On Monday, January 11, 2016 at 7:00 pm SJARMS is very pleased to be hosting Allan Slutsky aka “Dr. Licks” at our January meeting at the Medford Arts Center, 18 N. Main Street, Medford, NJ.  Doors open at 6:45 pm.  Admission is free for SJARMS members, $10 for visitors. Information on joining SJARMS can be found in the membership tab above.

Allan is a Grammy Award winning American arranger, guitarist, music producer, and historian. He studied music at Temple University in Philadelphia and The Berklee College of Music in Boston. He began transcribing music under the pen name “Dr. Licks.”  He is well known for his books on the art of playing rhythm and blues for guitar, bass and drums, funk guitar rhythm chops, as well as rock’s hottest guitar solos transcribed note for note, just to name a few.

Allan wrote the book Standing in the Shadows of Motown profiling the life of The Funk Brothers bass guitarist James Jamerson in 1987. The book went on to win the Rolling Stone/BMI Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award in 1989.  He produced the film documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, released in 2002. The film expanded the scope to cover The Funk Brothers group of musicians as a whole. The film won two Grammy Awards in 2003. In addition to producing the film he was the music arranger, music supervisor, underscore composer and performer on guitar.

For the last 30 years Allan has also been touring with national Broadway shows as a pit orchestra musician.  At the SJARMS performance, in addition to talking about and playing music from The Funk Brothers era, he plans to play banjo, mandolin and guitar on selections from musicals like Mama Mia, The Color Purple, Matilda, Chicago, The Book of Mormon, etc,  and talk about the life of a pit orchestra player.

As always, there will be an acoustic jam (all levels) following the performance and you are welcome to stay, either jamming with the group or hanging out to listen. If you want to jam please bring your acoustic instrument.
Email us at southjerseyarms@gmail.com with any questions.

Ong’s Hat Band (www.ongshatmusic.com) will be performing at the July SJARMS meeting on Monday, July 8, 2013 at the Medford Arts Center, 18 N. Main St., Medford, NJ.  Doors open at 7:00pm. Concert is free for SJARMS members/ $10 for non-members. As always, there will be refreshments after the performance and a jam.

About Ong’s Hat Band:

Out of the old time tradition of dance music infused with spontaneity, wit and unexpected musical turns, The Ong’s Hat  Band was organized by a disparate group of acoustic musicians that quickly melded their various sensibilities into an audience-friendly and accomplished ensemble.
Steeped in American Traditional Music with side trips to Jazz, Classical, Rock  and Pop, the members of the band put a new face on traditional music–Acoustic Roots Music On A Tangent.

How’s this for some March Madness: Virtuoso bluegrass guitarist Mark Cosgrove will be the featured performer at our March 14th meeting!

Mark is a nationally known musician who previously won the U.S. National Flatpicking Guitar Championship in Winfield, KS and has shared the stage with many bluegrass legends, including Jerry Douglas (of Allison Krauss and Union Station fame), among others. Mark will be playing in a trio with rhythm guitarist Peter Lorch (of Stone Mountain Road — our November featured performer) and bassist Larry Cohen. Mark is a phenominal musician who typically plays at large venues such as bluegrass festivals and concert theaters. This will be a very rare opportunity for SJARMS members and visitors to see Mark perform in the MAC’s intimate and acoustically pure setting! Following the performance, Mark will hang around and join in on our monthly jam! This will surely be a night to remember.

The MAC is located at 18 North Main Street, in beautiful, historic Medford, NJ. Doors open at 7pm. The performance is free to SJARMS members and first time visitors. $10 for visitors who have already been to one of our meetings but have not yet joined as a member.

Welcome to the official website of the South Jersey Acoustic Roots Music Society!   This site will be updated frequently with the latest information about upcoming SJARMS meetings, performances, workshops and other events.  Check out our calander for the many events that are already scheduled this year.  We will also be adding a media archive that features photos and video from past and future meetings and performances.

Our next meeting will be on February 14th (yes, Valentine’s day) from 7:00 to 9:30 pm at the Medford Arts Center.  The meeting will feature our Open Mic (in which both musicians and non-musicians are encouraged to participate — see the Open Mic tab above for more info) and our Acoustic Jam.   As always, coffee and light refreshments will be served.

Since our first meeting last September, we have been overwhelmed by the level of interest and support we have seen.  We look forward to watching SJARMS continue to grow into an important gathering place for acoustic musicians and music lovers alike.  If this sounds good to you, please consider becomming a member and then come on out to hear some great pickin’!