The New Jersey music scene has played an important role in the history of recorded music. From the first sound recordings, the rise of jazz, blues and the big band, the evolution of rock and roll as a cultural icon, the break-through "Jersey sound", and the explosion of diverse music genres as punk, rap and metal, great bands continue to produce and perform great music into the early-morning hours.

Original bands create both new and classic sounds, while cover bands bring the party to legions of fans. Small clubs, bars, underground haunts and even living rooms and basements share a thriving scene with large venues, legendary establishments and arenas that are known worldwide.

We believe there is a scene here worth discovering. Areas like London, Detroit, New York and Seattle have developed unique sounds and styles, and influenced music far beyond their local stages, mosh pits and recording studios. The same thing continues to happen now, for those who know where to find it.

There are many behind the stages and pages of this scene. For those involved, the challenge is to break through the hype and let fans in on what's really going on.  Many publications have put forth great efforts towards finding which bands are worth listening to and seeing live. We aim to do our part, along with those who have gone before us.

We want to give our readers exposure and insight into the scene.  Our goal is to present the legendary history, current noise and future buzz to all music fans.

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Josh Davidson has written music feature articles for Jersey Style and served as the Jersey Shore rock columnist for Steppin’ Out Magazine. Other music writing credits include Aquarian Weekly, Jersey Beat, Backstreets and njcoast.com. He has written free-lance for the Asbury Park Press' Community Sports section and has written featured articles for its news section, as well as covering campus news and sports weekly for the Signal, the College of New Jersey's (formerly Trenton State College) student newspaper. He has worked as a staff writer for The Independent, and his work for Greater Media Newspapers has also been published in the News Transcript. He is a former beat reporter for the Ocean County Observer who presently is a news writer for Symbolic Systems Inc. supporting the US Army's Knowledge Center.

His music writing covers a vast range of topics, from the current cover band craze, highs and lows of the original scene, to the early days of the Jersey Shore rock scene in Asbury Park.

He is also a musician, having written hundreds of songs as a singer/songwriter, and playing them out as a solo/acoustic artist.  He has also played with cover bands, including It Doesn't Matter, and several original bands, including as the guitarist for the solo project of singer/songwriter Dave Eric.  He continues to work on solo material and is presently the bass player for Real Live Boy.

Josh Davidson (far left) performs on the legendary Stone Pony stage with Terry Little (guitar), Tommy Anton (percussion) and Jay Walker (bass).

Matt Mrowicki

Matt Mrowicki joined the Asbury Park music scene by becoming the editor and publisher of The Stone Pony Online Newsletter, the official publication of the legendary Ocean Avenue rock club, doing interviews with both national and local performers. He serves as Production Director for Writers In The Raw, and Managing Editor for that organization's Rawbill, the popular print program that is distributed at all WITR events.  His work has also been published in Let The Story Be Told, an e-fanzine devoted to Joe D'Urso and Stone Caravan.

He earned his degree in Computer and Information Science from NJIT in Newark, New Jersey, and has worked for several years in the IS/IT field for various New Jersey companies.  In 2000, he founded Impression Technologies, LLC (www.imprtech.com), a media and technology consulting company designed to assist businesses and other organizations with technical and promotional consulting, design, development and web production. His clients include public relations and media firms around the country and organizations such as Light of Day (www.lightofday.org), Writers In The Raw (www.writersintheraw.com) and the Association for Arts Education/NJ (www.aaenj.org).  He has also worked with musical artists, such as Gary U.S. Bonds (www.garyusbonds.com), Dawne Allynne (www.dawneallynne.com) and The Cryers (www.thecryers.com) assisting with their website design, management and other marketing and promotional efforts.

In additional to his work with the Pony, local bands and others, Chorus and Verse is an opportunity to bring that experience to help promote and define the local music scene.

Chris Bade (left) with Colin Abrahall of GBH

Chris was transformed into a concert junkie after his mother took him to see The Who, The Clash, and Santana in September 1982 for his fifteenth birthday. After that, he went to as many concerts at the Spectrum in Philadelphia that he could afford (and bum rides to). Chris was almost disowned by his family in 1984 when he left a Christmas Day party to camp out for Metallica tickets. (It paid off. He got front row). In 1985, he was turned on to punk and hardcore and went to more shows at City Gardens and CBGB than he can count. Some of his favorite concerts are Butthole Surfers at The Ritz in NY in 1988, Iron Maiden at Radio City Music Hall in 1984 and The Sex Pistols reunion at Finsbury Park in England in 1996.

Chris began managing bands in 1988 starting with the South Jersey hardcore band Denial. He went on to manage Vicious Circle as well as Trenton locals Drunken Angel. Chris also managed the Asbury Park metal band Latshaw for 10 years. He enjoys freelance photography and some of his work can be seen on albums by Revenant, Ripping Corpse, and Human Remains, as well as in the now-defunct Wrestling World Magazine.

Chris still goes to at least three concerts a month and has recently dusted off his photography equipment. He is currently employed at Mazur Public Relations, a firm which specializes in publicity for metal and hard rock bands. Some of their past clients include Kittie, VoiVod, Black Label Society, Overkill, and The Exploited.