Visual Sound: December 2025

Written By Mike Greenblatt
Rhonette Smith
“Loss”
Every song that the uber-talented Rhonette Smith—from Sayreville in Middlesex County—puts out is profound. She has a way of crafting soul as hard rock, or searing singer-songwriter smarts as rhythm’n’blues grunge. We covered “Bent” last June and “Exhale” the October before that. Now comes “Loss,” written in 2023 as an exploration of grief. When her grandmother died last year, she rewrote it. “Over the past 10 years, I’ve been to a lot of funerals,” she says. “I noticed that the older I get, the more frequently they seem to come. I started to see how grief can really come out of nowhere and I wanted to talk about that.” “Loss” was recorded in Oak Ridge, Morris County. Upon hearing the initial mix, “I was overwhelmed by all the feelings at once: sadness over things I’ve lost, but also excitement and hope to finally be realizing a dream I’ve had for 20 years.”
Dinosaur Stampede
“Pleas”
From Hightstown in Mercer County comes Dinosaur Stampede, a longtime fan favorite on stages all over the state and beyond. Although known mostly as a live band, their four-song Big Sigh Country is out and contains “Pleas,” which shows just a touch of their in-concert strength.
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Bonner Kramer
“Whispers For The Living”
Bergen County producer/multi-instrumentalist/avant-garde pioneer/label head Bonner Kramer might have moved to North Carolina but, as they say, you can take the boy out of Jersey but you can’t take the Jersey out of the boy. His first solo album in five years—after forming Squanderers plus duos with Pan American and Kato Hideki—is called …and the crimson moon whispers goodbye.
Bonner Kramer
“Whispers For The Damned”
Kramer’s new album also contains some other “Whispers."
Bobby Mahoney
“Smoke and Drive”
Bobby Mahoney positively reeks of Jersey. He’s a one-man distillation of everything the Jersey Sound is supposed to be: rockin’, gritty, honest and balls-to-the-wall. You can even see the cherished façade of the Asbury Park locale where this was filmed.
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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Visual Sound: November 2025