(MusicPortal.com) (05/12/06)

Edited By Michael Bennett

ASBURY PARK, NJ, USA - The Asbury Music Company (owners of The Saint and producers of the annual Asbury Music Awards Show) and All Hour Entertainment have joined forces to showcase the finest young artists that the Asbury Park, New Jersey region has to offer next Saturday, May 20th and Sunday, May 21st.

Involving business owners, venues and artists alike, the event -- simply known as the WAVE GATHERING -- marks the first time that the area's best unsigned talent has come together to perform over the course of one weekend, bringing fans and attendees into town to experience all the great restaurants, galleries and local places of interest.

At press time, the following venues are confirmed to host performances for the event: The Saint, The Stone Pony, The Wonder Bar, Red Fusion, The Tiki Bar @ Convention Hall, The Deep, Asbury Lanes, The Oakroom @ Berkeley Carteret Hotel, Be Green, The Tides Cafe and Sunset Landing, as well as several of the city's art galleries.

"The time is right to usher in a new era of live, original music at the Jersey Shore," says The Saint's Scott Stamper. "We're at the perfect point to expose our rich, musical talent to the national scene. We are inviting everyone to come spend a Spring weekend with us and participate in this unique celebration of our heritage and our future. We look forward to seeing everyone supporting our Asbury Park music scene."

"We've been planning this for quite a while and with all these bands starting to generate interest from the area, we want to help introduce them to the masses," states All Hour's Gordon Brown, BMG songwriter and co-creator of the popular "Writers In The Raw" series. Brown was also the main songwriter for such Asbury Park-based national acts as Highway Nine (Sony/Epic), Samhill and Mr. Reality (EMI/SBK).

"We are looking forward to showing the concertgoers of the tri-state area, the music industry, and the rest of the world what really goes on with the amazing talent developing right here in our own backyard," says Brown. "It needs to be seen and heard. I know firsthand that there are a lot of industry people watching what happens here."

Over the past two years, Brown has groomed All Hour Entertainment to do what he describes as "two words the music industry forgot about: Artist Development." During that time, Brown has worked with and produced tracks for several area artists. "We are finally starting to see a lot of these diverse talents getting the recognition they deserve and it is a real compliment to these artists and our region," says Brown.

"We are very lucky to boast a legendary musical heritage and we plan on continuing to build on that tradition, band by band, song by song. We feel that the Wave Gathering coincides with the rebirth of Asbury Park, and every year as the city comes back, we hope the festival will get bigger and help to bring more commerce into town."

Performers scheduled for the Wave Gathering at press time include local buzz bands Nicole Atkins & The Sea (who was recently named one of Rolling Stone's 10 Artists to Watch in 2006), Days Awake, What About Frank?, Transfusion M, Status Green, Low Flying Jets, April Smith, Hi-lo (new Matt Witte band) and many others.

National touring acts slated to perform at the festival include Los Angeles-based Rock Kills Kid who was also named one of Rolling Stone's 10 Artists to Watch in 2006, and legendary Country/Rock originators Poco.

Other nationals appearing will be Hamell On Trial, who just released a critically acclaimed new album on Ani Difranco's label, as well as Boston's next big thing Mieka Pauley, who just finished working with John Alagia (producer for John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, Rachel Yamagata, Lifehouse, O.A.R. and others) on her next album.

To entice festivalgoers to stay the whole weekend, organizers of the event have put together a special Wave Gathering Weekend Getaway Pass that will entitle the pass holder to stay at the Berkeley Carteret Hotel at a discounted rate. Pass purchasers will be able to see and hear an area's best new talents, be a part of the arts community, stay overnight, go shopping and dine in brand new restaurants.

Admission confirmations for the event are on sale now through the Wave Gathering website at www.wavegathering.com. A two-day admission wristband is priced at $30 in advance (through the website) and $40 walkup (at event registration and individual venues, as space permits); a one-day wristband will be $20 in advance and $30 walkup.

General Admission tickets will be sold for $10 in advance (available only at individual venues, not through the website), unless otherwise noted. Attendees with advance purchase confirmations will receive their wristbands by showing printouts of their email confirmations starting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 20th at the registration location (still yet to be announced).

To help festival attendees plan their weekends, there will be a Wave Gathering program guide listing schedules of performances and venue information. Additional information about the schedule for Wave Gathering can be found on the aforementioned official Wave Gathering website.

Photography at WAVE GATHERING must be approved in advance. Interviews with the event's organizers can be arranged prior to the event, and interviews with individual artists can be arranged on a case-by-case basis. Requests for press/photo passes and interviews should be directed to event publicist Michele Leone at Michele@wavegathering.com.

The 2006 Wave Gathering artist roster will include performances by the following plus others still TBA:

Agency
Alex Brumel
Allie Moss
Amanda Cashman
Andrew Holtz
Anthony Fiumano
April Smith
Arlan Feiles & The Lone Howdies
Avery
Barghetto
Birdie Num Num And The Spirit Squad (PA)
Bob Burger
Bobby Strange
Brian Amsterdam
Carl Chesna
The Chilling Details
Chris Batten & The Woods
Christine Martucci
The Churchills
The Commons
Cool Days End
Days Awake
Divine Sign
Dragster
Eric Hemion
Exit 105
Friends Of Bill Wilson
The Gay Blades
The Greenroom
Hamell On Trial (NY)
Helena & Maria
Hero Pattern
Hesh
Hilo (featuring Matt Witte)
Indus
Jason Stanley
Jeff Austin Black (LA)
Jerry Topinka
Jessie Poland & The Pilots
Jody Joseph & The Average Joes
Jody Raffoul
Joe Harvard
Joe Hughes (of Goldenseal)
John Ginty Band
Jon Caspi
Josh Zuckerman
Justin Glanville
Justina
Karmic Juggernaut
Krista Polvere
Kriz Oheme
Lance Larson & The Wonderband
Lisa Bouchelle
Lori Michaels
Low Flying Jets
Matt O'Ree
Maybe Pete
Melissa Chill
Mieka Pauley (Boston)
Nicole Atkins & The Sea
Poco
Predator Dub Assassins
The Problem
Rachel Zamsteen
Readymade Breakup
Red Lyte District
Rick Barry
Robert Dye
Rock Kills Kid
Smiles Again
Spiraling
Stacy Smith
Status Green
Stephen Baggs
Steven Delopoulos
The Successful Failures
Temporary Grace
Transfusion M
Val Emmich
What About Frank?
Zelda Pinwheel

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