from page 2
That show got Brian on the Jersey performers map as a singer/songwriter to be reckoned with. Interest was sparked in his music by major label BMG, but 9/11 caused companies to stop signing new talent and there went Brian’s dreams….
   Brian’s been spending a lot of time recently playing in coffeehouses and writing new material for his upcoming debut CD as yet untitled. “My decision to go solo is not an ego trip,” he shares. His latest tunes are about some time he spent in Florida last year. “I hate Florida,” he says. “I really was broke.” But ironically his track “Florida” is what gets the bar crowds chanting and begging for more of his down-to-earth lyrics.

   His songs are based on his experiences. Having been through some tumultuous relationships in his life, he wrote a song for an ex-girlfriend that truly broke his heart and delivered it the way Fed Ex and the E-mail couldn’t — he left it on her answering machine!
   When he introduced the song at SICA, I expected something sharp or biting like some of his other songs. Instead I was treated to a beautiful, heartfelt song about a boy hoping his lost girl will miss him when he’s gone. “Don’t forget me when I’m gone. Sing my song.” The crowds give him total silence on this track. In my opinion, the purity of its lyrics may just land it on a television show or in a movie if Brian plays his musical deck right.
   Brian is headed to Nashville to meet with bigwigs and record his first, and long anticipated by fans, album. “I’m the Muhammad Ali of songwriters,” Brian boasts. “I’m just that pretty and just that beautiful. But I can also deliver a punch that can knock you out.”
   Find out more about where Brian will be performing at
www.myspace.com/brimackey
by Carole J. Brandi

from page 8
myself in music. He was very supportive of you for whoever you are.” And that’s the kind of person we need around here. With the media constantly telling us how to be, the Jersey Shore is a place to explore who you were really meant to be as an artist.

   What kind of a man was he to warrant this response from those near and dear to him? According to Joe Harvey, running sound at this event as well as having helped plan it, he was a “stand-up guy”. Harvey told me that not too long ago, a local musician named Jack Stock passed away, about the same age as Chris, without a ripple. Harvey, though not that close with Chris, could not let that happen again. So he volunteered one of the Wednesday nights he usually books, for this memorial, “Just like anyone should.”

   Chris was remembered in all his glory and Jersey won’t be the same without him. It’s weird, but after that night, I felt like I met him somehow too. Thanks to all those who turned up for this special evening, Chris would not go without a ripple. According to the words of those close to him, that wasn’t much his style anyway.
by Joanna