Enjoy Bulls, Beer, BBQ and Bands at the
8th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ Festival
benefiting the Hamilton Park Conservancy
Take a Ride on the Rodeo Stage
with performances by
High Noon : Keepin’ The Family
1:00 The Bitter Chills
1:50 The Sensational Country Blues Wonders
2:40 The Lonesome Prairie Dogs
3:30 The Jersey Rollers
4:30 Jeremy Wallace Trio
5:30 Swamp Cabbage
6:30 The Gully Hubbards
*Bands Corraled by (The) Rock-it Docket
Drink some cold New Jersey Beer Company brew and eat great BBQ fromJimmy’s BBQ, Dinosaur BBQ, Hamilton Pork plus
about the bands
High Noon Keepin’ The Family is a 5 piece folk-rock band out of Jersey City, NJ. “Barroom belter of lost but fond love combines the rootsy instrumental precision of The Avett Brothers with unencumbered joy of Flogging Molly” -Bob Makin in NJ.com
1:00 The Bitter Chills [ Mint 400 Records] Northern NJ – Acoustic Roots Music – Americana.
There are so many reasons to like The Bitter Chills. They have tidy, respectable haircuts. They wear nice clothes on stage, like clean shirts and ties. They’re smart enough to help you with homework and standardized tests – and considerate enough to actually do it. And if you’re one of those people who still care about the “listening” part of the music industry, you should know that The Bitter Chills’ debut album, Birth of the Cold, is a highly enjoyable collection of songs that pay tribute to the various styles that form American roots music.
Of course, The Bitter Chills know how busy you are. You have your job. You have a lot of television programs recorded. You have that thing on Thursday night you don’t want to go to but you feel like you should. Although you probably would love Birth of the Cold, The Bitter Chills have provided a rundown of what it contains, just in case you don’t get a chance: guitars, mandolin, allusions to Vikings, drums, a family of wolves, upright bass, high school guidance counselors, singing, imitation leather shoes, organ, drinking songs that help foster racial harmony, accordion, manatees, tambourine, comedy, tragedy, and even some bass clarinet.
If you enjoyed this bio about The Bitter Chills, you might enjoy The Bitter Chills
1:50 The Sensational Country Blues Wonders – Jersey City : This is not your father’s blues – it’s more like your grandfather’s…if your grandfather was a preacher in a Mississippi Baptist church.
“The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!” are a Jersey City band that replicates the original instrumental lineup of acoustic rhythm guitar, electric lead guitar and upright acoustic bass used on the first rock and roll records recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Studio. The “Wonders” are not a cover band, but a group that has it’s own unique interpretation of American Roots Music – classic Country music from the fifties and sixties, down home spiritual songs from the Golden Age of Gospel, and time-honored Blues numbers that go back to the greats hailing from Mississippi and Chicago.
Since their inception in late 2012, Gary Van Miert (acoustic guitar/vocals) and Malcolm Marsden (electric guitar) have been plenty busy, performing in the NY Metro area regularly with shows in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem, Jersey City, and Hoboken.
“The Sensational Country Blues Wonders!” are a unique entity in the NY/NJ music scene, mixing equal parts Rockabilly, Country and genuine guitar Gospel music with a spoonful of greasy Blues to wash it all down. Their unique brand of American Roots Music is like no other, and they please crowds of all ages.��
2:40 The Lonesome Prairie Dogs Jersey City – Country, rockabilly, roots, twang cowpunk.
“Even if they weren’t a great band, this trio would still get the award for Best Dressed of the evening. Luckily, they’re kickass musicians as well.” -Brooklyn Country (www.brooklyncountry.com)
“Only Homer and Shakespeare come close to The Lonesome Prairie Dogs in capturing the essence of the human condition. I wept when I fiirst heard them, not merely because my notions of music were irrevocably shattered from that moment on, but because I realized that civilization itself would never be the same.”
-Greil Marcus
3:30 The Jersey Rollers Franklin Lakes, NJ – Classic and Contempory and Southern Rock Killer Cover Band.
