On Sunday, May 2, Washington Street will be bustling with more than 300 merchants, musicians, arts-and-crafts vendors, and purveyors of every kind of fair food one can imagine. Just as exciting, rockers of repute Fountains of Wayne, known for their hit 2003 song “Stacy’s Mom,” will headline a jam-packed musical lineup that also includes well-known area musicians.
“This is the most exciting lineup we’ve had in years,” said Hoboken Cultural Affairs Director Geri Fallo last week.
The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Washington Street between Observer Highway and Seventh Street. There will be three musical stages, as well as a Kids Zone on Third Street in the Capital One Bank parking lot with rides, games, face painting, and more.
What to expect
The downtown musical stage at Washington Street between Newark Street and Observer Highway will feature Fountains of Wayne (4:30 p.m.), Freedy Johnston (3 p.m.), The Doughboys (2 p.m.), Jack Skuller (1 p.m.), and Rosewood Ghosts (noon).
The uptown stage at Washington Street between Sixth and Seventh streets will showcase Los Seis del Sabor (5 p.m.), Verdict (4 p.m.), Purple Knif featuring Chris Butler formerly of The Waitresses (3:15 p.m.), Mad Dog Mary (2:30 p.m.), Hoboken’s Save the Youth Academy (2 p.m.), Amanda Barise (1:35 p.m.), Hannah Valente (1:10), and Bandwidth (12:30 p.m.).
“We’re psyched.” – Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne
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Fountains of Wayne are named after the “semi-legendary statuary and garden furniture store in Wayne, N.J.,” according to their website.
Bassist Adam Schlesinger and lead vocalist/guitarist Chris Collingwood formed the band in 1996 and share songwriting duties.
Ex-Posies drummer Brian Young and lead guitarist Jody Porter joined and the band hit big with 2003’s Grammy-nominated breakthrough Welcome Interstate Managers featuring the song “Stacy’s Mom.”
Schlesinger, who was born in Manhattan and grew up in Montclair, N.J., said last week that the band is ready to rock Hoboken.
“We’re psyched,” Schlesinger said, “and we’re big fans of Freedy [Johnston].”
Asked how he was talked into playing Hoboken, Schlesinger said, “They just asked.”
“We love playing in Hoboken,” he added. The band has played the town “many times,” and will play a show the night before the festival at Maxwell’s, the famed Hoboken rock club.
Schlesinger is an acclaimed songwriter away from the band too, nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for the title track of the Tom Hanks-directed film That Thing You Do!He said Fountains of Wayne is working on a new album, a long awaited follow-up to 2007’s Traffic and Weather.
“We don’t know exactly when [we’ll release it],” he said. The band is still working on some of the new tracks. He said he hopes to get it out his year.
As for the festival, “It’s exciting for us to have a contemporary band like Fountains of Wayne,” Fallo said, especially with their Jersey roots.
Hannah and her sisters
At almost 12 years old, Hannah Valente is already an old pro at the Arts & Music Festival.
At 6, she got her first guitar, but didn’t learn to play until she was 8. She also took vocal and piano lessons. Her first performance at the festival was when she was 7; she sang a song from Disney’s “High School Musical.”
For more on Hannah, see this coming Thursday’s cover story in the Midweek Reporter.
Fallo said she is excited about the musical draws for the teenage population, especially Valente, Jack Skuller, Amanda Barise, and the Hoboken STY Academy artists.
Back in time
Skuller, a 14-year-old blues guitarist from Weehawken, won first place in the teen division of the Big Joe Jersey Talent Show last September. The Ricky Nelson look-a-like enjoys the rockabilly sound and loves ’50s music.
“My musical taste has been going back in time,” he told the Reporter recently. “I felt a huge connection.”
Aside from hitting the stage at the festival, Skuller is also playing Maxwell’s on Sunday, April 25 and released his first single on iTunes on April 20.
The festival is co-sponsored by the Hoboken Reporter, Optimum Online, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Capital One Bank, and radio stations WRXP and WFMU.
For more information and schedule, visit www.hobokennj.org.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.