Shorty Long & The Jersey Horns “A Show That Will Knock Your Socks Off!”
By: Krista Doran
Since 2002, Shorty Long & The Jersey Horns have been WOWING music lovers of all ages in some of the best venues up and down the East Coast. During this time-span, the band has performed with Cheap Trick, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as at 76er’s games and other major sporting events. They have also performed on, featured, mentioned, thanked, acknowledged, or recognized by by 106.3 G-ROCK, 105.7 THE HAWK Radio, 93.3 WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show and by Howard Stern. Claiming to be “The World’s #1 Party Band,” this group of musicians can back up that statement with thousands of fans who will enthusiastically agree!
Lead by Ricky “Shorty Long” Tisch (Keyboards/Lead Vocalist and Party Master) this band not only sounds great, but the show they put on is more unique than anything I have ever seen. I spoke to Bass GuitaGuitarist Kern, who is also the Emcee for the band. John told me, “Our shows are like watching Hee Haw on crack! We do not only concentrate on the audio aspect of the band. The visual part of the show is unlike anything you will ever see!” Their shows have themes, costumes and a lot of focus is poking fun at John’s mom on stage. At the center of it all is the 3 foot character himself, Ricky Tisch (aka Shorty Long). Ricky has had to overcome much adversity due to his disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a congenital disease causing extremely fragile bones. “When you see him”, John explained, “some people feel a little awkward. Then as Shorty performs, they see what an awesome entertainer he truly is and he knocks it out of the park every single time.”
If you have not yet seen Shorty Long & The Jersey Horns perform, you really need to make it a point to go check them out. Their shows always have a theme and Shorty’s costumes are hoot! Whether he is driving around in his toy 4 x 4 playing keyboards dressed as an astronaut, pilgrim or all pimped out, you can’t help but laugh, smile and enjoy yourself. As John told me, “we’ll play whatever will make the crowd go insane! Our shows are like a parade with booze!” They play a range of music from the 60’s through today’s Top 40 and especially focus on songs that require a horn section. Cover music however, is not all this band is about. They have written 20-30 of their own original tunes as well. They never stick to a set list of songs and play what the crowd wants to hear. It was great to talk to John and hear the enthusiasm is his voice, especially when he talked about Shorty. He and John have been playing together in one way or another since 1995. John told me, “Shorty is the greatest friend I have ever had and I just love performing with this guy!”
You can see Shorty Long & The Jersey Horns perform at some choice venues such as The Sands Casino in AC and The Beachcomber in Avalon. Here are a few of their upcoming September shows: 9/9 – The Sands Casino in AC; 9/16 – The Beachcomber in Avalon NJ and 9/30 Breakers Bar located in Mohegan Sun at Pocono Down, To see their full schedule, view photos, watch videos and learn more about this fabulous group of musicians, please visit their website at www.shortylongrocks.com, visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/shortylongrocks or on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/ShortyLongRocks.
Shorty Long & The Jersey Horns is: Ricky “Shorty Long” Tisch – Keyboards/Lead Vocals/Party Master; John Kern – Emcee/Bass Guitar/Lead Vocals; John “The Hitman” Hawes – Drums; Dee Faraci – Lead Vocals; Carl Stives – Percussion;
Frank “Crispy Bacon” Benjamin – Trumpet/Saxophone; Bill Jarvis – Trumpet;
Neal “Percolator” Perkins – Trombone; Mario Frasca – Guitar; Paul Baccash – Guitar and “Doc” Jones – Media Crew Chief.
To book or get more information about the band, please contact Shore Bets at 215-884-HELP.