This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

The Voodudes Weave a Spell at Riverside Gardens

A night of classic, southern-style, Blues and Roots music on the riverbank, without the gators and humidity.

The Voodudes, a New Brunswick area band that has been together over twenty years, cast a spell on Red Bank at Riverside Gardens last night. 

Mixing together Johnny Cash, CCR, Howlin Wolfe and even some Professor Longhair with their own original work, the Voodudes played pied piper to an audience that loves the blues and jazz.

Playing Riverside Gardens “is special, this is about us and the people who love our music,” lead singer and washboard player Andy B! said.   

Find out what's happening in Red Bank-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Having played the Jazz and Blues Festival six times, as well as other Monmouth  and shore-area events,  the Voodudes always enjoy their return to Red Bank.  

“Now that Riverfest is back, we’d love to play Riverfest,”  Andy B! told Red Bank-Shrewsbury Patch. Our Red Bank fans are here for our music and we like to play here. 

Find out what's happening in Red Bank-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“This is a little bit ego, a little bit sharing,” continued Andy B!, noting that they had just returned from a tour of upstate New York and are swinging into a New Jersey shore set of gigs over the next  several weeks. “We’re at the Walt Street  Pub next Friday (August 19) and again on September 30 shared Andy B!.   

The Voodudes will also be taking a trip to the beach in Long Branch on August 28 to play at Blues on the Beach.

The Voodudes infectious enthusiasm  and on-stage banter played right into the multi-generational crowd at Riverside Gardens. Announcing from the stage “kids this is an accordion” Andy B! gave out some advice on playing the accordion before the band launched into a cover of The Mavericks “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down.”

Advice to the kids on the accordion from Andy B! included “Don’t ever play it without knowing what you’re doing”, “Watch YouTube videos on how to play the accordion”, “Don’t get anything important caught in the bellows” and the most important advice, “Never, ever play it alone!”

As the sun went down over the Navesink, kids, some as young as three, streamed forward to dance and spin and bop to some serious down-home music. They had no idea that the Voodudes were channeling old-time rhythms with roots in the cradle of American music. All they knew was that the music was fun, the band was great and that the summer will never end.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?