Freehold Poised for Rock Stardom

Songwriter Jo Wymer Introduces the Legends & Lyrics Series to Freehold this weekend.

In a number of stories over the past few weeks, we've been following a growing interest in live music in Freehold Borough that has brought singer-songwriters to the gazebo, punk bands to Zebu, talent searches to the Hall of Records, and major names in classic rock to our little town.

Freehold, it seems, is making a rock comeback.

The birthplace of Springsteen is pushing to become the re-birthplace of rock in Western Monmouth County, and at the forefront of that mission is local musician Jo Wymer, a blues guitarist and singer-songwriter who is organizing a new event kicking off this Sunday at Zebu: The Legends and Lyrics Songwriters Series.

We got the chance to chat with Wymer, 43, of Freehold, about how this series will help transform Freehold Borough into a live music hub:

FinJ: Okay, let's do the nuts and bolts. What is the Legends and Lyrics Songwriters Series and who will be playing?

Mad Dog

Wymer: It's basically a showcase for big names in Jersey Shore music to gather an intimate audience, perform, and explain where that song came from, and why it came about--who inspired it and what style it is.

This Sunday, we picked five songwriters-- four big-name Jersey Shore music  guys and me, who've been around the music scene here for forty or fifty years. We all have different styles of music but write from similarly personal places, about relationships or broken hearts or personal pain.

This week it will be me, Abury Park legends Joe D'Urso and Bobby Strange, local favorite Don Lee, and possibly a special appearance by former E Street Band drummer Mad Dog [unconfirmed].

Joe D'Urso

FinJ: Very cool. We've been having a lot of big-name acts around here lately-- is there a classic rock conspiracy?

Wymer: Well, the push for more music started back in about January, when the people at Downtown Freehold really started to try and come up with ways to get more live music downtown.

So this summer, we had live music at the gazebo, and open mics at Bayou, Zebu is having young bands, and they're doing these talent searches this fall at restaurants around town.

We're trying to make Freehold a center for music, to draw an outside crowd looking for entertainment and dining, to bring something different to the borough. I think local residents are looking for this type of entertainment.

There's an older crowd in the surrounding area, 50-60 year olds that want to go out to dinner and listen to music before going to see a show at Count Basie, or a crowd that wants a late-night concert in the street to bring a bottle of wine to and relax at after dinner, maybe at 9 or 10 o'clock.

FinJ: You're known for playing blues and rock around Asbury Park, right? So how did you get involved in revamping Freehold?

Wymer: Well, I live in Freehold, but I started playing about five years ago around Asbury, and guys like John Eddy and Mad Dog and Jon Caspie saw me play and asked me to join them, or record with them, or whatever, because there's not that many women around the Jersey Shore music scene that really play.

Don Lee

So after that, Downtown Freehold and Zebu approached me and asked me to help with this effort. Brian [Simmons], the manager at Zebu, used to run the cafe at Asbury Lanes, so he sort of knew me.

He already has bands for the young kids, but wanted something once every three months or so that was geared towards a more sophisticated crowd. He asked me to gather these songwriters together, and I suggested we do a Legends & Lyrics Series where the songwriters tell stories about their works.

FinJ: So is Freehold poised to reclaim it's rock stardom days? What can we expect from this?

Wymer: For now, we just want people to come out on Sunday [from 6-9]. And we want more restaurants to host live music, especially in the winter when people are already indoors at the restaurants. It helps businesses, it helps musicians, and the customers are looking for it.

Bobby Strange

We hope to do this series once every few months, and bring bigger names every time to coffeehouses and places around town--as long as it remains in Freehold. We want musicians and fans to know that Freehold is the place to be for live music.