Sunday, July 13
JerseyArts.com Marina Stage
John Gorka
Cancelled
While studying History and Philosophy at Moravian College, music pulled John Gorka into a more exciting world. Before long he was networking with Canadian troubadours Eric Andersen and Claudia Schmidt among others and involved in the New York City folk scene. With motivation from Nanci Griffith, the New Jersey native won the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Competition in 1984, followed by his debut release three years later. Today, those he once looked up to like Maura O'Connell and Mary Chapin Carpenter perform and/or record his songs while his co-touring resume consists of musical greats like Mary Chapin Carpenter and Nanci Griffith. His latest release, Writing in the Margins, features performances by Alice Peacock, Nanci Griffith and Lucy Kaplansky encompassing soul, pop, folk and country genres while tackling topics like hope, love and war.
Website: johngorka.com
Recent Release: Writing in the Margins | Label: Red House Records
Origin: Edison, New Jersey
Listen: Live in Concert XPN Free at Noon
Song Clip: I'm From New Jersey
Purchase John Gorka on Amazon.com
Susan Werner
Since her first self-released album in the early 1990s, Susan Werner has continuously reinvented herself. From jazz to folk to gospel and opera, Werner glides between genres while exploring issues others dare not to undertake. While living in Philadelphia, she put her opera plans aside after a Nanci Griffith concert inspired the Temple alumnae to become a singer-songwriter. Along the way she's recorded seven compilations including her 1995 breakout album with BMG/Private Music and My Strange Nation, her 2005 "alternative national anthem" released on the internet satellite radio. The March 2007 release of The Gospel Truth, her latest album, captures Werner's spiritual questions through an agnostic gospel record.
Set List:
Lost My Religion /
Heaven So Small /
Our Father /
Did Trouble Me
Help Somebody /
Time Between Trains
2nd Set:
Standing In My Own Way /
Big Car /
Barbed Wire Boys
Chicago Anyday /
I Can't Be New
Website: susanwerner.com
Recent Release: The Gospel Truth
Origin: Manchester, Iowa
Song Clip: Why Is Your Heaven So Small?
Purchase Susan Werner from Amazon.com
Madi Diaz
A former student at the Berklee College of Music, Madi Diaz was opening for legend Bonnie Raitt at the Newport Folk Festival at only 21 years of age. Exhibiting early promise, she was one of the young talents featured in the documentary film on Paul Green's School of Rock. Writing honest, roots-tinged ballads, Madi Diaz demonstrates a vocal, musical, and lyrical maturity far beyond her years. Her new album, Skin and Bone, is a fully of haunting melodies, thoughtful writing, and subtle strokes of brilliance.
Set List:
Push & Shove /
Love You Now /
Marry Me Joan
Plans Change /
Heavy Heart /
Pictures
I Know I Know /
Side
Website: madidiaz.com | MySpace: www.myspace.com/madidiaz
Recent Release: Skin and Bone | Label:
Independently released
Origin: Lancaster, PA
World Cafe: Madi Diaz: Rock School Graduate
Listen: Live In Concert XPN Free at Noon
Song Clip: Christine
The Budos Band
With eleven members, Staten Island's powerful soul outfit The Budos Band is a force to be reckoned with. The Afro-soul inspired instrumentalists command listeners' attention with their invigorating exploration of funk, delving deep into realms of mind-expansion with their visionary sessions. Having joined the Daptone Records family in 2005, the band began to tour nationally with artists who had once been their inspiration and now even shares a few members with the illustrious Dap Kings. Their sophomore effort, 2007's The Budos Band II, marks the group's most recent release.
Set List:
Ride Or Die /
Budos Theme /
Mas O Menos /
Mark Of The Unnamed
Chicago Falcon /
Unshaken, Unshaven /
Up From The South
Website: worlds-fair.net/budos_band/ | MySpace: myspace.com/budosband
Recent Release: The Budos Band II | Label: Daptone Records
Origin: Staten Island, NY
Song Clip: Chicago Falcon
Purchase The Budos Band from Amazon.com
The Loved Ones
For as much as punk rock is about breaking down the barriers we build around ourselves, it's a challenge to be a "people's punk band" when the scene that spawned you wants you to stay inside its walls forever. But with their new, second album, Build & Burn, that's just the challenge Philadelphia's The Loved Ones are ready to take on. Broader-focused, more rock & roll-inspired, and (dare we say it) catchier than ever before, the disc finds the quartet crafting a sound that's as worthy of dive bars stages as it is of warming stadiums for Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty. Forget the "pop-punk" tag that's followed these guys just because they're old hardcore kids (alumni of the Explosion, Trial by Fire, The Curse and Paint it Black, if you're keeping score) with a gift for melody. If you have to pigeonhole it, Build & Burn is populist punk — and it's also the best damned thing the Loved Ones have done. Lyrically speaking, Build & Burn — which follows the band's acclaimed 2006 debut album Fat, Keep Your Heart, and a self-titled 2005 EP on Jade Tree — is also the Loved Ones' widest-ranging record yet.
(Excerpted from official MySpace page, written by Aaron Burgess)
Set List:
Pretty Good Year /
100k /
The Bridge /
Jane
Selfish Masquerade /
Brittle Heart /
Massive /
Living Will
Louisiana /
I Swear
Website: thelovedonesband.com | MySpace: www.myspace.com/thelovedones
Recent Release:
Build & Burn | Label: Fat Wreck Chords / Jade Tree / Chunksaah
Origin: Philadelphia
Song Clip: The Bridge
Purchase The Loved Ones from Amazon.com
Dave Barnes
As if by revelation, Dave Barnes realized he was destined for the life of the singer/songwriter while attending college at Middle Tennessee State University. A percussionist throughout high school, he also showed an early predilection for songwriting. Writing music for other bands for a time, he began to perform his music in college, graduating soon thereafter as a Recording Industry Management major. Three albums later, Barnes has become a critically-acclaimed artist known for his enthralling melodies and lyrical perspective. He newest album, Me and You and The World, was released last April.
Set List:
Crazyboutya /
Butterflies /
Since You Said I Do
Someday Sarah /
Nothing Fancy /
Until You
Everybody But You
Website: davebarnes.com | MySpace: myspace.com/davebarnes
Recent Release: Me and You and The World | Label:
Razor & Tie
Origin: Nashville, TN
Song Clip: Until You
Purchase Dave Barnes on Amazon.com
The Mint
With unforgettable melodies and catchy hooks that are guaranteed to be swimming in your head for days, Lancaster's The Mint seem destined for widespread success. Reminiscent of alternative acts like Nada Surf and Phantom Planet, the group's pop sensibility is dead on. Performing boisterous rock with a kind of sunny day swagger and swing, The Mint's music provides listeners a perfectly infectious pick-me-up whenever needed.
Set List:
When Love Won't Go /
Finding New Ways /
Pen To Paper
Stay Here /
1000 Ships /
Blurred Vision
MySpace: www.myspace.com/themintonline
Recent Release: Love is Vapor | Label:
Independently released
Origin: Lancaster, PA
Song Clip: Blurred Vision
