FREE OUTDOOR MUSIC SERIES
STARFISH
Popular Family-Friendly Rock Band presented by State Theatre gives
free performance
WHEN: Saturday, August 25, at 5 PM
WHERE: Boyd Park, New Brunswick
ADMISSION: Free
The New Brunswick Cultural Center is pleased to invite families to come to Boyd Park for a free concert by popular family-friendly Rock Band, StarFish. The concert, presented by the State Theatre will be the third of seven events planned as part of New Brunswick Cultural Center’s HUB CITY SOUNDS, the free outdoor music series being held at the city’s river-front amphitheater on Saturdays in August and September.
All Hub City Sounds events are free and open to the public and free parking is available one block away at the Rutgers University Public Safety Building Deck. Information can be found on www.newbrunswickarts.org.
Families are welcome to bring blankets or chairs for lawn seating. The park is stroller-accessible with ramps that lead from the entrance to the seating area.
About StarFish:
StarFish is changing the face of family-friendly entertainment and making the young—and young at heart—sing, dance, and play air guitar. This 5-piece band electrifies kids’ music and gives parents the opportunity to share a real rock concert experience with their children. With such lively songs as “Stop, Drop and Rock and Roll,” “Air Guitar,” “My Little Brother (He’s a Wolfman),” and “Joshua’s Treehouse,” StarFish gives kids’ music a classic rock makeover.
Based in Maplewood, NJ, StarFish consists of 5 life long musicians (who are now also dads) who love to bring a little bit of rock and roll to the little ones. The band performs original, energetic, classic rock-based tunes with kid-friendly lyrics covering such familiar territory as sibling rivalry, school rules, and fun times with friends. Parents are StarFish fans too, and enjoy musical nods to a wide range of rock influences, such as Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Phish, and Tom Petty.
After playing music in various capacities for most of his life, Ray Leone (lead vocals) discovered a whole new genre after becoming a dad–kids’ music. “When my daughter Emma was born, I would sing the usual lullabies for her, but I also started singing some Beatles songs, Billy Joel, you name it. Then when she started singing her first songs, she’d sing B-I-N-G-O – but she’d also sing Ob La Di, Ob La Da. How cool is that?”
Ray started bringing his guitar into his wife’s Kindermusik classes and his son’s preschool and combined the kids’ tunes they all knew with “grown-up” jams such as “I’m a Believer” and “Yellow Submarine.” “I also started checking out some kids’ performers, and I always felt the kids (and their parents) wanted to let loose a little more. I could tell…they wanted to rock out!”
So, Ray recruited guitarist Marc Stern and drummer Dave Hartkern, dads/musicians from the Maplewood area, and StarFish was born. Later, bassist Antar Goodwin and keyboardist Mark Asch joined the lineup, and the 5 rockers mixed up some rock chemistry, combining fresh ideas with similar musical ideas and influences. Leone says, “These guys are awesome musicians. We’ve all been playing in bands forever and now that we all have kids, we’re learning from them and bringing their experiences into our music. It’s great to get the whole family together and sing and dance and, well…you know, rock and roll too.”
Full HUB CITY SOUNDS Schedule:
- Saturday, September 8 at 5 PM -- The Tres Amigos
- Saturday, September 15 at 5 PM -- Crossroads Theatre Musical Showcase
- Saturday, September 22 at 5 PM – Cimarrones
- Saturday, September 29 at 4:30 PM - A double bill of Family Friendly Programs by George Street Playhouse and American Repertory Ballet
New Brunswick Cultural Center, Inc. (NBCC), is the nonprofit organization that oversees the evolution, improvement, and expansion of the downtown cultural and entertainment district. The organization supports efforts among its member companies to achieve greater cooperation and coordination of activities and sponsors www.NewBrunswickArts.org , providing a comprehensive view of cultural activities. Under the leadership of Executive Director Norma Kaplan since fall of 2011, the Cultural Center is currently undergoing a planning process to reshape and further advance the arts community in New Brunswick.
Hub City Sounds is sponsored by The City of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Recreation Department, The Civic League of Greater New Brunswick, New Brunswick City Market, New Brunswick Tomorrow, Johnson and Johnson, New Millennium Bank and Bank of America.
