Congrats to Glass Cow, winners of First Night’s Battle of the Bands!

The first First Night Battle of the Bands has a winner, by popular vote: Glass Cow!

Thanks to everyone who voted in the contest, and congratulations to the Cows.

Here’s the band’s bio:

Glass Cow is a rock band from Warren Township, NJ.  The band has been
performing together since 2008, and consists of four members:  Ben
Overzat, lead guitar and vocals; Max Picut, rhythm guitar; Ed
Weisgerber, bass; and Henry Wolfson, drums.  All members are 15 years
old.  Band members are students at Watchung Hills Regional High School
in Warren Township, and Oratory Prep in Summit.

The band was formed when Ben met Henry during a Warren Middle School
jazz band rehearsal.  Henry asked Ben to enter a school talent show,
and through word of mouth they soon recruited Max and Ed.  The band
started by playing classic rock covers from The Beatles, the Who, Led
Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones, and then began writing their own
lyrics and music.  Glass Cow performances have evolved to include a
mix of originals and covers.

Glass Cow has performed in such venues as Ha! Comedy Club on West 46th
Street in Times Square, Crossroads in Garwood, the Somerset County 4H
Fair, and at private clubs and parties.  They were the summer 2011
winners of the Warren Township Battle of the Bands.  Glass Cow’s
recent performance at Greenberrys of Morristown earned them their
place in the First Night Morris 2012 band competition.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FROM FIRST NIGHT!

 

The polls are open: Vote here for First Night Morris Battle of the Bands!

As your online home for great local music, MorristownGreen.com is thrilled to partner with our friends at First Night Morris County–who start every year on a high note!–to ring in 2012 with a Battle of the Bands.

One of these groups will begin the year $250 richer, and land some top-notch coaching from Morristown’s Original Music School.  Which group?  Your vote will decide! The winner will be announced at First Night–New Year’s Eve–when these bands perform at Morristown High School: Untitled, Smiling’s My Favorite, Glass Cow and Top Hat.

You can see videos of the bands, and cast your vote, at our voting page.  (If the ballot doesn’t appear, please disable your browser’s popup blocker.)

Please click graphic for voting

Two auditions in one day: Old hat for Morristown’s Top Hat

Joey Gatto, the multimedia maven of Morristown High, assembled a few friends for some musical adventures on Saturday.

They called themselves Top Hat, because sax player Sean Horan happened to have one.

Their first audition came at MHS, for the fifth anniversary of Morristown’s Got Talent. A couple of hours later, they set up their gear at Greenberry’s, in a Battle of the Bands tryout for First Night Morris County.

Top Hat covered John Legend, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder tunes, among others, mixed in a couple of originals by singer/pianist Danny Dones, and improvised to Joey’s beat-boxing rhythms. Vocalist Kiana Davis and bass player Aidan Keefer rounded out the jazzy ensemble.

Here are some photos from the Greenberry’s gig. Stay tuned for highlights of the talent show audition.

MORE ABOUT FIRST NIGHT MORRIS COUNTY 2012

MORE ABOUT MORRISTOWN’S GOT TALENT 2012

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Home school fury unleashed at Greenberry’s in Morristown

Growing up home-schooled means you’re never getting a varsity football letter. But there are cheerleaders.

All you have to do is play in a rock band.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re good. Even if you pretend you’re good, you get girls,” said Chandler Macguire, 17, lead singer of Smiling’s My Favorite.

His merry band of home-schoolers--Billy Morris on guitar, Tom Carvalho on bass and Julian Lance on drums–played a blistering set at Greenberry’s in Morristown on Friday, a tuneup for the Battle of the Bands at First Night Morris County on New Year’s Eve.

Sure enough, there were girls galore by the final power chord.

“We met at the Home School Prom in Point Pleasant,” explained one of the young ladies, Kaitie O’Brien.

The Home School Prom?  Who knew?

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Chandler, a shy, introverted lad, said home schoolers find other athletic pursuits to make up for their lack of a football team.

“We have high-five contests,” he said.

It’s unclear why the Smilings required home schooling; we suspect it had something to do with germs, or their amps were too loud for the cafeteria.

Although the quartet hails from far and wide–Chandler is from Somerset, Billy is from Highland Park, Tom’s from Roselle and Julian is from Woodbridge–they are unofficial residents of Morristown. Their musical base is a block from Greenberry’s, at the Original Music School.

