NEWS & EVENTS

Mark Mayer first picked up the guitar at the age of 12. By age 13 he was already playing in a local band. Mark’s performances are interactive and feature the songs that we all know. Classic Rock with a twist of British Pop. An avid Beatles fan, Paul McCartney was the inspiration for Mark to pick up the guitar and is still the biggest influence for his musical style and direction.

Rene Avila is a hard rock singer-songwriter from north Jersey who plays venues all over the state including the Asbury Park scene. He brings his passionate vocals and guitar work to several clubs in upstate New York as well. His latest self-titled album of original music is on Spotify and available for download. Rene enjoys covering music from the eighties’ genre.  His influences include Bon Jovi, Hall and Oats, Journey, Kenny Loggins and Winger.

Al digs for the roots of blues, soul, folk and country, with a catalog reaching back to early blues, rock-n-roll, funk, as well as contemporary songs. His original compositions have been profiled on Youtubes’s highly regarded Talkin’ Tunes. He also is the leader of the area funk band Jivestock, and has played at such venerated locales as The Bitter End, Kenny’s Castaways and the Hamilton Stage. Al has also appeared on Princeton’s Cafe Improv TV program (with Sarah Teti). Al plays both acoustic flat pick, finger picking and slide dobro, as well as harmonica.

Sherin is a NJ based musician and singer/songwriter whose soulful voice has brought her to the stage opening for great acts like The Original Wailers and Fishbone, playing venues from BB Kings to The Stanhope House. She can be found singing and performing anything from jazz standards to her original works. She has worked and recorded with 3 time Grammy winner and Steely Dan producer, David Russell, and finds great joy in sharing her voice with others at bars, weddings, funerals, private parties and venues in the tri state area and beyond for two decades now.

To be an exceptional singer is an accomplishment. To be an exceptional guitarist is an accomplishment. What makes Nancy Scharff unique is that she is both a singer and guitarist whose talents span both the classical and popular repertoire. She is also a recording artist, and has recorded six CDs in Nashville and NJ. Nancy has given concerts all over the world: Eight European countries, England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Israel, Cayman Islands, Rome, Italy, and across the US, including Alaska and Hawaii. She has sung at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Cami Hall, St. Paul’s Chapel in NYC, Off- Broadway, and The Metro Lyric Company of NJ.  Lois Leibow of the Atlanticville writes: “What a superb cross over artist Ms. Scharff showed herself to be.  She was comfortable with guitar and then performing with operatic sophistication. Her ebullience was communicated through her powerful voice. This was a special performance, a concert given by a consummate artist”.

Nancy has also given holiday concerts at The Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank. She continues to perform music by Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, The Doobie Brothers, John Denver, Linda Ronstadt, and many others, at restaurants and pubs in New Jersey—most recently, The Colts Neck Pub, The Brass Rail in Matawan, and Beach Grille in Long Branch. In between performances, Nancy is Music Director at King of Kings Lutheran Church, Middletown, teaches voice, guitar and piano, and gives concerts for The New Jersey Federation of Woman’s Clubs. Nancy graduated from Montclair University with a BA in Music Education. Her professors also taught at Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and performed with The New York Philharmonic and The American Symphony Orchestra.

Christopher Hoyle aka Chris of JCX performs as acoustic-based singer-songwriter in North Jersey and New York City. He works with percussionist Fred Jenkins in JCX, has worked with Big Steve in Felix Culpa, and with the acoustic duos Ramona & Christopher and Puglisi & Hoyle. Chris’s rock musical The Jenny Mill Inn is available on iTunes, CDbaby and Spotify, and other tracks are accessible at ChristopherHoyle.com. Chris co-founded The New York Improv Squad, and went on to perform with and musical-direct Armand Paganelli’s Falling Rock Zone, among other improv groups. He served as a regular player off-broadway in Tom Soter’s Sunday Night Improv Jam at Stand Up New York. Chris conducts The Improv Workshop, & has taught improv at HB Studios and in Summit NJ, among other venues. Chris’s tv credits include One Life to Live and Comedy Central. He also founded The New Parkway Players improv ensemble, wowing audiences throughout the metro area.