Meet… Reese Van Riper

Written By Mike Greenblatt
Reese Van Riper

Reese Van Riper have 11 albums and over 100 songs. Their gritty “Jersey Swamp Rock” sound is dark, oftentimes eerie, definitely hard-charging and filled with rock’n’roll smarts. Vocalist Papa Reese is a mountain of a man, six foot seven inches of pure aggression tempered by elements of Alice Cooper, the New Orleans Radiators and Lynyrd Skynyrd. See for yourself May 20 at the “Pushing Up The Daisies” festival in their Jersey City hometown at the Harsimus Cemetery on Newark Avenue. On June 3, for “Fly Fest ’23,” they’ll be at Stosh’s Craft Beer Bar on Maple Avenue in Fair Lawn for free but you gotta be 21. (They go on at 9:00 p.m.)  On July 21, they’ll play Pino’s Wine Cellar & Lounge on North Fourth Avenue in Highland Park.

Currently in the studio recording the final section of their rock trilogy—Sinners, Saints & Psychopaths—all of their music can be streamed or bought as mp3’s. Here’s a sample.

For tickets to the graveyard…
LINK: “Pushing Up The Daisies” Festival

Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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