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BlowUpRadio.com Newsletter 7/13/20
Hi Everyone,
As we at BlowUpRadio.com continue to keep links for COVID-19 information on BlowUpRadio.com, we have also added links dealing with ending racism. #BlackLivesMatter and we need institutional changes.
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Lazlo will be broadcasting live with the following special programming:
Every weeknight @ 6pm - #StayHomeWithLazlo with interview guests:
Monday - Bruce Tunkel
Tuesday - Juniper
Wednesday - Scarlet Magnum
Thursday - Aidan Jack Finnecy
Friday - Grasser
(if you want to be a guest, e-mail us)
Monday @ 7pm - BlowUpRadio.com Presents New NJ Music
Tuesday @ 7pm - Lazlo's Den Presents New Music
Thursday @ 8pm - BlowUpRadio.com Guitar Pull: Stay The F*** Home Edition w/ Bryan Hansen, Luis Vera (Paper Native), Mike Hesson (Delsea Drive)
Listen here: http://player.live365.com/a42405?l
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Latest Updates on BlowUpRadio.com
MUSIC VIDEO: Diego Allessandro - "Dance Tonight" (NJ)
INTERVIEW ARCHIVE: Demos for a Difference (Gillian Omotoso, Hana Denson, Brian Erickson) (NJ)
INTERVIEW ARCHIVE: Demos for a Difference (Brian Erickson, KL Martin) (NJ)
INTERVIEW ARCHIVE: Painters (Chiara & Bryan) (NJ)
INTERVIEW ARCHIVE: Backyard Superheroes (Josh Hershkovitz) (NJ)
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Lazlo's Corner
I planned to use this column to talk more about this year's Banding Together benefits for the Spondylitis Association of America, but that will have to wait for next week. You can get some info here: https://twitter.com/BlowUpRadio/status/1281025981222961152?s=20
But there was something that happened this week that I had to talk about here...
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The effects of Covid-19 on all of us has been a great burden.
As of this writing the number of US cases are over 3.2M, and the US deaths from Covid-19 are over 136K (source: New York Times)
Covid-19 is also adversely affecting restaurants and music venues, with some reports saying as many as 85% of independent restaurants could close by the end of the year without federal aid (Forbes), and 90% of music venues could suffer the same fate (National Independent Venue Association survey).
I am sad to say that one such casualty that closed it doors on Sunday is Espresso Joe's (aka Espresso Joe's Sunshine Cafe) in Keyport.
This hurts the local music scene, and pains me terribly.
Espresso Joe's has been more than a coffeehouse for over a decade. It is a community hub, and a local music hub. Every weekend I knew I could go there and see live original music, while relaxing with (no hyperbole) the best cup of coffee I have ever had (they use Abbotsford Coffee: https://abbotsfordroad.com). They also had weekly open mics and other music & poetry events... and each month for the last 6 years they allowed me to host BlowUpRadio.com Guitar Pulls there.
Unlike a bar or even other coffeehouses the people who came to Espresso Joe's were there to hear the music, which made the place more like a listening room. Except for the occasional "knucklehead" (damn you Governor Murphy for putting that word back into my lexicon), people sat quietly and listened, applauded after each song, and you could usually count on the patrons to buy people's music if they liked what they heard. In fact, Espresso Joe's had a whole wall with various local musician's CDs that were for sale.
But it was more than that too. Espresso Joe's was like extended family. Through several owners and employees, I, and I know many others, always felt invited into this cafe that was almost like their living room. Everyone was always friendly, and there was this wonderful feeling of friendship and camaraderie. It was like a second home. In fact over the weekend when I went by to pick up one of my last lunches from current owner Felicia's culinary kitchen, I ran to the members of the band the Wag (taking up three, socially distant tables) there to pay their respects to the closing of Espresso Joe's and get one last meal there.
And speaking of Felicia, as well as the current staff, Andrew & Dee, I will miss going in there and seeing their smiling faces (or more recently face mask adorned faces). They made me feel like Norm from Cheers, as the second they saw me walk through the door they'd say "Hi Lazlo!" and start making my double espresso without having to order.
