Little Dickman Records & CoolDad Music Present: Looms, Lowlight, Roy Orbitron at the Asbury Park Carousel House TONIGHT

The Last Carousel Waltz?

Never say never. Nobody has officially told us that tonight will be our last chance to host shows inside the iconic Asbury Park carousel house, but we have nothing else planned. I'm hearing that the pop up shops and retailers proposed for that space have been approved by the city. That's all very cool. A unique and beautiful space like the carousel house needs to be used, especially in the summer time. If this ends up being our final show there, I'm fine with it. Let's just make it a party.

As a kid in the 70s and 80s, I'd go to the boardwalks in Long Branch and Asbury Park with my family and our neighbors. Long Branch, as I remember it, had a midway complete with Skee Ball, a waterslide, and the Haunted Mansion. My brother cried like a baby in the Haunted Mansion. Asbury Park had Howard Johnson's, Palace Amusements, and a carousel. That stuff was all probably pretty run down even when I was a kid, but it all represents a different time -- when the beach and the boardwalk were a little more "honky tonk" than they are now -- to me.

Whenever I see the carousel building from the outside, I think about those times; and they run through my mind looking like an old VHS tape or something. I see myself in those really short polyester jogging shorts with the piping around the edges and tube socks pulled up to my knees. I see the dark interior of Palace Amusements, and I see everybody's 70s and 80s hair.

All three times we've hosted shows inside the carousel house so far have made me think about how lucky we all are to live in a place with so much natural beauty and so much history. It's just cool, you know?

And tonight will be really cool. We have three great bands coming to play inside the iconic structure. It's free and family-friendly and a great way to kick off your summer.

Lowlight are an Asbury Park band who are kind of country, but kind of not. Renee Maskin is a fantastic songwriter, and the rest of the band have some serious chops. They call on influences as varied as Bob Dylan and prog rock to tell stories of wandering and whiskey.



Conor Meara's Roy Orbitron put out a beautiful and heartfelt album, Girls' Boyfriends, earlier this year. The Bordentown group are hard to classify, bouncing among Americana, rock, folk, and whatever sounds happen to work for the story at hand. But what comes through is an honesty, coupled with a biting sense of humor, that draws you in.


Roy Orbitron - Swimmer's Ear from Kevin Kelly on Vimeo.

Brooklyn's Looms pull together rock, jazz, pop, electronic, country, you name it into a style that's just unpredictable in a live setting. Great musicians with a tendency to improvise, Looms never play the same set twice. It's their first time in Asbury Park, so let's give them a warm welcome.



So bring the family. Get some dinner or some ice cream in Asbury Park, and then head over to the carousel to see the show. Doors open at 7pm, and it's free.

This could be our last one. Unless it isn't. But let's pretend that it is and make this one a blowout. See you tonight.

The Battery Electric, BOYTOY, and YJY Closed Out Our Sundown at the Carousel Series for the Summer (PHOTOS)

The Battery Electric closed out Sundown at the Carousel 3.

Thank You

On Friday night, we held our last Sundown at the Carousel show for the foreseeable future. We closed things out with up-and-coming fuzz pop quartet and CoolDad Minivan victims, YJY, our new friends in the psychedelic noise-poppy BOYTOY, and our dear friends, The Battery Electric.

We started things a little later for a Friday night, and YJY got to play right through the actual sundown. The combination of sunset and the small purple and magenta lights placed to illuminate the Haculla mural gave everything an eerie beauty. We got songs from the band's excellent Couch Surfin' USA (which YJY are auctioning off to support City of Angels NJ) along with stuff I'd expect to hear on an upcoming release.

Brooklyn's BOYTOY impressed the locals with selections from their self-titled EP and their upcoming debut LP, Grackle. The band sit right in a space -- noisy, lots of reverb, pop sensibility -- that wins me over every time. I saw more than a few people stopping by the merch table to grab music and T-shirts and to talk with the band after their set.

The final band for our summer series at the carousel couldn't really be anybody other than The Battery Electric. These guys are some of Asbury Park's favorite sons, and they're some of my best buds. The Battery Electric always leave everything on stage; and, on Friday, the band played for over an hour. The crowd sang along with set staples like "Heathen," "Lauren," and "The Heart and The Thrill." The band threw in covers that ranged from Sam Cooke to Misfits. Folks who had come specifically for the band and folks who just stopped in to check out the free show all eventually got to smiling and dancing.

I couldn't be happier with how this series turned out for us this summer. I got to work with people that I love in Little Dickman Records and Arcade Radio. We brought in the amazing Gentleman Jim to help us with sound. People got to hear great music from Asbury Park and beyond inside one of the structures that has always symbolized the Jersey Shore for me.

Some old and not-so-old friends of ours like YJY, Overlake, The Everymen, and Wreaths got to shake the cobwebs from the old space. We made new friends in Lost Boy ?, Sharkmuffin, and BOYTOY; and I hope that introducing these bands to Asbury brings more opportunities for us to see them here again. We got to bookend the series with Dentist and The Battery Electric, and I'm not sure I would have wanted to do this without getting both of them.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out and supported the shows. This will be a summer I remember forever. Things don't end with this, of course. Almost every night, year round, you have a chance to get out there and support some local or touring band. If you see me around at one of those shows, come say hi.

