Flight’s Kool – Raggae Alternative Hip Hop from New Jersey
The band known, respectively, as Flight’s Kool was founded by band members, Joe Cerami, lead vocals and guitar, and Chris Ell, percussion and guitar, in the summer of 2006 while playing at the Java Joint. The word respect must be stressed because that’s precisely what this core of Jersey Shore natives has earned throughout their journey. The local buzz was created immediately after an acoustic demo, live from Chris’s living room, hit the streets. This low budget recording took off, gaining momentum faster than thought, and they began booking gigs at local night spots. Instantly, they were hearing excellent feed back throughout the Ocean County area. The buzz swiftly flew through local high schools and colleges, but that was just beginning. Recruitment of the current band members quickly took place. Cerami and Ell looked to the artistic hip hop skills of vocalist Ray Montgomery and the steady hands of Steve Vitti on the drums to give this group a more well rounded and versatile edge on the competition.
Word spread faster than the plague, and soon they were in high demand amongst club and bar owners. Continuously, they rocked the house and showed the fans what is was like to jam out to the new sounds from the rising “Local Legends.” Filling the room again and again, these boys from Toms River made a name for themselves as a legitimate group of up and coming artists with a message of hope and good feelings. By the summer of 2007, they recruited lead guitarist Brendan Ell, brother of co-founder Chris Ell, and gained the musical intelligence of bass player Jon Lewis, which unofficially announced them as a powerhouse. The knowledge of the music industry they gained from their two newest members gave the band a true advantage. This aided them in shows with bands such as Badfish(The Sublime Tribute Band) and Bob Marley’s legendary Wailers at Joey Harrison’s Surfclub. Consecutively, they stirred up the crowd and heard nothing but cheers from the fans.
That fall, following their introduction to the music industry in 2007/2008, these beach dwelling musicians went to work on their first full length album “Infestation” while continuing to book gigs. Shows opening and headlining at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, at the Tropicana on Halloween night and in the Saw Mill Green Room for Fukitt clothing were great ways to promote their sound. The buzz circulated, and they found themselves playing in Surf Taco in Jackson, Paul’s Tavern in Belmar and two performances at The Saint in Asbury Park, including opening for Shootyz Groove. As expected, the crowds grew larger and larger with each night.
The mixing of their album “Infestation” was completed in April of 2008. During that Spring, the band performed live in front of a studio audience for a Monmouth University television show. To promote their album, the group joined forces with “Badfish” again at Joey Harrison’s Surf Club. Summer time came around, and their album was released. This went hand and hand with opening for The Wailer’s a second time. When the Garden Grove Festival in Asbury Park had arrived, they found themselves matched up with “Badfish” for the third time. During the same summer, our boys continued pushing, playing the “Wave Gathering Festival” in Asbury Park. It was here that the band received attention from the local media, including an interview with the Asbury Park Press in reference to a nomination for the “Best Groove Band” by the Asbury Park Music Awards.
Summer turned to Fall, and the band hit the road, playing in such venues as North Star Bar in Philadelphia, Sonar in Baltimore, Blaggard’s, Kenny’s Castaways and Sullivan Hall in New York City. It didn’t stop there, O’Donoghue’s in Hoboken, The Crossroads at Garwood, Chubby’s in Red Bank, The Stone Pony in Asbury Park and Hemingway’s in Seaside Heights. Everytime this young group of artists graced the stage, they saw new fans and a rapidly growing following. But please don’t misinterperet that as anything other than this band is ready for the next level! The average man or woman can enter a Flight’s Kool show on any given night and leave flowing with the music, softly singing the lyrics to themselves and being blessed with a possitive message that helps relieve their minds of the stress from everyday life! In a time of despair and struggle, it brightens the sky knowing that there is hope for the next generation. The band uses personal experiences and creative storytelling to empower audiences looking for help. The foundation has been set. The work has been put in, but there is more to be done. Flight’s Kool is set for take off!
River City Extension is dockgrass. What is dockgrass? It’s when singer/songwriter Joe Michelini, cellist Jenn Fantaccione, drummer/bassist Michael Costaney, vocalist Desiree Hartman, percussionist Nick Cucci, and trumpet player Dan Melius get together to start a project that is going to rebel against music without feeling or, “fake modern art”. Started August of ‘07 in Toms River, NJ, the band has gone through many members and many changes to finally arrive at the bluegrass/folk-rock/punk-rock and some other rocks type of sound they are today, which is often compared to bands like The Avett Brothers, and The Pogues. With already many small accomplishments under their belt, these core members plus a few friends hope to take music a place it has never gone before, with instrumentation and arrangements sewn together with the thread of musical diversity to form a complex quilt of genres, emotions, and an ultimately penetrating live show. River City Extension believes in the human spirit and the power to overcome anything with grace, art, precision, and of course a bottle or two of New Jersey’s finest. They have just self-released their first record NauticalSabbatical, and are playing shows all across the east-coast, in hopes of getting funding for a larger midwestern tour this summer.
Vocalist Kiirstin Kuhi left her former post-hardcore band and founded Hip Like [blank] with her pianist/cardsharp brother Mikal in late 2007. Since then, they’ve done little else but write songs and play as many shows as possible in the greater New York area—from bars and poetry clubs to opening for nationally touring acts.
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