Midnight Rain
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Midnight Rain

Morristown, New Jersey, United States

Morristown, New Jersey, United States
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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

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Discography

Predicting the Weather (LP) 1998
The Forever Spiral (LP) 2010

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Bio

Tickets went on sale at 10 am. At 5 am, Tom Brown was first in line. Soon after, Barat arrived and was second in line. The line was for the Jerry Garcia Band, Halloween show, 1994. The two started chatting about past shows, the state of the Dead “scene,” and the possibility of the two guitar players getting together to jam and some have fun. Thus was borne, a series of friendships culminating into Midnight Rain.
Tom and Barat started getting together on a regular basis. Soon thereafter the two were joined by several local area veteran musicians, Kelly Smith and Matt Michura. While Tom and Barat brought a penchant for improvisational and folk rock (Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Neil Young), Kelly’s influence on the band has taken them in a more bluesy direction (Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Willie Dixon) and Matt added the “rockin’” to the band with his own influences. Finally, the band was rounded out by the joining of two additional outstanding musicians – Jennifer Lepre on vocals (Jack Rabbit Slim) and Joe McKenna on bass. Jen and Joe added yet another genre dimension to the band, bringing their influences (Fleetwood Mac, Carol King, Rolling Stones).
Once solidified, the band began hitting the northern Jersey/New York club scene, performing at places like The Ringside Pub (W. Caldwell, NJ), CODA (New York, NY), Hartley’s (Kearney, NJ), Knuckleheads (Nyack, NY), Images (Pearl River, NY), The Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ), Crossroads (Garfield, NJ), Just Jake’s (Montclair, NJ) and Hobson’s Choice (Hoboken, NJ). The band was known for performing the music of the 60’s-era San Francisco sound, but more and more frequently, fans were requesting the original tunes that the band often slipped into the extended set lists. The band also played on the cable television program, “The Tom Sullivan Show”, and received front page coverage from the Dateline News Journal. They also played for the REX Foundation, the Warwick Marathon, the NJ Veterans Society and the Earth Day/Organic Farming benefit.
Due to their magnetic interaction with the audience, great sense of humor, and appetite for a really good time, Midnight Rain quickly gained popularity among the NJ bar scene and began performing with certain very notable artists, including opening for RCA recording artists From Good Homes and frequently performing with Grammy-Award winner Buddy Cage (The New Riders of the Purple Sage) who would sit in on pedal steel guitar.
Due to an ever-increasing demand for their original music, Midnight Rain recorded their first album Predicting the Weather in 1998. The album enjoyed much underground success and continues to sell well today on Amazon.com, ITunes, CDBaby and the band’s Myspace page (www.myspace.com/midnightraintheband). The band continues to weave original songs from this album into their live sets. Now, the band has embarked on an extremely ambitious sophomore album, due out in early 2009, entitled The Forever Spiral. An 18 song tour-de-force showing the band’s incredibly diverse musical skill and interest, this album is sure to vault the band onto the radar screens of many major and minor labels, as well as the next wave of loyal and fun-seeking fans.

For bookings or press-related inquiries, please contact Tom Brown (midnightrainband@gmail.com, 973-207-4489).