Lakewood mayor turns his living room into a concert venue

LAKEWOOD — The house lights dim, the singer enters the stage with guitar in hand, and the show begins.

As the strumming tunes spill over the small crowd, the atmosphere is no different than many Jersey Shore music clubs.

But this is not an average night at The Stone Pony or The Chubby Pickle.

Welcome to the home of Mayor Ray Coles.

The longtime Lakewood leader better known for township budgets and development issues - as well as a thriving eyeglass parts company - is also something of a concert promoter.

Well, at least a few times a year.

More: Ray Coles is the unlikeliest mayor Lakewood could have. So why does he succeed?

“I enjoy music, it is a release for me for a lot of the stress that goes on,” Coles, 65, said about the house concerts he hosts in his Ventura Drive home every few months. “I have no talent to perform or create but I like to recognize talent.”

That talent has included the likes of Graham Parker, Dave Bainbridge and Rod Picott.

The most recent show on April 27 featured Wesley Stace, formerly of the West Coast band John Wesley Harding, who performed acoustically solo.

“I’m quite a casual music maker,” said Stace, 58, whose past work includes opening for Bruce Springsteen at several venues, such as the 1995 Ghost of Tom Joad tour. “It is a nice way to do a show without the scuzzy world of rock concerts.”

The shows, held in Coles’ extended living room, include a makeshift stage, small sound system and a flashing light backdrop. Folding chairs provide seats for the 35-40 fans who pay about $25 for the performances, as well as snacks and a post-show spread of pizza and hamburgers.

Coles promises at least $1,000 to the performers, with the rest going to cover costs. He makes no profit on the ventures, he said.

“Most people usually give $25, but if someone doesn’t have it they are welcome to come anyway,” Coles said. “Anyone can come, the artists will sometimes put out an announcement and we get people from their base.”

Stace’s show had a mix of his fans as well as regulars to the mayor’s shows.

“It is intimate, straightforward and casual,” said Linda Halm, a Lakewood resident who has held her own house concerts. “He knows a lot about music and has done them for years.”

Her husband, Dennis, agreed: “It is always exciting music and usually people you have heard of and know. You have a chance to see them in person.”

Doug Smithline of Whiting said he’s been to several dozen Coles shows.

More: Lakewood birth rates top 5,000 per year, well above larger New Jersey cities

“Everybody responds to the artists, people are very respectful,” he said. “You don’t always know a lot of the groups and the artists are always good.”

Steve Henry of Point Pleasant, a longtime Stace fan, said he heard about the show and drove over for the first time.

“It is a real treat to have someone I know this close,” he said about Stace. “He’s a good guy.”

Coles, who joined the Township Committee in 2001, held his first home-based show less than a year later. He has done about 20 since then, he said.

They continued until 2008 when he joined the board of the historic Strand Theater in Downtown Lakewood and began holding similar shows there, with up to 150 people on the stage.

When Covid shut down performances, the shows stopped and Coles – who has served as mayor since 2016 - eventually left the Strand board due to mayoral duties and other responsibilities.

The shows - six so far - restarted in his house in 2022.

“The main reason is to have a place for local and regional artists who may not have the following to fill a theater or a large hall but have a fan base that wants to see them,” Coles said.

More: New Lake Carasaljo footbridge draws praise, surprise

Stace did not seem to disappoint with songs such as “You Want to Be Where the Bands Are, Baby” and “Making Love to Bob Dylan.”

“It is not booming music, the place doesn’t smell like beer and they really want to see you up close,” Stace said. “Up close doing what you’re good at.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of four books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Lakewood mayor hosts regular concerts in his living room