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March First Friday

Friday March First

Joanne Calabrese

Hackensack native Joanne Calabrese began her career in her high school band Motive: Music, featuring then-unknown keyboardist Rupert Holmes! She released two singles on Scepter and performed on stage with labelmates Dionne Warwick and B.J. Thomas. In 1980, she formed the all-girl band Last Licks with Laurie Swerlin and released an EP on Stonehenge. A solo album followed (1984) with support from Benjy King (Scandal), Lesley Gore, Ellen Foley, and many others.

In the 90s, Joanne and Laurie formed Where There's Smoke, hitting the NYC club circuit and numerous LGBT charity events. They also won New Jersey Pride's "Battle Of The Bands" and played at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park! Where There's Smoke eventually morphed into The Swippers, showcasing their love of the Byrds, Bonnie Raitt, and the Pretenders. They also opened for Tret Fure, Ellis, and Betty Soo during the Power of Women series at the Watchung Performing Arts Center.

Come join us for a solo performance by this incredibly talented artist.

The Outliers

The Outliers are a power pop rock band from nearby Essex County. With influences ranging from the Byrds, Beatles and Burritos to the Who, Replacements, and Tom Petty, you're guaranteed to have a rousing good time.

Guitarist Paul Crane provides their background:

I met guitarist Chris Bolger at an open mic in West Orange, NJ. I was impressed with his encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock and pop and even more impressed a couple of weeks later when he gave me a copy of his newly recorded solo record "No Promises." It was chock full of great songs. I had a bunch of songs I had written that I never used with my long time band Bastards of Melody. So about a year after I met Chris, we decided to put together a band as an outlet for our songs. We brought in my friend and former Luv Junkies band mate Doug Hedge on drums and after a long search, we finally found our permanent bass player Cliff Brennan.

Nick Conte

Nick Conte is a singer and multi-instrumentalist based out of Union County New Jersey. Nick plays bluegrass, rock, and country in many of his projects around the state. Conte released his power pop influenced  album Nothing Hip About It in 2015. For the past three years he has returned to his true passion of American roots music. Solo performances by Conte include a mix of classic country, bluegrass, and twangy originals. Plans for an Americana album and new classic country project are in the works for 2019.

Relix The Magazine for Music