"Vinyl Heart" Comp and Show on February 13th at Asbury Lanes

Indiegogo Still GoGoing

I'm really happy to announce that CoolDad Music is a proud sponsor of "Vinyl Heart," a heart-shaped vinyl compilation and a show featuring Smalltalk, Dentist, Seaside Caves, and Trans Charger Metropolis. This is an extremely cool project that will be putting some of our favorite local bands together on vinyl and giving them a Valentine's Day Eve showcase at one of my favorite venues in the world.

Did I mention that the record comes in the shape of a heart?

The show celebrating the release will feature sets from all of the bands involved, and it takes place on February 13th at Asbury Lanes.

There's an Indiegogo campaign for the project that's just about to enter it's final week. You can head over to the campaign page to pre-order the record and to buy advance tickets to the show.

I jumped at the opportunity to be associated with this project, and I'm sure that the show on February 13th will be an evening we'll remember for a while.

So make those plans with your sweetie (or your buddy, or your mom, whoever), and keep it tuned here for more information as we get closer to the show.

Dollys Taking Oh, Please Pre-orders via Indiegogo, Playing Two Shows This Weekend

New Jersey Indie Pop (-a-Go-Go)

I've seen Dollys a couple of times -- most recently, when they opened the Dentist record release show in May -- and the New Brunswick band have really impressed me with their take on indie pop. They just announced an Indiegogo campaign to complete the mastering and vinyl pressing of their forthcoming, debut full-length, Oh, Please.

The campaign offers pre-orders of both vinyl and downloadable copies of Oh, Please along with the opportunity to attend Dollys' release show and / or a listening party for the new record.

You have a couple of "Try Before You Buy" opportunities this weekend. Dollys play New Brunswick's Court Tavern with Smalltalk on Friday, June 20th. They play The Saint as part of the free, weekly Deal Casino summer residency on Sunday the 22nd.

Dollys also recently released a video for the title track to Oh, Please, which you can watch below.

Help New Jersey Stage in the Final Hours of Their Indiegogo Campaign!

Only a Few Hours to Go

Gary Wien has written books like Beyond The Palace, chronicling the musical history of Asbury Park, and Are You Listening: The Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists. He ran Upstage Magazine, which covered the arts throughout Central New Jersey and included features on the likes of Nicole Atkins, Johnny Depp, Jack Klugman, and Lewis Black.

He's now turning his passion for supporting the arts in New Jersey to a new, all-digital, monthly magazine and daily website: New Jersey Stage. New Jersey Stage has turned to Indiegogo to crowd fund some of the infrastructure costs associated with starting up a digital publication and getting the word out.

If you care about the arts here in our state, or if you or your organization would stand to benefit from a high-profile, online publication, run by a true pro, consider helping New Jersey Stage get off the ground -- either by contributing or by helping to spread the word in these final hours.

As Gary says on the campaign's website, "We're all in this together," and everyone in our arts community can only benefit with the addition of another voice.

The Indiegogo campaign for New Jersey Stage closes tonight at 11:59 pm.

Do it!

Asbury Park's Chris Brown Is Crowdfunding His New LP

Anchor

Asbury Park folk-punk singer / songwriter Chris Brown recorded his latest record, Anchor, with Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls. Now, Brown is reaching out to fans old, new, and yet to be converted via Indiegogo to fund the record's release. According to his campaign website, Anchor tells the story of Brown's relationship with Asbury Park, the city where he was born, raised, and now lives.

Judging from the guest appearances, Anchor will be very Asbury-centric. Brown got help from Steinkopf as well as Zack Moyle of Lost In Society, Zach West and Howie Cohen of Ghost House / Athletics, and his father, Charlie Brown.

Head over to Brown's Indiegogo page for the details; and if you'd like to try before you buy, you can catch Chris Brown when he plays as part of a loaded (and FREE, as always) Happy Mondays bill along with Small Town Scoundrels, The Brigantines, and Eastbourne on May 12th.

Harper's Fellow Crowd Funding Their Debut LP

Thanks For Tonight

Things are moving quickly for Jersey Shore neo-country / folk rockers Harper's Fellow. The brainchild of singer / songwriter Cortney Metzler, the band came together and started performing late in 2012. They recently spent time in the studio recording their debut LP and released a studio performance video for "Bow & Arrow." Today, they launched a crowd funding campaign to put the finishing touches on their record via IndieGoGo.

Contributors can pledge and receive perks ranging from a personal thank you call from a band member to a private house concert from the full band. In addition, the band are using the campaign to give back to the community by mixing and mastering the album with local businesses Lake House Music and Asbury Media and by donating 10% of the proceeds from sales of Thanks For Tonight to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.

I saw the band live a few weeks ago. Metzler's voice, some excellent musicianship, and a strong set of songs set Harper's Fellow apart in a very crowded genre. This is a record that deserves to see the light of day.