He’s the teenaged blues phenom from Mississippi that The Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation honored last year by giving him an “Emerging Artist” scholarship. His name is Harrell Davenport. He records and tours as Young Rell and his debut is startling for someone so young.

They came out of Kentucky to settle in New Jersey 42 years ago. Guitarist Tara Key and bassist Tim Harris started Antietam shortly after they got married at Hoboken City Hall. Add bassist Wolf Knapp and drummer Mike Weinhart and the original lineup was set.

MPAC in Morristown has announced the rest of its concert year. For information and updates, visit mayoarts.org.

It’s complete. It’s beautiful. The long-talked about brand new home of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch has finally opened to the public. The immersive exhibits are just the start.

The class of 2026 has been announced, showcasing, according to NJHOF Chairman Jon F. Hanson, “the diverse talent, resilience, and spirit of achievement that define the great state of New Jersey. Each inductee, through their creativity, leadership, and pursuit of excellence, has made impactful contributions that continue to inspire future generations."

They’ve been on the road for what seems like forever but the follow-up to their Killing The Bear debut comes out next week. Three singles from the upcoming album are out now. Check out “Crows In Camouflage” below. The band is based in the Washington DC area but Brian K. Pagels is originally from Freehold. Their “coastal heartland rock” has been honed into a sharp edge over the last five years.

The Fods gotta be the only indie-rock band from both Jersey City and Cheshire UK. They’ve just completed the tenth and final song for their new Does Not Conform To Regulations album (the follow-up to their Don’t Argue.)  These dudes love the art of collaboration so all 10 tracks are with their musical friends.

Bamberdost, the East Rutherford trio comprised of 1980s veterans Paul Mauled, Chris Pingor and Jack Gibson, have followed up last year’s Songs About Your Girlfriend album with Dharmageddon, a loud, ballsy, almost anthemic album with “adult songs about complicated relationships,” as our friend Jim Testa writes in his “Constant Listener.”

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (NJPAC) has announced this year’s lineup for the 15^th annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival Nov. 6-22. Highlights include tributes to Miles Davis, Zakir Hussain and James Moody [1925-2010}, the bebop sax man who was raised in Newark. Anticipation is also running high for a rare appearance by Tony Award winner Ben Vereen.

Rarely does one get to experience the grandeur, the majesty and the might of the New Jersey Symphony but to get to digest it for free? Better head on out to Newark tomorrow night, June 26, in Branch Brook Park.

Jack Flowers and the Petal Tones are on the road. If you missed them last Saturday in their Montclair hometown at the Serendipity Café, this “vibrant addictive electrifying” band with its “euphoric stage presence and transcendent cyber-fueled melodies” will bring their brand of alt-punk to Brooklyn July 3 at The Sultan Room; Greensboro North Carolina July 4 at the Above Board Skate Park; Washington DC July 5 at Union Stage; Newark July 24 at QXTs; Richmond Virginia July 25 at Bandito’s Burrito Lounge; and Philly July 26 at Little Big Planet.

The Communications Coordinator for Middlesex County Government, Zakiya Jones, reached out to tell us about their third annual four-hour FREE Folk Live Gospel Music Festival, Saturday, July 25, downtown New Brunswick, at 2 Livingston Avenue, starting at 3:30 p.m., outside the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC), with headliners The Group Fire out of Newark (consisting of two sets of brothers who blend jazz, spirituals and rhythm’n’blues, which they call rhythm’n’church) plus Grammy Award-winning artists Erica Campbell/Jonathan McReynolds.

Rosanne Cash narrates Woody Guthrie and The Ghost of Tom Joad Today, a new documentary film set to air on PBS this summer. Cash: “I was proud to narrate this beautiful film about a timeless artist.” Twelve Guthrie classics are included as is Springsteen’s epochal “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

Suede Aces have released their Suede Aces Volume #1 debut. Singer Lily Slix, the Bell Brothers on lead guitar and drums, bassist Gort Odendaal and rhythm guitarist Jerry Reaves—as produced by Steve DeAcutis at his Sound Spa Studios in Edison—have fashioned a modern take on classic rock since its 2021 birth. They’ve opened for Steven Adler, Slaughter and Bolan at such prestigious venues as The Starland Ballroom in Sayreville and The Stone Pony in their Asbury Park hometown.

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) will again present its annual “Horizon Sounds of the City” FREE concert series at Chambers Plaza right outside the NJPAC building.

Mint 400 Records in Hawthorne has signed Afloat from Cherry Hill. The first single from the Speak Low Then Leave EP is “Knuckles” (see below). We introduced them to you in 2023 when they were a four-piece. Now a trio with singer-songwriter-guitarist Gabby Relos, bassist Josh Rubeo and drummer Max Bizerak, their alt-emo sound rings true.

Longtime Seattle bassist-composer Chuck Bergeron has worked with everyone from Stan Getz, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, James Moody, Stanley Jordan and Elvis Costello. His new album, Bass & Face: Duets With 10 Premier Vocalists (Summit Records) has him in duet mode, co-producing 13 tracks from Mingus to The Meters.

We told you about Ben Vaughn the musician in 2023, then announced his podcast earlier this year. Now, the composer, performer, producer, radio host, born in Camden County 71 years ago, has released the 11^th installment of his podcast series, “Straight From The Hat” with co-host Laura Pochodylo of Sun Records in Tennessee.

The Bradley Beach Tourism Commission has been presenting its FREE weekly “Songwriters On The Beach” series since 2005 as produced by Brookdale Public Radio 90.5 The Night. All shows start at 7:00 p.m. on the Newark Avenue Beach.

He’s the singer of The New Bardots and the author of the eminently readable book The Undiscovered Showman: A True Story of Being Almost Famous. And he’s mad as hell.