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Arts & Entertainment

Hoboken Born Rocker to Perform At Maxwell's

Songwriter Ed Smith, a local staple in the Hoboken music scene, returns to Maxwell's next week.

Legendary places, events, and people in Hoboken can be too numerous to count. One that stands out, however, is Maxwell's, Hoboken's own renowned music venue.

So it’s only appropriate that a local legend in his own right; performer, singer, and songwriter, Ed Smith, will be gracing the historic stage with his band Ed Smith & The Ego on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 9:30 p.m.

Ed Smith & The Ego feature a number of other local rock heroes uniting as one to form Hoboken’s newest and most promising super group. Chris Gibson, guitarist from High Speed Chase, Damien Marianucci of Timelord on baritone guitar, Paul Guzzo, bassist for Crewman Number Six, and drummer Nelson Pla of Clueless, are growing their raunchy style of tongue in cheek, post-modern irony rock and roll right in the heart of Hoboken.

Born and raised in Hoboken, Smith has been involved in bands around the area rock scene since he was 15 and grew up playing music through out the ‘80’s & ‘90’s. Remembering his first ever experience performing at Maxwell’s in 1991, Smith describes his new project as “one of the few bands left doing straight rock and roll.”

It all started for Smith with Fertile Turtle, one of his earliest bands. Shortly after, he became a founding member of the well-established Sound of Skin. As he recalls, Smith would describe them as “a more goth-sounding Nine Inch Nails.” Bearing in mind that Sound Of Skin’s singer was a British transplant, as a result, the band played a number of gigs in England, eventually traveling back & forth between performing in the U.K. and the Hoboken and New York City area.

“At that time, the Hoboken scene mirrored the London scene. It was more of a community,” Smith said.

In the early days of that blossoming landscape, Smith witnessed other local legends in the making not only at Maxwell’s but also The Beat ‘n Path which eventually became The Whiskey Bar. After watching bands such as Gutbank, Sex Pod, The Feelies, and The Bongos, who eventually went on to sign with RCA Records, and Sweet Lizard Illtet, who ended up with Warner Brothers Records, Smith was inspired to make his own mark on the scene.

So, not to be outdone, Smith, with his fellow “born and raised” cousins Dominic and Jamie Della Fave, formed the band Eugene to add their voices to a newly rising Hoboken music culture in the early 90’s, eventually morphing into current local favorites The Fave of whom which he still plays bass for.

“Rock and roll bands are a middle class thing with plenty of people to create music within,” Smith said.

Even if he wasn’t “born & raised,” Gibson practically grew up in the local Hoboken rock scene around that same time period after becoming a permanent resident back in 1984. After making the rounds in such bands as Rula Lenzka, The Big Picture, Crim, and Standbye, it was inevitable that he and Smith would cross paths and destinies. Gibson describes Ed Smith & The Ego as a “tribute to the purposely excessive themes of 70’s and 80’s bands.”

“Hoboken has no pretext here and local bands would go to everyone’s shows,” Gibson said.

And now, Ed Smith & The Ego are preparing to bring their unique take on rock and roll to a venue they all have great memories from and great praise for.

More over, Gibson said, Maxwell’s is like a family reunion, “where you get a quality night for a few bucks and everyone gets to catch up.”

To sum up both the spirit of Ed Smith & The Ego and Maxwell’s, Marianucci said, “Everyone here just really wants to play, have fun, and respect each other.”

Also featured on the Sept. 22 show are February Drive, MayOr West, The Out From Under and Cecilia Celeste. Doors at 7:30 with an $8 cover. For more information please visit www.maxwellsnj.com

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