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NJCoast News
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September 2003
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What’s Up This Month on the New Jersey Coast
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Volume 4, Number 4, page 5
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Hey, but I’m Not Bitter...
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Bobby “What’s Your Beef?” Strange
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Springsteen mentions Samson and Delilah in an old song. And as the story goes, or as I remember it, Samson’s strength was in
his hair. Once Delilah gave him a little trim, she took all of his strength away (or something like that!).
The last time I saw Shane Fontayne, Bruce Springsteen’s
former guitar player, he had just about the biggest, most badass rock ‘n’ roll hair in the business! Well, as
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I saw when I played with him at The Saint on August 19, the hair is gone now...replaced by a choir-boy cut, but it’s quite obvious that his strength never eminated from his coif.
I’ve played with some wonderful guitar players over the years, but Shane has got to be one of the absolute best. His playing is extremely versatile. He played pretty ballads,
soulful blues, ballsy rock, sweet jazzy stuff and just about every other style of music one guitar could invent. Somehow he tied all of these styles together and made it all work beautifully.
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Fontayne used about 10 pedals and tape loop machines to turn himself into a stringed orchestra a la Brian May of Queen. As an
acoustic purist, I usually despise using effects. But I have to take my hat off (and we all know how rare that is), to Shane. It wasn't that cheap, cheesy, effects junk that many
guitarists use to hide the fact that they really can’t play. He used everything so taste- fully, it only accentuated the beauty of his guitar work.
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Fontayne at the Saint
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Now, as for his songwriting, I have to be a little more critical. Having been taken by the creativity of his guitar
playing, I may have underestimated the strength of his songwriting and vocal prowess, or it just may be that it wasn't quite up to the same level of his guitar mastery. Either way, he's
definitely worth seeing. All my cousins came to see me, but they left yapping about how great Shane was. Hey, but I'm not bitter...
-Bobby Strange
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In the Band
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For Kasim Sulton, playing
music isn’t just his passion, it’s his job. Once again on tour as Meatloaf’s bassist, he also continues his 10 year stretch playing with Utopia and has worked with well-known artists
including Joan Jett, Patti Smith and Hall & Oates.
Throughout his almost 30 year career, Kasem has played with many of the biggest names in the music industry, on an assortment
of instruments including bass guitar, keyboards acoustic and solid body 6 string, along with adding vocal harmonies, singing lead and writing songs. The producer of Meatloaf’s 1999 VH-1
Storyteller’s CD and musical director for Meat- loaf’s current 2003 tour, Kasim is well-respected by his peers and has a group of loyal fans who devote Web pages and Internet discussion
groups entirely to him. One inter- viewer, Jeb Wright, went so far as to call him “one of classic rock’s unsung heroes”.
Of course, no musician gets into the business just to play
on other people’s albums. Sulton has had a solo career as well. In 1982 his debut, Kasim, was released on EMI.
(continued on page 8)
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Sulton at the
Hamilton Cafe in Bound Brook
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Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
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