Singer-Songwriter-Drummer Noah Rauchwerk is swimming in Shark River as Wormy. Shark River singles “Cocaine Bear,” “27 Days” and “Give Up” precede “I Hate You,” a song he wrote “about conflicting feelings of jealousy and love for your successful friends,” he admits. “I wrote it in a patch when Nick [Carpenter of Medium Build] and I had grown apart and I missed him a lot but also wanted to be in his shoes. Nick and I made this music video as a nod to one of my favorite books and movies, Stephen King’s Misery.  Everything you’re watching is completely true and actually happened.” 

Giz Mutlu is a fifth-grader in the Bloomfield Public Schools. She’s also an accomplished bebop pianist. At 10, she became the youngest musician to ever perform at Dizzy’s Club within Lincoln Center in New York City. She’s an honor student, who, at six, joined Jazz House Kids, one of the nation’s leading jazz education organizations. Now 11, she performs in the group Chica Power and has collaborated with such renowned stars as Angelique Kidjo and Michelle Rosewoman.

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company –with the cooperation of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and the Newark Museum—will mount a free Dragon Procession downtown Newark from NJPAC on Center Street, through Military Park, to the Newark Museum on Washington Street via Halsey and Broad Streets on February 14 from noon to 1:00 p.m. in celebration of The Year Of The Horse.

The New Jersey Hall of Fame at American Dream on Route 3 in East Rutherford will host an event celebrating 40 years of 2013 NJHOF inductee Whitney Houston on February 7.

No need for any of my words here.

Southside Johnny’s retirement hasn’t slowed down the Asbury Juke Lead Guitarist Glenn Alexander. In fact, he’s been busier than ever. He stings those strings to shred with his Shadowland band that’s punched up bigtime with The Asbury Juke Horn Section. He also performs as a duo with singer-songwriter Oria. His penchant for peppering his presentation with jazz-rock fusion, Southern Rock, Hard Americana, Asbury Park-styled rock’n’soul and what we like to call Instant Classic Rock is mesmerizing, satisfying and fully entertaining. In other words, you can feel it in your gut.

Perhaps because he’s new to podcasting, composer-performer-producer Ben Vaughn, born in Camden County 71 years ago, should bring a new perspective to his “Straight From The Hat” podcast. He’s been a radio host but now, every other Thursday night, he’ll delve into his own personal history by having his co-host, Laura Pochodylo, reach into a big hat and pull out names. No pre-planning, no rehearsing, each name will be someone or some band that Vaughn has either met, collaborated, partnered and/or jammed with.

Vocalist-Guitarist Edgar Echeverria, drummer Jasmine De Leon, guitarist Eliel Esquivel and bassist Jeremy Mendoza—known collectively as Poloroids—are serious about representing their Hudson County heritage.  As Edgar recently told The Jersey Sound, “all of us grew up in Hudson County and come from a Latino background. For us, that’s always been important to represent.  Hudson County, its culture, and its people, are a huge influence.”

 The last time we wrote about Asbury Park’s dt’s was in 2024 when they busted out their “Cherry.” It was a sublime piece of pulsating power pop that had David Cacciatore and Tom Losito hardening the pop into a punch.

Rutgers grad/Paramus native Jake Thistle recently announced the following…

“As most of you know, I’ve been having a blast recording the new record, and with that release on the horizon, my management and I were looking for some fun ways to introduce the music to a bigger audience. So, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be part of the upcoming season of American Idol on ABC-TV! Was an honor to head down to Nashville and play for the great team they have along with a lot of other singer/songwriters. The season premieres on January 26th.”

The news from Jerry Vivino hit hard: “With a heavy heart I am sad to announce the passing of my brother and everybody's favorite uncle, Floyd Vivino. After a 2 and a half year battle with ongoing health issues his curtain peacefully closed at 6:05pm on Thursday January 22nd. Rest in peace big brother. You will be missed, but always remembered by friends, family and your loving fans.... 10/19/1951 - 01/22/2026

There’s no argument that Bucky Pizzarelli—born in Paterson 100 years ago—was one of the greatest guitarists of all-time. Recently, at the Morris Museum in Morristown, his son, bassist  Martin Pizzarelli, his trio, and guest soloists, paid tribute to the man who in his long career collaborated with Les Paul, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin and Sarah Vaughan before becoming a fine-art painter.

When Mike Delevante’s solid solo project, Summer Days, came out last year, it raised eyebrows as it was released only digitally. After all, Mike and his brother Bob are Americana legends.  As The Delevantes, they had the first #1 on the fledgling Gavin Americana Charts in 1995 with their Long About That Time debut—produced by E Street bassist Garry Tallent—for the prestigious Rounder label out of Massachusetts. The Brothers, now in Tennessee, came out of Rutherford (Bergen County), and formed The Delevantes in Hoboken.

The fifth annual edition of Princeton’s popular free multi-genre Porchfest will take place Saturday, April 25, at noon for five hours on multiple porches all over town with sets of live music. Performers do 45-minute sets. Applications to participate are being accepted now until February 12.

MLK Day—the third Monday in January—was signed into law as a National Holiday celebrating the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The day has historical significance in The Garden State.

On Valentine’s Day, Deena Shoshkes and Jon Fried of The Cucumbers will release a book (Hello George) with music (As You Heard Me). The longtime Hoboken favorites found their first flush of love and art while busking in early ‘80s Paris and Rome.

Before Hoboken singer-songwriter Karyn Kuhl formed her own band, she was in Gut Bank, Sexpod and Psych-O-Positive (as its drummer). P-O-P got off to a shock-value start with its ferocious “Blood…” debut in 2017. Eight years and a few personnel changes later, they were cited by longtime Jersey critic Jim Testa as the best psychedelic band of 2025.

They started out as a Hoboken high school band in 2022. Today, 3 Dollars—vocalist-guitarist Arthur Pawley, drummer Ben Kamel, guitarist Tyler Wachtel and bassist Costas Krassos—are perfecting their sound in a style that has been described as post-emo punk. Along the way, they’ve been collecting kudos from Hoboken Girl, Hudson Reporter and NJ.com.

Frank Sinatra’s image, music, cultural significance and coolness quotient is too great for him to ever really die. Why should we be deprived of the man who put Hoboken on the national map? Death, oftentimes, is a boon for an artist’s career. Just look at Elvis. And The Fab Faux reminds us that Beatle music will always outlive the four guys who originally made it. It’s just too good to stop when they do. Enter Hollywood’s Gary Anthony.

Step By Step is an octet of four musicians and four vocalists from six different areas of New Jersey:  Lakewood, Jackson, North Brunswick, Branchburg, Bayville and Keansburg. Their mission statement is to “keep the essence of Johnny Maestro’s music alive.” To that end, they’ve performed all over the state and beyond at theaters, township events, oldies shows and festivals.