The North Jersey Blues Society successfully launched its inaugural Showcase Series last night at Muddy Waters Gastropub in Asbury. The Mikey Junior Band and The Uptown Boogie Band were the featured performers of the night. We want to thank the blues community for showing up and supporting us, and we also want to give a special shout-out to the staff at Muddy Waters for their superb service - we appreciate you!
The North Jersey Blues Society Showcase Series will continue in March with the Peter Karp Band and Tad Schaefer and the Blues Highway Band opening, and in May with Chris Duarte with Joe Stuby and Rocking Horse opening.
The Uptown Boogie Band opened the night with a boogying set of blues that had the crowd dancing. Larry "The Lip" Lipschultz wowed the crowd during one song and even sat at a table to complete it. The Uptown Boogie Band includes Kurt Colon (bass, vocals), Paul Weisenstein (guitar), Larry Lipschultz (harmonica), and George Schaefer (drums).
The Mikey Junior Band, hailing from Philadelphia, stormed the stage with a huge ensemble of talented musicians, which included Mikey Junior (harmonica, vocals), Matt "Guitar" Daniels (guitar), Zach Lees (guitar), Filthy Rich MacPhearson (guitar), Jimmy Pritchard (bass), Scott Stump (drums), and special guests Dave Keyes (piano) and Derek "Harmonica Slim" Matteson (harmonica). Needless to say, the crowd was treated to a night of hard-stomping blues!
Below is snippet of the guitar masters jamming to Freddie King's Hideaway: