continued from page 9
Matt O'Ree had a stellar night. He won the coveted Top Guitarist award and his band Matt O'Ree and the Blues Hound won for Best Blues Band. It was his first time winning and we asked him how it felt to win. "It's an honor to be recognized by my peers," he says. "I'm thankful Scott from The Saint does this show to recognize the hard work performers in the area are doing."

In case it wasn't loud enough, next to perform was Anon. This heavy rock band made sure no one escaped. The lead singer walked through the entire Pony belting out the scorching vocals. They captured Top Live Performance award.

And in case you didn't know, NJCoast was nominated in the Top Music Websites in Support of
Live Music. And Chris Barry was nominated for Top Journalist in Support of Live Music for his
unique story style in NJCoast. We didn't win this year but we'll be back strong next year.

Lots more photos in Decembers Photo Album.

by Carole Brandi

continued from page 8
station as Click'n'Clack, the Tappet Brothers," he mused. The whole set was alive with Pat's inimitable style and he and Richard really rocked the stage with their version of "Motherless Child."

Bobby Strange was the next performer to take the stage.  He writes great songs and has so much strength in his voice. Bobby gave thanks to Jeff for radio airplay and Scott for being the first guy to ever give him an opportunity to take his original music to the stage.  Longtime friend, Steven Delopoulos, joined Bobby on vocals for an original— "War." The two fell into the rhythm of old friends and sang beautifully together.  Bobby noted that, "those who can't sing… teach or host open mic nights," then called his friend JPat to the set. It seems there is some friendly rivalry as to who is hosting Red Bank's original open-mic now (first Bobby, now JPat.).  In Monmouth County, and Switzerland, apparently, JPat and the harmonica are synonymous. You may have had to be there to catch that reference, but according to Bobby, he and JPat have been, separately, touring Europe and find great reception from the

audiences there. He joked that they had named JPat the "King of Switzerland." It was a moving experience to hear mother and daughter, Naomi and Layonna join Bobby on their song "Stand."  Their "oh-so-sweet"
continued on page 12