It might be a slower time with all things Jukes right now… and fighting the tough weather in and around New Jersey is keeping everybody more than busy. But as long as telephone lines are operating, the occasional interviews with the band leader are still one thing to look out for. It takes more than a winter storm to stop Southside Johnny!

Eric Snider answered Southside’s call and did a write-up of his conversation with John on his blog TAMPA CALLING.

At straight-up 3 p.m., the appointed hour, a man on the other end of the line announces himself: “Heyyyyy, it’s Southside!”

And so begins a spirited 40-minute conversation with one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most undervalued artists, Southside Johnny Lyon, who has fronted a horn-heavy R&B band called the Asbury Jukes for more than three decades. After his first troika of LPs, released in the latter ‘70s on Columbia, fell short of commercial expectations — especially in light of the concurrent rise of his Jersey shore compadre Bruce Springsteen — Southside and company focused mostly on touring.

They don’t do the road-dog slog of the old days, when 250 dates a year was the norm, but the Jukes still cover plenty of turf. And they try their level best not to let performing get stale. “I’ve never wanted to just go out and play the songs,” Southside says. “I need to find that nugget in the middle of the night, where the audience clicks and is really there, and we’re all in that night, in that moment.”

Now, what does make the Asbury Jukes one of the most unique bands in the business is – beside their fearless leader, of course – the men with the HORNS! Southside gives some background on how he deals with the powerhorses in his back:

Southside — he got the nickname because he was a big fan of the blues from the south side of Chicago — knew he wanted to front a horn band, and the hardest part turned out to be finding horn players. “Everyone played guitar, bass or drums,” he says.

Because of the Jersey Shore’s proximity to New York City, the Asbury Jukes have been able to pull horn men from the jazz scene. Lots of ‘em have come and gone. “Notoriously, horn players will suddenly come up to me and say, ‘I wanna go play jazz,’” Southside says, and adds with a laugh. “Six months later it’s, ‘Can I have my job back?’

This seems to be referring to the dark age of the 80s, 90s… since beside the occasional absence because of services to Conan or Springsteen, the majority of the horn section has been one great factor of continuity over the last couple of years. You can refer to Mike Saunders, who got mentioned in the article – though without a namecheck…

There’s an Asbury Jukes fiend in England who keeps a family tree of the band — by his count, 120 musicians have come through the ranks over the years.

And I’m sure, Mike is still counting!
Long live the horns!

Read the whole article at: TAMPA CALLING.

Related Posts:

• January 31, 2009 -- I still have the best job in the world!
• March 15, 2012 -- Southside Johnny loves so many different kinds of music he needs another band
• March 9, 2012 -- Little Steven with George Stromboboulopoulos on CBC
• March 2, 2012 -- Southside Johnny – Tangled Up In Blues – WNCD 93.3 The Wolf / Youngstown, Ohio
• January 31, 2012 -- Southside Johnny dishes on The Boss