One singer that I’ve been really impressed with lately comes out of New York City and her name is Marron Chaplin from the band Dead Rocking Horse. She’s an excellent songwriter and she sings with the soulfulness of Janis Joplin, but with the grit and attitude of Patti Smith. I haven’t seen Marron perform live yet, but she and her band Dead Rocking Horse have been hitting the NYC circuit pretty hard as of late, opening the recent Panzie* return show at Arlene’s Grocery in NYC. On Dec. 5, Dead Rocking Horse will be opening for The Dirty Pearls at the Gramercy Theatre in NYC. Also performing that show will be fellow New Yorkers Midnight Mob and my bros from Long Gone Day.
According to their bio, the Dead Rocking Horse songwriting team of singer and guitarist Marron Chaplin and bassist David Alva actually met back in January 2011 at a mutual friend’s concert. In the weeks prior to their meeting, both had each suffered personal heartbreak and the death of an immediate family member, which led to a lot of drinking, of course. On the night they met, Alva made a rude comment to Marron, which led her to slap him and the world’s greatest friendship was born! The duo’s musical relationship evolved slowly. At the time, both were involved with other projects—David was in NYC’s Stoned Fire and Marron was just a solo singer-songwriter from the Lower East Side. They decided to break their depressive funk by having some fun and venting with some energy by forming Violent Age, a tribute to the Misfits. While successfully gigging all over the city as a punk quartet, David noticed that Marron was not finding musical fulfillment performing her solo acoustic material. So, the two sat down on her couch in Jersey and almost overnight revamped her songs into something much bigger. Creating music together helped the duo begin to heal from their individual devastating losses, resulting in a partnership that has yielded a collection of truly human music. Rounding out Dead Rocking Horse is guitarist Jaster Leon and drummer Jay Fenrich.
I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Dead Rocking Horse from the Panzie* return show, so I gave their ReverbNation page a listen and the songs “Down The Mountain,” “Whiskey And Water,” “Nightmare” and “It Ain’t Me” will blow you away! This girl sings with such soul and the songwriting? Forget about it! The band plans on debuting some of their new songs at the Gramercy show in December when they open for The Dirty Pearls and then head into the studio to put those songs on wax! Check out Dead Rocking Horse for yourself at Reverbnation.com/DeadRockingHorse.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
The guys from SPiN have a new EP out called Jar Of Lies. The EP is the follow-up to their last EP, Stalked, featuring the hit single “Happy Together,” which hit number one on the iTunes Indie Rock charts and was featured on the CBS show Stalker. The new EP, Jar Of Lies, features the title track, which there is a video for, “Leave It Alone,” “Parked Car,” a cover of the Queen classic and my wedding cake cutting song, “My Best Friend,” and my favorite track on the disc because of the main riff, “Zombie Girl.” Jar Of Lies is available now on iTunes and wherever you can buy CDs these days. For more on SPiN, visit SPiNrocks.com.
Seas Of Wake singer Shaun Mason has a debut solo CD out called Our Vicious Cycle. The CD really showcases Shaun’s vocals with a more melodic and dynamic style as opposed to his Seas Of Wake metal screams. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this CD, which features songs like the title track, “Erased,” “Imperfect,” and “Alone,” which Shaun has a music video for. Seas Of Wake will be releasing their highly-anticipated sophomore CD, Depth Of The Marrow, sometime in the spring of 2016. Catch Shaun with Seas Of Wake on Nov. 13 at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ as the band hits the stage for the first time in two years. For more on Shaun Mason’s solo CD, Our Vicious Cycle, visit shaunmasonmusic.bigcartel.com. For more on Seas Of Wake, visit Facebook.com/SeasofWake.
And finally, I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but it’s worth another mention. So, my bros guitarist Rob Ferreira and singer Matthew Paul from Dead Fish Handshake have teamed up with bassist Sean Patrick Murray from New Theory and Schism, guitarist Tom McNamara from Beyond Visible and drummer Donald Pusateri, also from Schism, with some help from Clint Lowery from Sevendust, to form the Jersey supergroup, The Paragon Image. I, for one, am dying to hear some music from these guys, because the musicianship in this band is hands down some of the best Jersey has to offer. The band is currently in the studio, around their busy schedules, putting the finishing touches on this much-anticipated debut CD. Guitarist Rob Ferreira has been posting teases from the studio, but I kind of want to hear more! For now, you can “Like” their new band page, facebook.com/TheParagonImage.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
10/29—Jersey Campfires Production Presents: Lights Over Hudson/A Midnight Tragedy/Empire Fallen/Blackout Paul/Prodigal Sons—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
10/29—Echo Black/Combichrist/The Birthday Massacre—The Marlin Room at Webster Hall, NYC
10/31—Black Water Rising/Lords of Mercy/High Octane/Common Wealth—Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
10/31—Dying Eyes of Sloth—Soul Sounds, Patchogue, NY
10/31—Echo Black/Combichrist/The Birthday Massacre—The Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
10/31—Meatplow/Earthmouth/Bloodeagle/Beyond Fallen—Diane’s Deli and Internet Café, Pittston, PA
11/4—Scottish Windows/Skid Row/Killcode—Irving Plaza, NYC
11/6—Corevalay—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
11/7—Sworn Enemy/Robots And Monsters/Hellshot/Juan Bond—The Grand Victory, Brooklyn, NY
11/7—Generation Kill (featuring DMC from RUN DMC)/Ogre—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
11/13—Malvador/Seas Of Wake/The Things They Carried/That of A Lion/Comb The Desert/Enochian—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
11/14—CAROLINA BURN/Darkness Descends/Stagger/Ashes of Your Enemy/Waldwick School of Rock/The Blessing of This Curse/Half-Witted Dogs—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
11/15—SYKA/GWAR/Born of Osiris/Battlecross—Webster Hall, NYC
11/20—Saint Caine/Rahway/Carry Out Your Dead—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
11/21—SYKA/Dragonforce/Kamelot—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
11/21—Killcode/New Day Dawn/Ronin—The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
11/21—All Out War/Apparition/Spectral Voices/Decimate The Living/The Fallen Prodigy/Robots and Monsters/Red 100/DRAW THE LINE—Blackthorn 51, Elmhurst, NY
11/27—Jersey Campfires Production Presents: Syka/Know Your Enemy—Tenth Street Live, Kenilworth, NJ
11/28—Jersey Campfires Productions Presents: Rahway/Pool of Thornes/Shattered Skin/Bone Devil/Meatplow—The Boneyard, Atlantic City, NJ
