By Chris Spiewak
Assembling a music group is no easy feat. Clashing personalities and ideals can disrupt a band’s career, sometimes leading to a complete abandonment of the project. When there is a successful marriage of concepts and ideas, the road forward is much smoother. For more than 20 years now, the members of Middletown’s The Wag have written and performed their own style of pop/rock music. These personable and talented musicians are in the middle of a great relationship and they are enjoying every minute of it.
Bassist and singer/songwriter Brian Ostering met keyboardist and singer/ songwriter Alicia Van Sant in college in southern New Jersey, and the two became good friends. With the nucleus in place, they held auditions in hopes of forming a band. Guitarist Dan Corboy and drummer Brian Mowery were soon added, and The Wag officially began in 1998. The focus from the beginning was to write and record their own style of music, but they have since developed another personality. Due to a heavy Beatles influence among members of the band, they have added many Beatles songs to their repertoire. This other side of the band has led to them performing at large events like The Fest for Beatles Fans in Jersey City and a three-day event in Jeffersonville, Indiana next month called Abbey Road On The River, where they will share the stage each day with The Cowsills, The Grass Roots and 50 other bands.
Ostering and Van Sant have been prolific in their songwriting, releasing six full-length CDs over the past two decades. While most compositions are in the pop and rock categories, there are also songs with a heavy blues influence and others with hints of country and even jazz. One can also hear traces of The Beatles, The Monkees, The Eagles, R.E.M., Barenaked Ladies and even Bruce.
When the band was looking for a new guitarist in 2012, they enlisted the services of Freehold’s Don Lee, a gifted singer/songwriter with four of his own albums recorded. In 2015, drummer Joshua Van Ness was brought into the fold following the sudden passing of Brian Mowery, a much-loved member of the band. Van Ness is a multitalented musician, grabbing his guitar and performing solo gigs of his own when not sitting behind the kit. The current lineup now features four songwriters, four lead vocalists and some incredible harmonies on stage.
Interestingly enough, this small town band is not satisfied just working in New Jersey, so they take a road trip every now and then. However, these are not your average road trips; how about ventures to California, Canada, England and Japan! Yes, The Wag is unique in that they will book a week’s worth of gigs in faraway places, sort of a working vacation if you will. Ostering mentions that a couple of highlights over the years were “the fantastic Japanese fans” and “watching Stevie Wonder walk through the door of the diner where the band was eating” after their show at the legendary Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood.
One of their proudest moments was the recent Home Grown Music Video award at the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park. The band decided to make a high quality music video for their song “Everybody Said” from their 2018 CD entitled “We Carry On.” Amanda Duncan directed this macabre but humorous video for the band, and it is quite entertaining. Everyone involved did a masterful job and Ostering hopes to do another music video with the band in the near future.
Speaking of the latest CD, “We Carry On” is perhaps the finest work by the band to date. The title track features Van Sant’s beautiful melodic voice, with her silky smooth vibrato evoking emotions from the listener. Don Lee’s “Never Let It Bring You Down” should be on a Billboard chart somewhere. Van Ness’ “Touch You” adds a bit of funk and also deserves FM airplay. All in all, this is a wonderful collection of songs and well worth the $10 price of admission.
Please visit TheWagBand.com and their Facebook page for upcoming shows, many of which are in the Red Bank area. And although it is an unusual name for a band, it got the attention of the Monmouth County SPCA, and the group now does annual fundraising events for this great organization. After all, isn’t it better to have less bark and more Wag in the world?
Chris Spiewak is a 40-year veteran of the Shore music scene.
