Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ!
Aster Pheonyx Rises With High Fives by M.C. O'Connor - The Rag
Aster Pheonyx Rises With High Fives
by M.C. O’Connor
www.myspace.com/maryoconnor
www.njrag.com
New Jersey’s answer to Ani DiFranco and cream of the young new crop, Aster Pheonyx, 21, has in just two and a half short years grown from teenage coffee house counter-girl and acoustic open mic extraordinaire to revolutionary frontwoman for a Stone Pony House Band contender. An amazing vocal talent and undisputed standout lyricist, Pheonyx has been greatly influenced by DiFranco’s poetically expressive style. Like an actor on the stage, she is able to recall the emotion behind each lyric written. Through her music and with her balmy voice, she’s mysteriously able to emote the life experiences that have moved her to compose. DiFranco may have been ahead of her time, but Pheonyx personifies her era.
Growing up in Monmouth County and working at Indigo Coffee House in Aberdeen, Pheonyx was inspired by the artists who played there. At the time, instead of wallowing in any of her life’s laments, she picked up a guitar and turned her music into her therapy. As her confidence as an acoustic artist grew, she traveled the state playing various coffee house open mics. In her first year of playing locally, Pheonyx was nominated for an Asbury Music Award for Top Female Acoustic Act. It was in November at the 2007 Asbury Music Awards that she stood in front of the stage at The Stone Pony, turned to a friend and said, “This is great, but I’ll never play here.” Little did she know what the future had in store for her. Just one month later, in December, she was billed at DeCicco’s in Raritan with Asbury’s golden girl, Christine Martucci. Neither had known of each other before that night and both were enamored with each other’s performance. Martucci, being a veteran of the music scene, quickly took Pheonyx under her wing. In March of ’08 Pheonyx opened for Martucci at The Stone Pony and then in September at The Starland Ballroom. Pheonyx said of Martucci, “She’s my musical guardian angel and if it weren’t for her, I’d still be playing outside the Twisted Tree Cafe because I’d gotten too loud to be able to play inside.” “I do miss the muffins though,” Pheonyx said… “They have really good muffins at the Twisted Tree.”
During her recent and successful run on the local scene, Pheonyx’s been signed with two Indie labels. She’s matured as a writer and continues to turn her inward intensity into musical inspiration. After getting together this past fall with musicians she’d been gigging with, Pheonyx formed her own band, The High Five Revolution. “I came up with the High Five Revolution before I even started the band,” Pheonyx said. “It just happened to work. I came upon the theory that we don’t give enough high-fives anymore. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I started a MySpace page to promote giving out high-fives every day. Honestly answer me this... doesn’t it feel good after giving someone a high-five? Once I got the band together, it just sounded cool, different, and another way to spread the High Five Revolution. It’s probably not the coolest answer for rock and roll, but it is the truth of how it stuck as the band’s name.”
Aster Pheonyx and The High Five Revolution, with Joey on bass and Fabs on drums, have been headlining locally as well as opening for The Christine Martucci Band. They recently played The Saint in Asbury Park and Maxwell’s in Hoboken on Thanksgiving Eve. They practice twice a week in Hazlet and have several upcoming area shows. They’re in the finals of The Stone Pony House Band Search. If they were to become The Pony’s new house band, they’d be only the second female-lead band to ever hold the coveted title in The Pony’s history. HIGH FIVE ASTER PHEONYX!
by M.C. O’Connor
www.myspace.com/maryoconnor
www.njrag.com
New Jersey’s answer to Ani DiFranco and cream of the young new crop, Aster Pheonyx, 21, has in just two and a half short years grown from teenage coffee house counter-girl and acoustic open mic extraordinaire to revolutionary frontwoman for a Stone Pony House Band contender. An amazing vocal talent and undisputed standout lyricist, Pheonyx has been greatly influenced by DiFranco’s poetically expressive style. Like an actor on the stage, she is able to recall the emotion behind each lyric written. Through her music and with her balmy voice, she’s mysteriously able to emote the life experiences that have moved her to compose. DiFranco may have been ahead of her time, but Pheonyx personifies her era.
Growing up in Monmouth County and working at Indigo Coffee House in Aberdeen, Pheonyx was inspired by the artists who played there. At the time, instead of wallowing in any of her life’s laments, she picked up a guitar and turned her music into her therapy. As her confidence as an acoustic artist grew, she traveled the state playing various coffee house open mics. In her first year of playing locally, Pheonyx was nominated for an Asbury Music Award for Top Female Acoustic Act. It was in November at the 2007 Asbury Music Awards that she stood in front of the stage at The Stone Pony, turned to a friend and said, “This is great, but I’ll never play here.” Little did she know what the future had in store for her. Just one month later, in December, she was billed at DeCicco’s in Raritan with Asbury’s golden girl, Christine Martucci. Neither had known of each other before that night and both were enamored with each other’s performance. Martucci, being a veteran of the music scene, quickly took Pheonyx under her wing. In March of ’08 Pheonyx opened for Martucci at The Stone Pony and then in September at The Starland Ballroom. Pheonyx said of Martucci, “She’s my musical guardian angel and if it weren’t for her, I’d still be playing outside the Twisted Tree Cafe because I’d gotten too loud to be able to play inside.” “I do miss the muffins though,” Pheonyx said… “They have really good muffins at the Twisted Tree.”
During her recent and successful run on the local scene, Pheonyx’s been signed with two Indie labels. She’s matured as a writer and continues to turn her inward intensity into musical inspiration. After getting together this past fall with musicians she’d been gigging with, Pheonyx formed her own band, The High Five Revolution. “I came up with the High Five Revolution before I even started the band,” Pheonyx said. “It just happened to work. I came upon the theory that we don’t give enough high-fives anymore. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I started a MySpace page to promote giving out high-fives every day. Honestly answer me this... doesn’t it feel good after giving someone a high-five? Once I got the band together, it just sounded cool, different, and another way to spread the High Five Revolution. It’s probably not the coolest answer for rock and roll, but it is the truth of how it stuck as the band’s name.”
Aster Pheonyx and The High Five Revolution, with Joey on bass and Fabs on drums, have been headlining locally as well as opening for The Christine Martucci Band. They recently played The Saint in Asbury Park and Maxwell’s in Hoboken on Thanksgiving Eve. They practice twice a week in Hazlet and have several upcoming area shows. They’re in the finals of The Stone Pony House Band Search. If they were to become The Pony’s new house band, they’d be only the second female-lead band to ever hold the coveted title in The Pony’s history. HIGH FIVE ASTER PHEONYX!
Tags: aster, christine, m.c., martucci, o'connor, pheonyx, rag, the
Comment
-
Comment by TucciMusic on January 16, 2009 at 2:22pm -
Thank you M.C. for hearing what I heard! Aster has a huge career ahead of her!
GO ASTER!
About
Badge
© 2009 Created by Colie Brice on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of AsburyMusician.com to add comments!
Join this Ning Network