It should be a raucous night of downhome Bluegrass, Jamgrass, Pure Americana and Southern Rock action when Nefesh Mountain supports its terrific new “Milestoned” single with what they’re calling the “Love & Light” tour. These wild crossfire genre-busters will definitely kick out the jams on December 15 at South Orange’s Performing Arts Center in advance of the January release of Beacons, which should be an early 2025 Top 10 contender.

Kelton Cooper, Gene Lake, Mike Griot and Ron Thompson are Blues People. They were nominated in the Blues Blast 2024 Music Awards as “Best New Artist.” On Friday, December 13, they will perform for free on Bridge Avenue in Red Bank at the Triumph Brewery. Nine days later, December 22, they’ll be at The North Jersey Blues Society’s “Holiday Hang” at the Montclair Brewery on Walnut Street. (A $10 donation is suggested.) On New Year’s Eve, they’ll be at Shanghai Jazz on Main Street in Madison. And in January, they’ll be headed to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Challenge.

Sleep Theory—singer Cullen Moore, guitarist Daniel Pruitt, bassist Paolo Vergara, drummer Ben Pruitt—broke big last year. They’ll open for Daughtry 12/10 in Sayreville at the Starland Ballroom and no doubt play their “Paralyzed,” “Fall Out,” “Numb” and “Stuck In My Head” nu-metal anthems. Epitaph Records released their Paper Hearts debut EP and it has amassed over 182 million global streams. Work on their highly-anticipated 2025 full-length has started. They just might blow Daughtry off the stage.

The gal can blow! She’s got the kind of pipes that mere mortals can only dream of. Nicholas F. Mondello, writing in All About Jazz, says, “her improving style is such that melodic and rhythmic surprises lurk behind and leap from every corner.” She’ll be supported by pianist William Schwartzman and bassist Ben Feldman. The absence of drums gives the music more room to flow and ascend upward with no rhythmic constraints.

Reportedly, vocalist Gesenia has the endorsement of three of Linda Ronstadt’s former band members. Her versions of “When Will I Be Loved,” “You’re No Good,” “Blue Bayou,” “Perfidia” and “Desperado” are just the tip of what Gesenia can do:  she covers all aspects of Ronstadt’s one-of-a-kind multi-genre career, both in English and Spanish.

A special 1:00 p.m. show at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center will take place before that night’s Ronstadt Revue concert.  Four New York actors—Joe Pearce, Lloyd Diamond, Kristi Coombs and Jesse Posa—recreate the music, the laughs and the overall vibe of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.—known collectively as The Rat Pack. Plus, none other than Marilyn Monroe herself makes a special guest appearance.

The single is called “Unfck You.” Born in Jamaica, raised in Queens, NY. His “Higher Life” tour stops in Englewood December 7 at the Bergen PAC. He’s been a dancehall phenomenon since 2014. Dancehall is a jam-happy genre unleashed in the late 1970s that reduces reggae “riddims” to its bare essentials. His uncle, Screw Driver, was a dancehall pioneer, and now Kranium is inspiring a new generation.

Connecticut-based singer-songwriter Chris Berardo gets Wilder All The Time. At least that’s the name of his new album not due until February 28 on Blue Elan Records. In the meantime, he has a nifty slice of poignancy out called “Take Me Back” in which he doesn’t shy away from adult issues but wishes he could, indeed, go back to a simpler time. Berardo can also be heard covering Nick Lowe (“What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding”) on Blue Elan’s Operation Mend: Hope 2 compilation.

They’ll certainly be playing their new “Teeth” single on this, their 20^th anniversary tour. As odd as it may seem, aggressive synth-laden, dance-happy, trippy heaviness is now the order of the day for these all-metalcore-all-the-time Floridians. Singer Spencer Chamberlain tries to explain:  “pretty exciting territory…something I’ve always wanted to do…something Linkin Park might’ve done…I never imagined we’d actually pull it off.” Expect more of the same on their 2025 full-length.

Lindsey Stirling is on her “Snow Waltz” tour and it’s a sight to behold. She’s the electronic violinist who also just happens to be a dancer and aerialist. She’s a platinum-selling artist with a penchant for the holidays. So you’ll hear “Sleigh Ride,” “Joy To The World” and “Deck The Halls” BUT NEVER LIKE THIS. “I put a little spookiness into it,” she says.

Trombone Shorty is one of those artists who come along but once in a generation.  I saw him in his New Orleans hometown in 2015 and I’ll never forget it. I did the second line with Orleans Avenue up and down the aisles of a Pennsylvania venue. He crosses Louis Armstrong with Lenny Kravitz, Professor Longhair with Kool & The Gang. When he rocks, it’s hard. When he swings, it’s joyous. This is one you do not want to miss.

Asbury Park band The Extensions return to The Pru in Newark to perform during the first intermission of the NHL game between the New Jersey Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes on the main concourse (outside Section 19/20). (Frontman Brian Erickson can be seen in The Jersey Sound doc.) Should be a great night to see our Devils weather the Hurricanes enough to beat them bad!

They call her a cross between Aretha and Janis. Los Angeles powerhouse Nikka Costa will fill the Wonder Bar with her bawdy presence when she supports her Dirty Disco album with an East Coast tour that ends at the Wonder Bar in Asbury November 14. And you know what they say about the last show of any tour! It should be a balls-to-the-wall event.

He’s been singing for New York City punk band Bayside for 25 years but his solo tour will hit Crossroads in Garwood November 12 with Nate Bergman and Brother Bird. The second single, “High Road,” from his Everyday Royalty EP (Equal Vision Records) is a prime example of his new alternative-country sound.

