All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.
Tune in to Garden State Sound with Evan Toth to explore the diverse music with connections to New Jersey. You’ll hear in-depth interviews with some of Jersey’s best music makers and have the opportunity win tickets to some of the best concerts in the state.
“New Jerseyans are stereotyped for their brash personalities, but deep within us is a thoughtful soul capable of expressing penetrating thoughts with a whisper. The rest of the world categorizes us as ostentatious rather than really listening to what we’re saying when the lights go down and the only sound is that of the tide dragging in and out.
Enter Mike Clifford, an Allendale native now in Brooklyn. When not doing his singer-songwriter thing, he teaches music to New York City schoolchildren. Musically, Mike is an interesting guy: he presents himself via vocal and guitar, but his albums highlight a man comfortable tinkering with arrangements and instrumentation.
He’s a soft-spoken man and does the gently singing guitarist thing very well; the beach is there, as are ghosts of a slightly more contented Elliot Smith or James Taylor. You might hear this tuning in to hear Mike, but here’s something else, too; there’s this restrained NJ muscle: he’s speaking softly, but he means it.” —EZT
