Things Have Been Slow

Not For Long, I Hope

Things have been kind of slow around here of late. I guess there are fewer releases towards the end of the year, or maybe it's just that I haven't been particularly inspired. I'm hoping that will all change as the end of the year is packed full of shows and things to do.

Starting this Friday, CoolMom, CD #1 and I will be catching an early showing of Catching Fire, part 2 in the Hunger Games saga. This is actually quite a big deal for them, and I'm going along for the ride. Later that evening, I hope to make it over to The Saint for Speed The Plough, The Glenn Mercer Band, and Wild Carnation.

Then, on Thanksgiving Eve, November 27th, Tom's River's River City Extension will be holding their fourth annual Simple Gifts homecoming show with support from Kevin Devine, Those Mockingbirds, and Harper's Fellow. Frontman Joe Michelini promised in a recent interview with Speak Into My Good Eye that the set will go down as the longest that River City Extension have ever played. That may make it difficult to catch all the bands (Dentist, The Drive Home, Mad Feather Group) at the unofficial after party at Asbury Lanes, but I'll try.

The Asbury Music Awards come to The Stone Pony on December 12th. Jeff Raspe hosts the event and the bill always includes performances from many of the best that our area has to offer. That same weekend, on December 14th, I'll be heading to Brooklyn's Bell House for one of Yo La Tengo's post-Hanukkah shows there. They're doing three nights instead of eight this year and not at Maxwell's, of course.

Nicole Atkins will be bringing a full live performance of her debut album, Neptune City, to The Stone Pony to celebrate the holidays on December 20th. She's bringing along a full string section.

I'll be closing out the year at The Stone Pony for two nights of The Bouncing Souls' Home for the Holidays residency on December 27th and December 28th. The 27th features openers Laura Stevenson and Molly and the Zombies (a band name which many are hoping is a cover for some permutation of a certain New Brunswick band whose frontman / songwriter is a native of Red Bank, NJ). Appropriately, the 28th -- which will probably be my final show of the year -- features support from Titus Andronicus, a band whose shirt I'm wearing as I write and that accounts for a good percentage of the space here at CoolDad Music.

I'll write something about all of this stuff. Of course, I'll probably do at least one year-end post as well. And, remember: If things ever get slow around here, I usually keep my stream of consciousness going on Twitter and Facebook. You can give a follow or a like at either place if you want to make sure that I'm still alive.

I hope to see you at one or two of these upcoming shows.

Come say hi. I'll buy you a beverage, and we can toast 2013.