Utah’s Dallon Weekes, who tours and records as I Don’t How But They Found Me, is playing in Sayreville with Alex Sucks on November 12 at the Starland Ballroom as part of his Gloom headline tour. The Gloom Division album on Concord Records was produced by Dave Fridmann (Weezer/Tame Impala/MGMT), and has been described as post-punk, alt-rock and art-pop.

In support of his terrific O Sun O Moon, Canadian Bruce Cockburn, 79, will hit Montclair running at Outpost In The Burbs November 8. Long hailed as one of the finest of folkies true to the 1960s, his diligent allegiance to politics, spirituality and musical diversity across genres such as folk, jazz, blues, rock, pop and worldbeat, have made him one of the most revered singer-songwriter-guitarists of his generation.

You want to know what metalcore really sounds like? Just go to the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville Nov. 3 to catch Like Moths To Flames pound out its new “Soul Exchange.” They’re touring with The Devil Wears Prada in support of their current The Cycles Of Trying To Cope album.  

The Chris DeVito Quintet—vocalist Sarah James, woodwind player Greg Grispart, bassist John Lenis, drummer Gavin Davies and pianist Devito—will perform a fundraiser in Douglas Hall at the Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church (45 Church Street). It’s a benefit performance for Malawi Visions where your $50 ($60 at door) will go directly to local staff and village leaders in rural Malawi Africa to develop infrastructure (libraries, irrigation systems, solar power) and education programs to improve the lives of 9,000 orphaned children.

Dentist will rock November 2 at The Wonder Bar in their Asbury Park hometown as part of “Jersey Fest” with The Hard Maybes, Christian Sparacio and The Yellowbrooks.  Combining a flair for fuzzed-out surf-punk with indie-pop, the trio—vocalist/bassist Emily Bornemann, guitarist Justin Bornemann and drummer Matt Hockenjos—has honed their craft since its 2013 inception. Their fourth album, Making A Scene, was released in 2022.

New York pianist Larry Fuller will lead his trio with bassist JJ Shakur and drummer George Fludas Oct. 27 at Hillman Performance Hall in Princeton. They swing hard. Real hard.

The good vibes and rock’n’roll energy will be bouncing off the walls of the Carteret PAC October 26 when American Treasure Tommy James, 77, will belt out SO many songs you know and love. He hasn’t lost an inch of the voice that catapulted songs like “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Crimson & Clover,” “Mony Mony,” “Hanky Panky,” “Crystal Blue Persuasion” and SO many others into the upper regions of the charts. To hear these beautifully constructed perfecto pop songs come to life live right in front of you is always a joyous occasion.

With the Wicked Cool Records reissue on blue or gold vinyl of Soraia’s 2008 Shed The Skin, the Philadelphia band—the core of which is singer ZouZou Mansour, bassist Travis Smith and drummer Brianna Sig—will tour, hitting the Sweet Vinyl Café—with the great coffee—in Denville October 26.

Two masters on their respective instruments—violinist Damien Escobar and saxophonist Kim Waters—will perform October 25 at the Union County Performing Arts Center on Irving Street in Rahway.

In support of his 21^st album, Daylight Savings Time (Blue Rose Music), singer-songwriter Steve Forbert will perform at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Neptune October 19. His voice is a sandpapery instrument of profound empathy. His songs have been covered by Rosanne Cash, Keith Urban, Marty Stuart and Webb Wilder. In 2017, 21 artists interpreted his music on An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert.

Led by the charismatic Jamil Rashad, North Carolina’s Boulevards will hit Triumph Brewing in Red Bank Oct. 19 in support of new album Carolina Funk: Barn Burner On Tobacco Road (New West/Normaltown Records) and its first single, “Run & Move.” It’s his fifth album, the follow-up to 2022’s Electric Cowboy: Born in Carolina Mud.  A heady mix of funk, rock’n’roll, alt-pop, fusion, soul, R’n’B, jazz, gospel and hip-hop, there’s no categorizing Boulevards.

Almost 50 albums into a brilliant multi-genre career that has seen him collaborate with the biggest and the best including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Billy Cobham, Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples and John Mayer, John Scofield, 72, is taking his craft into uncharted territory with bassist Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart. Expect the unexpected.

He’s a comic. He’s a magician. He’s been thrilling them in Las Vegas and is taking his act on the road. Patrons of the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown will get to witness his spectacle on October 17. His “Reptile Dysfunction” can be seen on youTube. His book, Piff The Magic Book, is out now.

The multi-talented Ryan Hanratty—who performs under the name of Catch Me If You Can—will be appearing at The Wonder Bar on Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park October 14 with three other acts:  Alors Alors, Soulfood and Mar!. The 7:00 p.m. four-act event for those 21+ is free. Singer-Songwriter-Guitarist Hanratty also did a masterful job editing The Jersey Sound film.

Grammy-winning Oregon trumpeter-composer Chris Botti, 61, has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world for over 20 years. On October 12, he will bring his band to New Brunswick at the State. He’s toured with Sinatra and Sting. He has performed with Paul Simon, The Boston Pops, Andrea Bocelli, Yo-Yo Ma, Josh Groban and John Mayer. He produced The Brecker Brothers. Oprah Winfrey asked him to be on her “Legends Ball.”

Singer Matty Mullins, guitarist Kellen McGregor, bassist Cory Elder and drummer Jake Garland—known collectively as Memphis May Fire—will hit the Stone Pony in Asbury Park October 12. The Texas metalcore quartet should play selections from its seven albums concentrating on newer material like “Infection” plus singles “Chaotic,” “Paralyzed” and “Necessary Evil.” Fourteen musicians have passed through their ranks since 2006. British band Asking Alexandria opens.