Revival in a bowling alley lounge: Featured in the third annual Jersey Country Revival are (clockwise from upper left) Rob Dye, John Eddie, Anthony Manno and Michael Patrick’s Ring of Fire Band.
By TOM CHESEK
It was the kind of a show that stays with you long after the last note fades — almost a revelation, or at least it would have been had there maybe been more people to vouch for what it was we were seeing.
To a fella like Pokey LaFarge, however, it doesn’t make much nevermind whether he’s playing to ten people or ten hundred. Squeezing out sparks with his ace acoustic band of fellow travelers, banging out a set of authoritative originals on delightfully battered thriftshop instruments (including a “GitJo” with strings ‘n screws missing, plus a kazoo with a little Victrola horn on it), the impossibly young bluegrass-folk-ragtime entertainer sold every song with a killer lyric, a funny face, a virtuoso solo and a prime Dylanesque cool.
A magical night at The Claddagh, you bet — and another feather in the cap for the man who arranged the event, local singer, songwriter and impresario Michael Patrick.
You’ve met the Morganville-based Mike previously in our pixelated pages; whether as frontman of The Suburban Hillbillies, co-founder of the Suburban Roots Concert Series, or as leader of the Johnny Cash tribute Michael Patrick’s Ring of Fire Band, a project that he brought to Asbury Park as part of last spring’s Garden State Film Festival.
We know him as a guy who’s made it his mission to bring country music to our fair Shore on some sort of regular basis — not the processed cheez whiz that rolls into the PNC or Six Flags every summer, but the realdeal stuff that transcends state lines and statistical polling; the stuff of instrumental finesse and emotional honesty and the greatest American songcraft.
Call him a country corollary to the Jazz Arts Project’s Joe Muccioli — another guy whose expertise we defer to, and whose instincts seem unerringly on the money.
Patrick pulls a Hat Trick this Saturday, September 5, as Patrick and “pardner in crime” Emma Birchill present the third annual edition of the Jersey Country Revival, a multi-band extravaganza of alt-country, newgrass, roots retro and just plain original music that unfolds across twelve hours down at Brewsters, the engaging lounge adjoining the Bradley Beach Bowling Lanes just seconds from the Asbury city limits.
You were expecting maybe Carnegie Hall? In actual fact, the bowling alley bar makes a fine roadhouse honkytonk setting for this year’s ambitious bill, a card topped by honorary Shore rocker turned Nashville cat John Eddie.
Patrick’s Hat Trick: For the third time, Morganville musical mover and shaker Mike Patrick has assembled an ace ticket of roots talent for this year’s Jersey Country Revival.
In an interview that appeared late last year here in oRBit, Eddie observed that the older he gets, the more country he gets in terms of his songwriting and maturity level, calling today’s country music scene “70s rock and roll all over again.” Having worked closely with roots-country sensation James Otto, the recovering Jungle Boy has “Gone Nashville” on a formal if not necessarily permanent basis — debuting a twangier aspect of his sound with a recent showcase gig at the Stone Pony. He’ll be closing out the Revival at the 11pm headliner spot, following a dozen other acts that include Patrick fronting both the Hillbillies and Ring of Fire.
Also scheduled to play at various points in the proceedings are Rob Dye — the versatile singer-songwriter whose Sunday Open Mics at Jamian’s are a must for local music fans — plus Victory Gin (whom we dug as opener for The Blasters in a Saint gig last year), veteran bluesguy BBQ Bob and His Only Friends, The Bob Polding Band, Old No. 7, E~Boro Bandits, Rodeo Clowns, Anthony Manno, Chuck Schaeffer and Acoustic Thunder. Patrick’s website has an updated list with set times.
“So far, things are going off without a hitch,” said Patrick when we caught up with him a few days prior to the event. “I guess I’m just lucky; I’ve got good people to work with here.”
Having relocated the Revival to Brewsters from its previous digs at Asbury’s Wonder Bar, Patrick and company are working with a smaller room (approximately 300 capacity), albeit one that provides greater ease of moving the bands on and off stage. All performers will be donating their services for the event, with Patrick’s band and crew providing sound tech, drum kit and other equipment.
It’s all a benefit for the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to education and research on the little-known disorder that has afflicted Patrick’s wife, among many others.
“We’ve been very involved with the organization over the years,” says Patrick. “They’ve been good to us, and they’re not getting rich off of us with this event, but we’re doing everything we can to help.”
When “the dust settles” from the Revival event, the Ring of Fire Band plans to head down to the annual Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival in Starkville, Mississippi — the town where Johnny famously spent the night in jail for picking flowers in the wee hours of the morning.
“They were short a headliner, so I hooked them up with Justin,” says Patrick in reference to Justin Townes Earle, another cult-country genius that he’s brought to our fair Shore. “So now it’s Rosanne Cash, Justin and us — should be a good time.”
Admission to the Country Revival is all ages, with tickets priced at an earlybird-special $10 from noon until 9pm — when the price goes up to $20 for the remainder of the night. Call (732)834-9781 for more info.
Roots rock artist and promoter Michael Patrick will be hosting his third annual Jersey Country Revival, a day- and night-long extravaganza starting at noon Saturday at Brewster’s Bar & Grill on 1217 Main St. (Route 71) in Bradley Beach.
