, The Seventh Son, for a 12-year run as one of the area’s most prized possessions. He used to dabble in post-punk chaos but has streamlined his hardcore tendencies on the new album, ‘Another Deadbeat Summer,’ out June 14, with its already-out “Empty Passenger Seats” single.

Greg Kennelty, from Flemington in Hunterdon County, is something of an archeologist. He extracts rare metallic artifacts from the dustbin of time, polishes them off, and releases them on his new Embalmer Records label.

Fresh on the heels of legendary Teaneck bassist Rufus Reid, 80, receiving the Wharton Arts Lifetime Achievement Award (see 2/29/24 news section), he’s shown up on the new Nick Finzer album, ‘Legacy: A Centennial Celebration of JJ Johnson’ on the Outside In Music label, released April 5.

In the 1980s, deep within Bergen County, in a small town called Demarest, a producer-composer/musician/filmmaker called Kramer founded his Shimmy-Disc label where esoterica flourished. Illinois producer-composer-guitarist Mark Nelson records as Pan American. The two have teamed up to release their ‘Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road’ album. The first single is “Floating Epitaph.”

What other town hosts an all-summer FREE concert series? You’ve got to hand it to Woodbridge (“A Community Committed To The Arts”) and Mayor John E. McCormac. From oldies, country and classic rock to folk, jazz, Americana and worldbeat, you’ll hear it all this summer at various locations in town every Sunday through Thursday starting June 12.

The American Cancer Society will benefit from the proceeds of “Shine A Light,” a special concert on June 5 at the Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck. Every artist on the bill—and there are some great names here—will perform songs made famous by the Rolling Stones.

The most famous singer for the band that roared out of Toms River in Ocean County, Skid Row, Sebastian Bach says his new album, ‘Child Within The Man,’ due May 10, is “an album more than 10 years in the making.” The singer-songwriter-author-actor, 56, born Sebastian Philip Bierk in the Bahamas, wrote or co-wrote all 11 tracks in Orlando, and sings all lead and background vocals.

Actor-Singer Thomas Nicholas is backed by The Early November on his new “Wrong Side” single and will be hitting the road opening for Punk Rock Factory and Adam & The Metal Hawks. On May 5, they’ll perform at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park. The Thomas Nicholas Band has been working on its seventh album in New Jersey at the new recording studio of The Early November’s Ace Enders in Ocean City.

Holly & The Italians first did “Tell That Girl To Shut Up” in 1978. The Smithereens first did “Room Without A View” in 1989. Both songs are deliciously covered on ‘Little Miss Lost,’ by The Cynz, from East Brunswick, recorded at The House Of Vibes in Highland Park and released on Jersey label Jem.

Monmouth University President Patrick F. Leahy will host the inaugural President’s Lecture on Music History and Contemporary America on April 25 on campus in the Great Hall Auditorium on Cedar Avenue in West Long Branch. The announcement came from the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music.

On April 26, in Monmouth’s County Middletown, where E Street legend Stevie Van Zandt grew up with his brother Billy, Wilson Avenue will be renamed Van Zandt Way in an 11:00 a.m. ceremony honoring both siblings: the musician and the playwright/producer/actor/writer.

On Saturday, April 13, on the Princeton University campus within Alexander Hall’s Richardson Auditorium, for nine straight hours starting at 1:00 p.m. (the first five hours are FREE), the Princeton University Music Department will present its “Jazz At Princeton” festival. The event will be live-streamed.

Erik Gronwell is out and Lizzy Hale is in within Skid Row. Gronwell added punch to their sound, singing on ‘The Gang’s All Here’ album and fronting the band since early 2022. Unfortunately, he’s been battling leukemia. His disease had been in remission enough to rock out but now a decision was reached amicably for him to concentrate on his health.

Mark Knopfler’s charity single “Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)” features 60 rock stars in support of Teen Cancer America and England’s Teenage Cancer Trust. It is one of the most overpowering lineups of major stars ever assembled for one cause with members of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, The Who, Pink Floyd, Queen, Black Sabbath, Rush, Guns N’Roses, Eagles and many more.

On the precipice of another international tour, Bruce Springsteen went on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio and had the following to say with host Jim Rotolo…

Anticipation for the new Bon Jovi album, ‘Forever,’ and the Hulu debut of a four-part Bon Jovi mini-series documentary premiering April 26, is high. A hint as to the personal blockbuster nature of the doc came last week when Jon Bon admitted to Martin Kielty at ‘Ultimate Classic Rock’ that he wanted to keep bassist Hugh McDonald “a secret.”

Asbury Park continues to be a seething cauldron for hungry talent, the latest of which are the dt’s, originally from Union County. David Cacciatore and Tom Losito are power-packed with riffs, melody, harmony and a special kind of bounce that’s as catchy as anything on the radio. Talk about ear candy! Their debut EP, ‘You With Me,’ landed in 2022. The new single is “All In My Head.”

The Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band tour started up again at the Footprint Center in Phoenix Arizona on March 19. It was the first show since last September when the announcement came of his ulcer. The band will be in San Francisco tonight and Sunday before Inglewood California April 4 & 7, Connecticut April 12, Albany April 15, Syracuse April 18 and Columbus Ohio April 21 before heading abroad.

Prior to wrestler-rocker Chris Jericho appearing in the upcoming documentary The Jersey Sound, he has taken a break from Fozzy to be part of Kuarantine with guitarists Joe McGinness/Charlie Parra del Riego, Trixter bassist PJ Farley (from Paramus) and drummer Kent Slucher on the power-packed “Good Girl Gone Bad” (Madison Records via The Orchard).

Little City Books will host its fourth annual “Literary Weekend” April 5, 6 & 7 on Bloomfield Street in Hoboken with numerous authors, among them Tia Williams, James Frankie Thomas, Kim Coleman Foote and the legendary Joyce Carol Oates, 85.