More than 20 legends are converging on the Jersey Shore for one of the most ambitious concert bills of the year. Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us takes over Oceanfirst Bank Center at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, on June 4-5, a two-night celebration of 250 years of American music tied to the country’s upcoming July 4 milestone.
The lineup reads like a survey of the whole American songbook. Jon Bon Jovi, Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, Kenny Chesney, Gary Clark Jr., Dion, Dropkick Murphys, Shemekia Copeland, Valerie June, Keb’ Mo’, Nils Lofgren, Darlene Love, Public Enemy, David Sancious, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Trischka and Sister Sadie, Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty and the New Breed Brass Band, Stevie Van Zandt, and Jimmie Vaughan are all on the bill.
Stevie Van Zandt’s The Disciples of Soul handle house band duties, anchoring the whole sprawling thing.
The format is built for discovery. Each performer takes on landmark songs pulled from American music history, with blues, bluegrass, rock, hip-hop, folk, jazz, country, and gospel all represented. Narration sets up every performance, framing the artist, the song, and the genre before a note plays. Hearing Public Enemy and Mavis Staples and Dropkick Murphys under one roof is the kind of programming that makes a night unforgettable.
The shows lead into the June 7 opening of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, and the man behind both is plain about the mission. “Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us is a journey through American music history,” said Robert Santelli, executive director of the Springsteen Center and the concerts’ executive producer. “The concerts reflect everything the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music stands for: the power of music to bring people together, the rich and diverse treasury of American music as a mirror of our national culture, and the inspiration to think about our shared history in these divisive times.”