of excitement and appreciation. I
definitely still get nervous going
on stage, especially for a show
like that where we’re playing the
full album front-to-back for the
first time ever. It was a brand new
band so there were more variables than I could count. I think
nerves are good up to a point. If
you harness them right, they can
keep you focused and sharp. But
about a minute into the first song
I was smiling so hard and that’s
ideally the way it goes. Once you
start playing you remember how
much fun it is and all that tightly
wound nervous energy you had
when you stepped onto the stage
can unspool itself into your performance.
Looking back at your days growing up, where were some of the
first places you ever performed?
My first real solo gig was at Niagara, a bar in the East Village owned
by the musician Jesse Malin. Jesse’s been a hugely influential artist in my life, and I feel like I owe
him a major debt. His album ‘The
Fine Art of Self Destruction’ was a
turning point in me wanting to become a songwriter. He gave me
my first shows in NYC, and took
me on my first tour in Europe.
Did you do a lot of shows while
at Princeton, or mainly wrote
and recorded? There weren’t a
ton of performance opportunities
for the kind of music that I did in
Their New Single - “Black Gold”
A powerful rock song about the
Ogoni Nine that were hanged
after protesting the activities of
the Shell Oil Company in Nigeria.
Click to download
Visit us online at http://www.NewJerseyStage.com song for free
pg 27