Dynamic Duo

It was 1950, probably May, when I peered out the window to get my first glance at my new piano teacher. She had pale skin, blue eyes and red hair. So, of course, twenty-four years later, I married a woman who looked like her. Thank you, Sigmund you-know-who. But I digress. I was an immediately hotshot at the piano. Big fish, small pond. Middle class Midwestern neighborhood. Lots of kudos, relatives et alia swooning at the piano. But after three years , I began to grow weary of it all. As luck would have it, my parents sent the piano to be refinished, and soon thereafter dad had some severe business reverses and they couldn’t pay the refinisher. So the piano sat in the shop for two years, which was absolutely great from my perspective. But the day finally came when the piano, a beautiful Chickering BTW, was again ensconced in our living room. I was panic stricken. But my folks, who had very high IQs, concocted a gambit to get my flying fingers back to the piano.

“You’re listening to WMCX, 88.9 fm, Monmouth University’s home for modern rock, with an edge!” That was a tag I’ve had memorized for over a decade, ever since my humble beginnings as a college radio DJ at my private university at the Jersey Shore. Back in those days, I was known as Queen Bee Nikki V. by my peers, professors, and loyal listeners. Being on air at The X was not only my favorite extracurricular activity, but also a requirement of my Radio/TV concentrated major in Communication. The gift of gab was not the only reason I loved being on the radio (though as we all know, I love to talk at length about music, among other subjects); I loved the power I had to expose our fan base to emerging local talent. We put on 12 and 24 Hour Music Fests, dedicating an hour each to a new local band. Among some of the biggest acts that graced our airwaves are All Time Low, Pat DiNizio from The Smithereens, and even Michale Graves of Misfits. If ever there was a poster child for the Asbury live music scene between 2008 and 2012, it was certainly me. The beer soaked floors of The Saint, The Stone Pony and Wonderbar welcomed my Vans-clad feet, and the hum of the buzzing amps gave me warm fuzzies. Attending and promoting shows featuring fresh New Jersey talent was something I believed wholeheartedly in.

When Emilio approached me fora. KARJAKA New York Design of his upcoming concert at Roulette with Contemporaneous the picture came into focus.