4:30 Jeremy Wallace Trio Montclair, NJ – Blues, country, folk, rock (Americana).
One of Wallace’s earliest inspirations, the late DAVE VAN RONK, served as a mentor and friend during Wallace’s formative years as an artist and introduced him to the music of LEADBELLY, KOKOMO ARNOLD, FURRY LEWIS, and CHARLIE PATTON. After 18 months of work with VAN RONK, he told Wallace he had showed him everything he could. “You got it in you to be a musician, but it doesn’t mean anything. If there’s anything else you can do besides this, do it. The business will break your heart.”
Wallace didn’t take the advice. His dynamic debut, “MY LUCKY DAY,” released on PALMETTO RECORDS, was an exploration of his influences – a little folk, a tinge of rock, some country and loaded with gritty blues. For his second full length album, “SHE USED TO CALL ME HONEY,” Wallace turned to experimentation and pushed the boundaries and expectations of what a singer-songwriter can accomplish in both the studio and as a live performer. Edgy, dangerous and with a greater emphasis on the raw energy of his craft, Wallace emerged with a stunning album that both diverged from and complemented his previous material.
Not much has changed since Wallace completed his last studio album. Performing both solo and with his trio, he has followed a relentless schedule of live performances and has just released his third release, “SUICIDE SUITCASE”, a mix of original arrangements of traditional songs as well as new material. The collection is a reflection of Wallace’s station in life: he has fallen in and out of love again, busted a few knuckles and bruised a couple of shins. Even though his loyal following will notice a certain wistfulness in the lyrics, they will also recognize a new confidence in Wallace’s voice and guitar. His humor has gotten a little darker and the sound a little looser. Consciously unpolished, “SUICIDE SUITCASE” promises to captivate old and new fans alike.
5:30 Swamp Cabbage with Walter Parks [Jersey City] singing and picking and Jagoda – beating
The Seminoles, Timuquans, Creeks and other native Floridians harvested and stewed the heart of the Sabal palm tree to create a rustic delicacy called swamp cabbage. Rarely served today save for in pine-paneled hunting lodges and fish camps, swamp cabbage still lingers as a vestige of the “real” Florida. As an inspirational archetype the name Swamp Cabbage was chosen to remind listeners where the music comes from and that it is a musical concoction of southern rock, blues, soul, Dixieland jazz and Appalachian.
Swamp Cabbage extracts as much music as possible from the quintessential rock and roll format – a guitar, bass and drum trio. The songs are built around gnarly unique southern- rock sounding riffs yet the rhythms derive from blues, soul and funk. The verses, choruses and bridges are threaded together by jazz and classical harmonic concepts that employ Parks’ musical training in those genres. In contrast the lyrics of the tunes are far less serious. Listen closely and take a satirical travelogue through Parks’ colorful northeast Florida upbringing replete with tales of door-to-door evangelism and living off the grid. In concert, Parks, a storyteller of sorts, challenges himself to spin comedic falsehoods of preparation for songs that follow. Every show is unique.
Northeast Florida is its own kind of weird. Go there with Swamp Cabbage and let your jaw drop, smile and dance. The band is an electric three-piece blend of southern rock, funk and second-line dixieland jazz grooves. Led by guitarist/singer Walter Parks, the longtime sideman to Woodstock legend Richie Havens, Swamp Cabbage transports audiences to the marshes, palmetto thickets, piney woods and trailer parks around which Parks grew up. Oft compared to The Meters, ZZ Top, Tom Waits and Dr John., Swamp Cabbage is especially adored in Europe but also tours the U.S. lower 48.
6:30 The Gully Hubbards [Jersey City] Americana, Alt-country, Rock, Folk, Pop.
The Gully Hubbards blend traditional American music genres like country, rock and roll, folk, and blues to make something fresh and new without sacrificing authenticity.” (Summer Dawn Hortillosa, Hudson County Arts Journalist) The band includes Dave “Ace” Case (vocals, guitar), James Dower (vocals, bass), Heather Conrad (vocals) Patrick Conlon (drums).