OMS founder Anthony Vitale has been coaching them on all aspects of gigging for four years.

“Anthony’s awesome,” said Chandler. “You have to know the rules before you break them, and he taught us the rules.”

We’re guessing the guys figured out the cheerleader part on their own.

First Night Battle of the Bands kicks off in Morristown with UnTitled at Greenberry’s

The Battle of the Bands is joined.

Ben Rhodes, formerly of Charlie and the Vanilla Faces, Electric Blue Sunrise and Nick Dickey,  introduced his new band, UnTitled, at Greenberry’s in Morristown on Saturday.

The group hopes to compete at First Night Morris County on New Year’s Eve for $250 in prize money and free coaching from the Original Music School.

As more bands roll out over the next couple of weeks, you will have a chance to vote for your favorites.

Ben, a Morristown High grad, was accompanied by Jordan Manglona on bass, Ethan Fria on guitar and keyboard, and Edward Lafontat on drums.

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Original Music School, Greenberry’s team up in Morristown for First Night Battle of the Bands, starting Dec. 3

Among the new features at this year’s 20th anniversary of First Night Morris County is a Battle of the Bands. The winner of the New Year’s Eve contest will take home $250, courtesy of Greenberry’s, which is nice. But the really cool prize is free lessons from the Original Music School, at its new digs on 26 Morris St. in Morristown.

“There are a million studios with gear like this,” said Anthony Vitale, who puts the “music” in the Original Music School. “People come to me for my knowledge, my experience, my ears.”

The Battle of the Bands kicks off with a series of weekend auditions starting at Greenberry’s on Dec. 3, with a 5 pm performance by UnTitled, a band formed by Nick Dickey  co-founder and Morristown High grad Ben Rhodes. (Nick Dickey performed last spring at a local relief effort to benefit tornado victims in Alabama.) Ben’s new bandmates are Ethan Fria on guitar and keyboard and Edward Lafontant on drums.

Bands can apply for subsequent auditions at the First Night website. A panel of experts will select the top four groups to compete on First Night, Dec. 31, at Morristown High School. The contest will showcase original songs–hence the connection to the Original Music School (motto: Create. Don’t Imitate.)–and the winner will be chosen by popular vote here on MorristownGreen.com and at the First Night site.

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Anthony Vitale’s experience includes recording members of Tito Puentes’ band and working in a studio with John Rollo, who produced albums by the Kinks, Whitney Houston and Jimmy Cliff.

Anthony started playing guitar at age 12; by then he already was writing songs. He added bass, drums and keyboards to his résumé, honed his act with gigs at Hennessey’s and other Morristown-area venues, and played in numerous bands. Busterman is his present group, and he tinkers on its next CD in between coaching and recording sessions with clients of all ages.

The Original Music School moved to Morristown this fall after six years at an industrial park in Cedar Knolls.

“This is a lot more accessible,” Anthony said of his cozy new headquarters, in a space that formerly housed a children’s clothing boutique, Milk Money.

It’s been lovingly converted into two digital recording studios, two mixing rooms and two “live” performance rooms, along with an instrument consignment area. There’s also a comfy couch, where budding songwriter Morgan Sanchez, 13, and her dad awaited Morgan’s turn at the microphone on Saturday.

Anthony hopes the Original Music School becomes a musicians’ hangout.

“The location is perfect. We’re right in the middle of the community,” said the Madison High School graduate (’82), who lives in Harding with his wife, Katrina.

Anthony has coached aspiring musicians from all walks of life–from cops and FBI undercover agents to Shirley the Mail Carrier, who signed up for lessons just the other day.

“It’s kind of like Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” Anthony joked.  Services include group and private lessons in singing, songwriting, instrument technique and digital recording, and recording sessions.

Fluent in Spanish, Anthony has added affordable hourly group rates to his monthly subscriptions. He said Latino customers have been signing up because they want to become involved in the musical scene at their churches.

“I didn’t want to open a place where only rich people could come,” he said.

First Night Morris, meanwhile, will feature nearly 80 performances in nearly every genre imaginable, across downtown Morristown in an alcohol-free, family-friendly atmosphere that includes two fireworks displays.  If you buy your tickets online by Dec. 1, $5 of each ticket purchase, or $16 of each four-pack purchase, will be donated to the Morristown Rotary for its charitable projects.

COVERAGE OF LAST YEAR’S FIRST NIGHT FESTIVITIES

ANTHONY VITALE’S SONGWRITING TIPS