C’mon, donate a lousy 10 bucks …
and get this rockin’ CD as a bonus!
“From the Heart” is an unapologetically old-school CD (shrink-wrap, yo!) on which stars of the Jersey club scene joined forces for a vital cause.
The CD (which was released in 2015) benefits Steven’s Walk, a charitable organization named for a brave young man called Steven Potter. (The project was spearheaded by my brother, Brian Voger, who is a Potter family friend.) Steven’s Walk raises funds and awareness in Steven Potter’s fight against the insidious disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy. SMA is the leading genetic cause of infant death, and robs sufferers of their mobility and their lives.
Brian produced, recorded and mixed “From the Heart.” The “house band” on the CD has Brian on bass, myself on vocs/guitars/keys, and “Jazzy” JohnYoung (of the popular South Jersey combo Sordid Past) on drums. The best part: Brian is tight with a lot of musicians in the Jersey club scene, and he enlisted a once-in-a-lifetime roster of talent to donate solos and instrumentation to the 14 original songs on “From the Heart.”
Anyone who knows the Jersey Shore and South Jersey club scenes will recognize the names Billy Hector, Matt O’Ree, Reggie Wu, Sim Cain, Ken “Stringbean” Sorensen, Georgie Rumbol, Ron Howden (Nektar, yo!), Ron Tagg, Ron Tortu and Joe DeLuca. In all, 20 musicians graciously contributed.
The CD sells for an affordable $10 per, every penny of which goes to Steven’s Walk. (If you order via credit card, there’s a $3.50 mailing-and-credit-card-usage upcharge.) Please email me for ordering details at MarkVoger(“at symbol”)gmail.com.
A bit of backstory: We launched the CD at the May 9, 2015, Steven’s Walk in Collingswood, N.J. (It was the final live event for Steven’s Walk, as Steven prepared to enter college.) It was a beautiful, fun, upbeat event with wonderful people. Honestly. As soon as we pulled up with our boxes and signs, we were besieged by volunteers who said, “Can we help?” I met Steven and some of his friends who are living with SMA. It was edifying. This is one hell of a fight these kids and their families are waging. Their grace and strength is an inspiration. They could use your help.
So get the CD, and know that every penny of your 10 bucks goes to an important cause. Our goal is to raise $10,000 — 10 bucks at a time.
And I wouldn’t lie to you — there is some breathtaking work by these artists. Yes, we’re aware that “nobody does CDs anymore,” but that’s kind of our point: We think of “From the Heart” as an old-school keepsake of the Jersey club scene. The CD comes with a little four-page foldout with liner notes and photos of every artist who contributed. Even the disc itself has photos of the artists. (I designed it, and it looks awesome; I do not suffer from false modesty.)
Like I said: “From the Heart” is a keepsake. Stick it on yer mantle and remember the good old daze.
WRAT-FM interview
Brian and I were guests on “The Electric Ballroom” — a rock ‘n’ chat show on 95.9 WRAT-FM hosted by Keith Roth — in 2015 to talk about “From the Heart.” Read the interview HERE.
NJArts.com coverage
NJArts.net, an invaluable go-to source for the arts scene in New Jersey operated by writer-editor Jay Lustig, helped to spread the word about “From the Heart” in a 2015 post you can read HERE.
VIDEO: Live at the Brighton
Here’s the “From the Heart” house band— Brinie, JohnYoung and me, a.k.a. Scream — joined by the dean of electric guitar, “Mean” Dean Gallagher, playin’ that legendary Long Branch nightspot, the Brighton Bar, in 2010. (Our three-song set list: “Wicked Ways,” “Little Girl” and “Love Me or Leave Me.”) At the time, we were hot ‘n’ heavy workin’ on “From the Heart.” P.S.: Yeah, there’s an American punk band called Scream that made it, but our Scream took the band name first, in 1974. They toured America and Europe; we played the Almonesson Ballroom.