A Little Bit of Nashville Comes to the Jersey Shore

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By Mary Ann Bourbeau |
ASBURY PARK – As a musician, Pat Guadagno knows where his strengths lie.
“I’m not a songwriter,” he said. “I’m a performer and entertainer.”
So when he’s looking for new material, he relies on those who do it best. Guadagno travels regularly to Nashville to pick out new songs for his shows, one of which is coming up at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club on Nov. 9. Pat Guadagno’s Acoustic Night of Thrills will bring a little bit of Music City to Asbury Park with a show that will feature professional songwriters in the round, sharing their songs and stories. The in-the-round format is used regularly in Nashville, where songwriters sit in a semi-circle and share their hits or try out new material in front of a live audience.
“I started doing shows in the round about 25 years ago,” said the Monmouth Beach resident. “Klondike Ice Cream sponsored my Small Circle of Friends shows, which focused on local songwriters. I missed it so much, I wanted to do it again.”
In looking for a venue to host the show, Guadagno settled on McLoone’s Supper Club.
“It’s the perfect place because the venue is a throwback to the old nightclub scene,” he said. “The sound and the view are great and it’s a wonderful listening environment for acoustic music. No distractions, no game on TV, nobody playing pool. The focus is on the music.”
Joining Guadagno will be Lisa Bouchelle, a New Jersey-based singer/songwriter whose music encompasses acoustic rock, pop, country, and rock. She is also host of the television show “Rock Star Kitchen” and has toured with Meat Loaf, Blues Traveler, America, Don Felder and Ted Nugent. Bouchelle has performed at Jersey Shore charity events, duetting with Jon Bon Jovi and singing backup for Bruce Springsteen.
“Lisa has performed in the area for years and had quite a few hit records,” said Guadagno. “We perform together a lot. I’m a big fan of her music.”
Joining them will be Dean Friedman, best known for the 1977 Billboard Top 40 hit, “Ariel.” White attending City College of New York, the Paramus native was a student of guitarist David Bromberg. His songs have been covered by several contemporary bands, including Barenaked Ladies and Ben Folds Five.
“I met Dean at a Light of Day show,” said Guadagno. “I was always a fan of his music. It’s quirky, funny stuff.”
Rounding out the evening will be Steven Delopoulos, a New Jersey native and lead singer and songwriter of the folk rock band Burlap to Cashmere.
“I love being able to do this in an environment where the music has an impact on people,” Guadagno said. “It’s kind of hard to do that in a bar.”
Guadagno travels to Nashville often to find songs he likes and brings them back to New Jersey. His most recent album, “A Song Away From You,” features music penned by Nashville songwriters Fred Koller, Buddy Mundlock, Gary Burr, Don Schlitz and the late Daniel Petraitis, a Jersey Shore native who migrated to Music City.
“I pick obscure songs and some familiar ones too, and put my own little spin on them,” he said. “In a sense, I have the greatest songwriters in the world working for me.”
Guadagno has been a fan of country music for many years, but not the new country that has become popular in recent years.
“I grew up listening to country music, but it has changed so much,” he said. “In Nashville, they play the same 40 or 50 songs on the radio, but the guys who wrote those songs wrote a ton of other stuff too, so I try to snag one or two of those.”
The Americana tag best describes the type of music Guadagno plays during his Acoustic Night of Thrills.
“The emotion you feel when you hear these songs, I want to share that with people up here and see if they feel the same way,” he said.
Guadagno said all he ever wanted to do was be an entertainer.
“I love my job,” he said. “I’ve been doing it full-time for 40 years now. It makes it seem like what you do is important when the music touches somebody.”
Pat Guadagno’s Acoustic Night of Thrills begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club, 1200 Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.TimMcLoonesSupperClub.com or 732-774-1155.


Arts and entertainment writer Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com

This article was first published in the Nov. 2-9, 2017 print edition of The Two River Times.