Local musicians give new spark to Acoustic NRG
BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

An acoustic trio featuring local musicians covering everything from the Beatles to Maroon 5 will be performing on Thursday nights at the Wonder Bar, 1213 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park.

Lee Ottman, Freehold Township, Bill Silvain, Interlaken, and Tony DeFrabitus, Freehold Township, make up the band Acoustic NRG. With Ottman and Silvain playing guitar, DeFabritus on keyboards and all three singing, the band has a distinctive unplugged sound.

Ottman and Silvain were members of the original NRG band that performed 1980s cover songs in bars along the Jersey Shore including Tradewinds, Sea Bright, and the Stone Pony, Asbury Park. The band parted ways in the late 1980s and then reunited for a concert at the Freehold Borough bar Denim’s in the summer of 2004.

Ottman said he and Silvain wanted to pursue their musical careers after the reunion concert, but the other three band members were not interested. After trying out several different musicians, they came across DeFabritus, who performs at weddings and bar mitzvahs with the popular band Encore.

The trio started playing together this summer and have made their way back into the Jersey Shore music scene with weekly performances at the Wonder Bar. Ottman said the bar is looking to change its style by serving food and hosting bands that play listening music as opposed to danceable music.

Ottman said Asbury Park, which was the center of the Shore’s rock and roll scene in the 1980s, is making a comeback and he wants to be there when it happens.

Acoustic NRG, which takes pop songs and performs them unplugged, covers a diverse song list that includes “Time of Your Life” by Green Day, “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, “867-5309” by Tommy Tutone, and “Melt With You” by Modern English.

Ottman, who works for Jeffrey Craig Entertainment, said the DJ company is offering the trio for a Classic Rock Cocktail Hour at parties.

Acoustic NRG will be performing Thursday nights at the Wonder Bar at 8 p.m. For more information about the band, visit the Internet Web site nrgnj.com.