Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes coming to Indian Ranch

The band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes formed in 1975 at a time when the Jersey Shore music scene was experiencing a creative surge.

Bruce Springsteen, Stephen Van Zandt, and John Lyon (known professionally as Southside Johnny) played rock, rhythm and blues, and soul in the clubs and bars of the Jersey Shore in the early 1970s. was one of the musicians who produced the unique mix of A small resort town in Asbury Park. they were all friends. Van Zandt joined Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and wrote three songs for the band’s first album, I Don’t Want to Go Home, released in 1976. Produced. Springsteen contributed two songs to the albums The Fever and The Fever. “You Mean So Much To Me” (the latter featuring Southside in a duet with Ronnie Spector)

Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes are set to perform at Indian Ranch.

Nearly 50 years on, Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes are still going strong, with a show at Webster’s Indian Ranch on June 17 at 1pm as part of the White Crow Summer Concert Series. I plan to do

The band has a danceable instrumentation that plays songs from their own catalog, including covers of “Better Days” and “Unchain My Heart” with lyrics like “Better days are comin'” and “feel good” music. is known. “Fever” and “I Don’t Want to Go Home” are other songs that have been regularly performed to the delight of fans at concerts for many years.

‘it was a strange trip‘

With many albums released and over 100 band members gone (including Bruce Springsteen and Van Zandt, who was also involved with the E Street Band), Southside Johnny remained the leader and lead As a vocalist, he has a strong presence.

The current eight-member line-up is “three horns, bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and me up front,” Southside said in a recent phone interview.

Southside always wanted a horn section in their band, and from the beginning it made the band unique, with a larger than usual line-up.

When asked about his early days in Jersey, Southside said he “doesn’t look back much”. Nostalgia is not his taste, he hinted.

“But it was great,” he observed.

With a friendly, joking, heavy-sounding voice, the 74-year-old singer and harmonica player says, “We vaguely knew we wanted to be musicians. The possibilities were right in front of us.” I was very encouraged to know that,” she recalled.

Overall, “it’s been a strange journey,” he said. As a young musician looking to breakthrough, “I thought if I could go on tour and play, I would put my heart and soul into it.” I was able to pay the rent and eat rice thanks to ”, I imagined a life.

‘You have to be flexible’

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes have several shows planned for this summer. It’s probably his first visit to Indian Ranch, but “I’ve played so many places over the decades that I don’t remember them all,” said Southside. he paused. “I can’t remember any,” he said with a laugh.

Previous visits to this neck of the woods included a visit to the Hanover Theater and Conservatory of Performing Arts in 2009, when Telegram & Gazette critic Peter Lansdowne called “the South Side Johnny sang his heart out in a powerful 90-minute set.” The standing ovation ended with Sam Cooke’s performance of ‘Having A Party’.

Southside develops a setlist each night, but says, “We play mostly by ear…it’s up to the mood of the audience. It’s better if the audience responds, so we have to be flexible.” hmm,” he said.

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Jon Bon Jovi, who toured with the band as a special guest in 1990, credits South Side Johnny for making him sing. All of the Bruce Springsteen E. Streeters, including Clarence Clemons, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Ernest Carter, Patti Scialfa (who became Springsteen’s wife), and Susie Tyrell, were married at some point. He has performed, toured and recorded with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.

“A big band with such a long career and horns, people will come and go,” said Southside. Asked if the change helped keep the band’s sound fresh, Southside said, “I think it keeps us on our toes. The new drummer is ‘having something new in the music.’ You might feel like, ‘Let’s bring it in,'” he said. It’s up to me as the bandleader to say ‘Oh, that’s good’ or ‘No, I don’t like it’. ”

Plus, “I think if it was the same guy, we’d be sick to death with each other,” Southside said.

“I feel lucky. I don’t feel alienated from anyone.”

“Music got me excited”

Similarly, Southside said he still enjoys performing live. “I love being on stage. The hardest part[of a show]is the waiting. Soundcheck. Luckily, I love reading. It’s the part that’s fun to play.” The rest is work. ”

Glimpse on YouTube and read about in reviews, his live performances still captivate audiences with his undeniably energetic and heartfelt singing.

“The reason I train myself to be that is to get excited about music,” he said.

“I was only 18 when the music started.

“Twice a day, I do a lot of alcohol,” he joked, to keep his voice in shape when he plays live.

“I have to protect myself”

Seriously, “I learned early on that you can’t party every night and sing whatever you want the next day…I don’t smoke…pace yourself. Don’t get caught up in long conversations.” Please,” and added, “Please don’t do phone interviews.”

Southside said her voice is inherently strong, but “but I have to protect myself.”

During the pandemic, he couldn’t sing much live or in concert. “We were in Florida and had a date on the East Coast,” Southside said of the show, which was nearly locked down. Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes performed a drive-in concert at Monmouth Racecourse in Oceanport, New Jersey. The theme is “Better days is coming”.

On the other hand, he said, “The first summer (of the pandemic) was great. It’s been a long time since I didn’t work.”

But “then when winter started, I got really nervous. It got harder and harder until I really wanted to play music,” he said.

Now he is.

Southside, on the other hand, said they “have the songs written”, but rather than putting out a 12-track album, they are planning to release a few new songs in the next few weeks.

After moving around the country several times, including a stay in Nashville, Southside moved back to live on the Jersey Shore, closer to his pre-pandemic home.

“It’s on the Jersey Shore,” he said. “I love it here. All my neighbors are friendly. I’m not very outgoing, but I’m even more so here in this neighborhood.”