Here are pics from Friday night. The rest are at Flickr.

Sundown at the Carousel 2 with Wreaths, Sharkmuffin, and Lost Boy ?, 7/19/15

Sundown with Wreaths

Sunday Sundown

When we first decided to do these shows at the carousel building, I wasn't sure what to expect. The building is old and infrequently used. What would the power situation be? How would it sound?

The old building has a few issues, sure. But, on the whole, the shows have been amazing. Our first show with Dentist, Overlake, and The Everymen sounded great and convinced me that these shows are a viable thing. Last night's show with Wreaths, Sharkmuffin, and Lost Boy ? continued that. The later start had the added effect of allowing us to experience the actual sundown, and the place took on an eerie and magical look as the sounds of Wreaths bounced around the space.

Davey Jones of Lost Boy ? did a solo electric set consisting of pared down versions of his full band's psychedelic bedroom pop. Like Dentist two weeks ago, the simple vocal and guitar setup worked beautifully inside the reverb chamber of the carousel building. New Little Dickman-signees, Sharkmuffin (whose Chartreuse is out 8/7), played to their moms, dads, and grandmas as well as all of the strangers that had come out for the show. They impressed with their surf-grunge-noise pop, and I look forward to seeing them when they're back in town. Wreaths were made for the space and shook the spiral windows while bathed in magenta and purple lights as helium balloons sailed around the venue. People danced or even just sat outside the building as the sound spiraled out into the night.

I know I'm biased, but the carousel house is really an amazing space. It's wonderful to see curious folks heading home from a day at the beach being suddenly drawn in by the building and the sounds. Stay tuned to see what else we have coming.

Here are some pictures from the evening. You can view full sets at Flickr.

Sundown at the Carousel: Photo Highlights of Dentist, Overlake, and The Everymen, 7/5/15

The Everymen closed out Sundown at the Carousel on Sunday.

Fifth of July

We ended our holiday weekend in Asbury Park yesterday in grand style with the Sundown at the Carousel show presented by Little Dickman Records, Arcade Radio, and yours truly. It was a Jersey-centric, foCDM-packed bill featuring Justin and Emily Bornemann of Dentist, Overlake, and The Everymen. The old carousel house did not disappoint as a venue as each of the bands benefitted from the booming acoustics of the place.

Even with the lighter touch of their two-piece arrangement, the songs of Dentist bounced and reverberated around the old shell sounding big and beautiful. Overlake sounded absolutely immense. Nick D'Amore's drums probably sent shockwaves through nearby Ocean Grove, and the explosive crescendos in every song definitely shook the cobwebs from the upper-reaches of the roof. The Everymen, who were wrapping up their homecoming weekend, tore through about an hour's worth of New Jersey rock and roll as bubbles from a bicycle-borne bubble machine wafted around the room.

From the moment we opened the gates to start loading in, curious onlookers began to venture inside the long-shuttered structure to gaze up at the ceiling or to take in the Haculla mural along the back wall. The mural served as a great backdrop for all three sets.

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who managed to make it out to what turned into a very special show. Working with bands and businesses doing great things who also happen to be great people is always a treat, and I'll always jump at the chance to call attention to the great music brewing in New Jersey.

Check out photo highlights of all three sets below. Full galleries are up at Flickr.

...and you know. Yesterday was such a good time... ...well, stay tuned.

Sundown at the Carousel with The Everymen, Overlake, and Dentist, 7/5/15

Presented with Little Dickman Records and Arcade Radio

It's really great when you get to do something cool with your friends. Little Dickman Records, Arcade Radio, and I have gotten together to present what I think is an extremely cool show in a unique venue.

We'll be bringing The Everymen, Overlake, and Dentist to Asbury Park's Carousel Building for a holiday weekend closeout on July 5th that promises to be a memorable evening full of fun, friendship, and great sounds. I've written extensively here about all three of the bands on this bill, and I'm happy to call each one of them friends of mine.

It's a real treat to bring the many-headed touring machine of The Everymen back home to the Jersey Shore for a now all-too-rare East Coast performance. They're just back from touring with The War On Drugs, and they'll be home for Independence Day Weekend. We decided to grab them while we could, and we couldn't be more excited.

Overlake have been making more frequent incursions into Asbury Park from their Jersey City home, but it's never enough for me. I recommend this band every time anyone asks me for suggestions on a bill, so it was a no-brainer to include them on one I had a hand in presenting. I can't wait to hear their beautiful noise bounce around the big space inside the carousel.

And Dentist. Some of our bestest besties. Justin and Emily will be performing as a duo and recreating some of the magic and intimacy they brought to their opening slot for Television at The Stone Pony late last year. They don't do this often, and Dentist's songs take on a whole new personality in this setup. It's something you won't want to miss.

It's great to be working with Little Dickman and Arcade Radio on this -- a bunch of great people who really care about doing interesting things to showcase the city of Asbury Park and to bring us music from New Jersey and beyond. Something like an early evening, all ages event in a beautiful space is just their style.

This is coming up quickly. Everything takes place this Sunday, July 5th, starting at 5pm. Bring your whole family. Tell all your friends, and let's celebrate together inside one of the defining landmarks of the Jersey Shore.

You can RSVP and invite your friends by going right HERE.