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We walked inside Brewed Awakening at 7:30pm thursday night (July 15) to find people setting up equipment on stage while others looked for tables. We ordered a medium hot green tea and a latte, and like the others – prepared ourselves for some live acoustic music. And we weren’t disappointed. Metuchen resident and musician songwriter Sharon Goldman started the evening off with a string of urban folk pop tunes that captured that room’s attention from the get go. Her reflective lyrics combined beautifully her melodies and her harmonic voice. We knew then that we were in for a treat.


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The intimate setting of Brewed Awakening was the perfect stage for Firefly – Sharon’s second song that speaks of longing for someone to come back home and for tomorrow to bring the person back near. It was a short song but nonetheless truthfully conveys the emotion in simple beats and words. Her vocal skills matched quite elegantly with her guitar playing. Everyone had a smile on their faces after the last note.

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Next saw Tom Picard from Rahway on stage with his ‘rootsy’ folk rock music. We enjoyed his little ditty on New Jersey. His tongue in cheek ‘Welcome to New Jersey, Now Go Away’ lyrics is still tickling our sides, rootsy indeed. Tom we also learned spearheads the Café Z held the third Saturday of each month in the Social Hall of Zion Lutheran Church in Rahway.

Sarah Donner came up from nearby Princeton to help the debut of Acoustic Thursdays. Sarah Donner is the host and founder of Indie Music Night, an acclaimed monthly series featuring premium live music held in Princeton. She was joined on stage by the equally talented Jay Buchanan on bass and on cajon (spanish for box, this ‘box’ creates sound not unlike drums), Brad Sicotte. We found her music to be honest and heartfelt. The levity she sprinkles here and there gives her an appeal that didn’t hurt the already engaging personality we saw on stage.

To say that you missed a special night if you weren’t there would be an understatement. For the price of coffee+tip, where else could you find a bargain of an evening filled with wonderful live music. Our only regret is that we didn’t pick up their CD that were on sale that evening. Oh well, there’s always iTunes. Yes, you’ll find their music in iTunes so head on over there after you view the moments we captured of the night below.

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Sharon will again host Acoustic Thursdays on August 19. Don’t miss it or you’ll be kicking yourself if you did.

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