The 23rd Asbury Music Awards – The Stone Pony – Thursday, Dec. 17
The Asbury Music Awards have been a staple in the New Jersey music scene for over two decades. During that time, many local musicians have gone on to bigger things outside of the area. Performers such as River City Extension and The Front Bottoms have made headway across the world. Musicians such as Sarah Tomek (Steven Tyler) and Matt O’Ree (Bon Jovi) have gone far beyond the city by the sea, adding their talents to top bands and performing all over the world.
But the main function of the Awards show is to praise locals who plied their trade in the scene for the entire year. Like any awards show, you get the good with the bad and the ugly. Locals compete for votes in many categories such as “Record of the Year,” “Best Guitarist,” and the ever-popular “Best Thing to Happen.” Based off of their contributions throughout the year, musicians and industry support folks vie for a trophy in their chosen category.
Hosted at the world famous Stone Pony, the Asbury Music Awards combines achievement acknowledgement with cutting-edge musical performances and is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year. Scott Stamper and Meg Donoghue Kelly are the individuals behind the magic and work hard to put this together for the musical community. Stamper, along with Pete Mantas, had been at the helm since 1993 when he first launched the awards show at T-Birds Café as The Golden T-Birds Awards. The Asbury Music Awards has evolved over the years and continues to grow in both categorical content and musical offerings.
The awards show is Asbury Park’s most rock ‘n’ roll night out. It is a regular haunt of well-known faces and where to see the future next big things in advance. Where glitz and rock and roll and behind-the-scenes heroes of today and yesterday meet, an awards ceremony, a pageant, a mad carnival starring who’s who and on the rise in rock ‘n’ roll in Asbury Park and at the Jersey Shore.
Area clubs, music-centric businesses, record stores, radio stations, newspapers and time-tested music enthusiasts are all represented in the voting process. Ballots are painstakingly counted, votes are tallied, and the winners are revealed for the first time at the Asbury Music Awards ceremony.
This year’s live performances will be hosted by comedian Taylor Allen and will include the likes of The Shady Street Show Band, Pat DiNizio from The Smithereens, Dentist, Williams Honor, UFOTOFU, Chris Brown, Lowlight, Joe Makoviecki from Thomas Wesley Stern, Sandy Mack, Dark City Strings, Taylor Tote and poet Keith Baird.
The 23rd Annual Asbury Music Awards, presented by the Asbury Music Company and landmark nightclub, The Saint, Home of Live Original Music in New Jersey and the longest consecutively running music venue in Asbury Park’s history, will be held on Thursday, Dec. 17, at the legendary Stone Pony, the Jersey Shore’s most rock ‘n’ roll institution on the East Coast, located at 913 Ocean Ave. in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Hosted by Allen, there will be over 25 awards presentations and special guest presenters.
Tickets are available through ticketweb.com, ticketmaster.com and The Saint and The Stone Pony box offices. Advance ticket purchase recommended. Doors are at 6 p.m. and the cost is $15 in advance, $20 the day of the show. This is an all-ages show with 21 to drink. For more information, head over to The Saint event website at asburymusicawards.com.
Carriage House TV – Bordentown, NJ
Bordentown is famous for its rural feel and small town vibe. But along with farms and fields, Bordentown is also known for its musical offerings. One of the freshest offerings comes in the form of Carriage House TV. Based at an 1800s carriage house located in Bordentown, the crew that came up with this interesting show blends performance video in conjunction with an interview by show host Steve Sachs. Carriage House TV was born in April of 2015 and has already covered many artists from the scene.
The show comes from the minds of Ricardo Lorenzo, Executive Producer, Kevin Lawton, Producer, Conor Meara, Producer, Tim Fitzpatrick, Sound Engineer, Dean Luis, Director of Photography and show host and producer Steve Sachs. To date, they have had seven episodes released on their YouTube channel, which have consisted of the following bands: Roy Orbitron, Julian Fulton, Secret Mountain, Fond Han, Francie Moon, Lowlight and our most recent Shark Muffin. Episodes are typically released on the first of the month, and they can all be seen at their website chtvseries.org. The next episode will feature the band Sink Tapes, and they have just wrapped an episode featuring Dentist that should release sometime in January.
The interviews have consisted of the bands performing a stripped-down song and then Sachs talking to the bands at local businesses or their clubhouse, hanging out in the carriage house to chat or playing games with the members of the bands. Then, the band sums up with a second song of their choosing before the piece ends. The interviews are laid back and informative, covering the songs, influences and the musicians’ most intimate thoughts on their music and career. Host Stave Sachs asks informative and intelligent questions and lays out an interesting launching board into the minds of chosen performers. I like the way they pick different spots to interview the bands, such as their first episode speaking with Roy Orbitron over at Bordentown Guitar Rescue. As questions were asked and answered, the cameraman used his discerning eye to cover the shop walls while remaining focused on the interview.
The camera work is top notch, the host is entertaining, and the production team has come up with a successful program format that offers great insight into the area’s upcoming bands.
Carriage House TV continues to promote great bands in a viable format, and the inclusion of this show is a welcome addition to the Jersey scene. For more information on Carriage House TV and their schedule of offerings, head over to their site (listed above) or visit them on Facebook at facebook.com/carriagehouseTV.
