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.

He pulls no punches. He calls it like he sees it. And he doesn’t like what he sees. Keyboardist David Sancious asks the philosophical question “Why Must It Be So” today.  But we’ll let Sancious tell you about it himself.

In what’s being publicized as a “Super-Collab Rock Collective,” This Wild Darkness has released the second single (“The Wild Darkness”)—the first single was “Dawn Rider”—from The Notorious Memphis Rains EP, a five-song concept EP landing Friday. Scotti Hill, from Toms River—Ocean County—band Skid Row, known to shred bigtime electric shrieks, plays some subtle slide guitar on the project.

A Bruce Springsteen interview special will air in prime-time on ABC-TV Sunday, October 20. “Backstage and Backstreets” will be seen at 10:00 p.m. EST with Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos. The show is part of a promotional push for Bruce’s upcoming Hulu and Disney+ “Road Diary” documentary to debut October 25.

After blowing for Bowie, Bruce, Jagger, Southside, Radiohead, Talking Heads, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Van Zandt and Duran Duran, Hudson County sax man Stan Harrison will step out front with the release of the all-original nine-track Some Poor Soul Has a Fire album (Adhyaropa Records), to be released October 28.

On October 26 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, “A Evening Of Conversation,” with Jon Bon Jovi and Stephen Colbert, will be part of this year’s Montclair Film Festival.

Both New Jersey locations of the Wentworth Gallery—within the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City November 15 and The Mall at Short Hills November 16—will host KISS singer-songwriter-guitarist Paul Stanley as he debuts his new collection of fine art.

Two-time Grammy-winning gospel artist Cissy Houston has died at the age of 91. Mother of Whitney Houston, aunt of Dionne Warwick, and cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price, Houston was born Emily Drinkard in Newark on September 30, 1933. She was one of the original Sweet Inspirations who backed up Elvis Presley, had hits on their own, and toured with Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan.

Manasquan singer-songwriter Kevian Kraemer, at 18, has had his “Dopamine” released by Elektra Records. At 16, the multi-instrumentalist was doing sessions and studying at the Lakehouse Music Academy.  (He plays drums, guitar, piano, sax, bass and ukulele.) With a high-powered Los Angeles management company already in his corner, he’s certainly matured from being the precocious pre-teen posting music videos of himself on Instagram.

Sayreville songstress Rhonette Smith is releasing her first single in five years today—“Exhale”—in honor of World Mental Health Day. The pop-rock tune was recorded with producer Stephen Keller at The Burn Room in Oak Ridge. Smith tells The Jersey Sound that “it explores the physical sensations that come when experiencing anxiety and then relief.”

The Madison Community Arts Center on 10 Kings Road will host a 3:00 p.m. concert November 3 with winners of the New Jersey Jazz Society’s 2024 scholarships.

Bruce Springsteen has joined Eminem, Streisand, John Legend, Cardi B, Kesha and Taylor Swift in  endorsing Harris/Walz in the 2024 presidential election. Watch as he delineated his reasons why in this video.

In 2024, just last month, the New Jersey Hall of Fame at American Dream on Route #3 in East Rutherford started hosting a special exhibit honoring Celia Cruz's powerful voice, colorful costumes and vibrant personality. It will stay open throughout November as an extension of America’s Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15).

Leave it to Bergen County visionary Kramer to amass a tribute to author/poet Edgar Allen Poe [1809-1849]. On October 18, his Shimmy-Disc record label will release Poe: To One In Paradise, dedicated to producer Hal Wilner [1956-2020].

There once was a band called Detention from the New Brunswick area. They were nasty. They were hardcore. Left For Dead Records, the punk reissue label, will release Dead Rock’n’Rollers on Halloween, comprised of singles plus tracks from their self-titled 1985 debut and unreleased material recorded in Roselle Park.

Patrons of Edison’s Expo Center will shriek in terror and delight as the Darkside New Jersey Art & Oddities Market—brought to you by the Trenton Punk Rock Market—will raise the hairs on your arm with its combo of the weird, odd, curious and macabre.

On March 26, 2025, Carnegie Hall will host “People Have The Power:  A Celebration of Patti Smith” with 20 artists yet to be named. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit various music education programs in the tri-state area. Tickets will go on sale October 22 at the Carnegie Hall website.

German funk/jazz label Leopard Records has released today Buddy and Biscuit, the first tribute ever to the great ‘60s drummer-composer-guitarist-vocalist-producer and all-around wild man rock star Buddy Miles [1947-2008], from Biscuit Rouse [Newark]. Rouse used to drum for Lauryn Hill [East Orange]. He’s currently in a band called Screaming Headless Torsos and is also in Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid’s Band Of Gypsys Revisited.

With a new single (“Exit Plan”) and a debut album, Nothing Lasts Forever, Lolitslea, raised in Ocean County’s Point Pleasant, knows a little bit more about life than just the beach. She can fascinate within minutes. “`Exit Plan,’” she says, “runs circles around the themes of liminal spaces, the backrooms, and realizing life will never be what it was back in 2008, when my biggest regret was selling my Nintendo DS to a local pawn shop.”