They came out of Plainfield 30 years ago all spit and sweat. Five albums later, FABCOM! Records released Rising on The Fourth Of July. Two of the songs were recorded and produced by Feelies guitarist Glenn Mercer who strums here with drummer Rob Takleszyn and bassist Bob Torsello. Unfortunately, original founding member Jay LoRubbio died in 2018 at 61. Silence ensued. Work on what would become Rising came to a dead halt. Enter Feelie Mercer who encouraged them to continue.

Forever King Clark’s You’re Not There came out last Friday. It continues the upward spiral of last year’s Five Dollar Yacht Club (). The new EP covers some interesting topics, mainly ghosts, fast-food jobs and crippling social anxiety. Singer-Guitarist Bobby Kallok reached out to say, “we wanted to create a release that was like discovering a lost cassette from a past that never existed.”

Bruce Springsteen: Finding America In Song

Union County Rockers The New Bardots have released Working Undercover on Bongo Boy Records in Blairstown, their fourth. The album was recorded at Sky Lab Recording Studio in Monmouth County with drummer Johnnie Rago, keyboardist John Croot, bassist Dan Skye, guitarist Gar Francis and our favorite pissed-off author Wayne Olivieri on vocals, harmonica and percussion.

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.