I will miss the coffee, I will miss the amazing meals that Felicia came up with (as the menu was always changing with new and interesting delights weekly), but mostly I'll miss being able to go there for a meal and a show, and just having a good time with long-time friends and new ones.
The closest comparison I think to this experience was when the old Asbury Lanes closed. I knew many of the staff that worked there, and ran into so many of the same regulars and friends there.
Covid-19 is taking so much away from us, but when this is all over, I hope a new community hub for the music scene will rise up and fill the void Espresso Joe's is leaving behind... & maybe they can convince Felicia to be their chef... and brew Abbotsford Coffee (which many of you know I can't brew at home, or I would, because my wife is very allergic to coffee).
Thank you Felicia, Andrew, Dee, original owners Sonny & Ed, and everyone else who made Espresso Joe's so great for so many years. Esptresso Joe's Sunshine Cafe will be missed, and I know not just by me.
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This week on BlowUpRadio.com Presents New NJ Music we have new music from:
Jason Michael - "This Town" from "I'll Love You Like GG Allin Would"
The Vansaders - "Walking Between Raindrops" from "Walking Between Raindrops [single]"
Vanilla Coke - "I Won't Say Anything Until I'm Dead" from "Summer Grays"
June and the Pushas - "Legacy" from "The Art Of Navigation"
Solo For Dolo - "Lanes" from "Lanes [single]"
Grasser - "Not The Same" from "Get Real, Quick!"
City Line - "Big Days" from "Bright Lights and Flying Colors"
Dan Ex Machina - "Admit" from "My Wife"
Katye Kellye and the Interruption - "Terrified" from "Terrified [single]"
Cook Thugless - "Bad Luck" from "Yikes"
Serious Matters - "Night Terrors" from "Mistaking Wasps For Dragonflies"
KLH - "Triggers and Causes" from "Behavioral Patterns"
Autumn's Journey - "Weighted Memories" from "Glass Houses (Demo)"
Louvena The Scout - "Oregon's Quake (remastered)" from "Oregon's Quake (remastered) [single]"
abby kenna - "Sober & Blind" from "From the Bathroom Floor"
BlowUpRadio.com Presents New NJ Music airs Monday @ 7pm
Listen here: http://player.live365.com/a42405?l
See playlist (with links to all the acts) here: http://wherenjrocklives.com/den/2020/071320.html
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This week on Lazlo's Den Presents New Music we have new music from:
The Living Tombstone - "Drunk" from "Drunk [single]"
Lionel Boy - "Are You Happy Yet?" from "Who Is Dovey?"
Vistas - "You and Me" from "Everything Changes In The End"
Throwing Muses - "Dark Blue" from "Sun Racket"
Japandroids - "Near To The Wild Heart Of Life (live)" from "Massey Fucking Hall"
The Manimals - "Bury Me Here (Lockdown Version)" from "Bury Me Here (Lockdown Version) [single]"
Jonathan Emile - "Babylon Is Falling (feat. Maxi Priest)" from "Babylon Is Falling [single]"
Mons Vi - "Why Would I Do That?" from "Why Would I Do That? [single]"
Rachel Angel - "Battles" from "Highway Songs"
Archers Of Loaf - "Cruel Reminder" from "Cruel Reminder [single]"
SWiiMS - "Fill Me Up" from "Fill Me Up [single]"
Carissa Johnson & the Cure-Alls - "Something good" from "The Good EP"
Mountain Time - "Rosemary, Etc." from "Music For Looking Animals"
Moscow Apartment - "Awful People" from "Better Daughter (EP)"
Lazlo's Den Presents New Music airs Tuesday @ 7pm
Listen here: http://player.live365.com/a42405?l
See playlist (with links to all the acts) here: http://wherenjrocklives.com/den/2020/071420.html
#SupportGoodMusic
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That's all for this week folks.
Peace,
Lazlo
www.BlowUpRadio.com
www.WhereNJRockLives.com
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