When Ben Gibbard of the band Deathcab for Cutie sings “And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born / Then, it's time to go”, it drives home that I have now lived in Pittsburgh, PA almost the equivalent amount of time that I grew up in my hometown of Westfield, NJ.
I am not ready to give up my Garden State-issued Bruce Springsteen fan-card or give directions to places in Pittsburgh by way of landmarks that are no longer there, but New Jersey has now become familiar and alien at the same time. The Exit 135 sign means so many different things to me - coming home as a teenager after seeing live music at The Stone Pony (Asbury Park, NJ); being close to getting a relatively decent night sleep as I traveled along the East Coast with touring bands; and of course making mix-tapes with DJ Feldi - "I'm Rob Base and I came to get down".
However, most of these memories are more than 20 years old. I still talk with and see my Jersey friends, and we all still share music and live show experiences via email, but I just don't know if the entire crew will be able to recapture the magic. There will always be the bands and artists that proudly proclaim New Jersey as their home: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Kool & The Gang, The Gaslight Anthem, The Smithereens and Skid Row, but sometimes I feel so far away. I could choose to walk around with my head down, singing to myself, “Remember yesterday, walking hand in hand / Love letters in the sand, I remember you / Through the sleepless nights through every endless day / I'd want to hear you say, I remember you”, but I now think about my adopted home city and how I relate to music here.
Good news/bad news is that my musical tastes have matured and diversified over those two decades since traveling "west". I am ankle-deep with a modest collection of vinyl - thank you Pete K. and friends from Independent Brewing Co. I also see concerts as a business transaction- thank you 12 years and 10 months at Ticketmaster. However, to tip the scales, my 30s brought me a new appreciation of what is probably my favorite style of music - brass bands. And I now also take some pride in the Pittsburgh bands and artists that preceded me. I therefore feel I need to educate my boys since they lay claim to the southwestern part of the Keystone State as their birthplace.
We have already had many conversations about Mac Miller (we walk past ‘Blue Slide Park every day on our way to school), The Clarks, Art Blakey, Rusted Root and Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers. And thankfully there is a link back to the Garden State. Grushecky and Springsteen have co-written several songs together and shared the stage in many Pittsburgh locations. So as I continue to bridge my past with my present, I will always think fondly of my many nights in Hoboken and the evenings to come at places like the Roxian in McKees Rocks.
Thanks for reading.
