I am Andrew J Grogan, also known to some people as AJ Stone. People call me Andy or AJ. I was born & raised in Jersey City, NJ, but from about the age of 10 on I spent my summers in Forked River, which instilled in me a love of the beach and the shore area. Since 1994 I have been primarily located in Monmouth County, NJ, at the northern end of the "Jersey Shore" area, not far from Sandy Hook. From a young age I enjoyed singing, and in 1980 at the age of 15 I began accompanying myself on the guitar. After playing in countless "garage bands" that never made it out of the garage, in 1992 I finally began performing in public and getting paid for it. That is also the year I adopted the stage name "AJ Stone". Why AJ Stone? It's not what most people think. In 1991, while I was recording my debut demo album, "Hide Your Mother", it was said to me that I would never be successful in the music business because I was not "eccentric enough". Now, I always thought I was plenty eccentric. But, maybe there was something to that. So, I decided I needed a good "rock" name. Rock, Stone. Get it? OK, so I'm not that clever. For 10 years from 1992 to 2002 I was the rhythm guitar player/singer/frontman for, first, a trio called Questionable Virtue, and then, a series of bands with the names (in order) The Great Beyond, The Jam Band, Crescent Moon, & Meteor Sauce. During this time I was also a member of the duo Hamblen & Stone with lead guitar player Matthew Scott Hamblen. Since 2002 I have been mostly a solo acoustic performer, although I have recently begun performing full-band shows again with AJ Stone & the Karma Robbers, backed by longtime friends Carmine Fantasia on bass, Rob Hovsepian on drums, and Rick Anderson on lead guitar. Overall, since 1992 "AJ Stone" has played throughout the state of New Jersey, and occasionally elsewhere, in bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes. I have appeared on television and radio. Am I successful? That's all relative. When I was 17 I thought I was going to tour America and make a million dollars. Now that I'm 45 with 2 kids, I'm happy playing bars, coffee houses,
backyard barbeques, having fun and making some extra cash. Although my live shows consist almost entirely of classic rock covers, I post my original songs here for your enjoyment. About the recordings on this page: 1) they were recorded in the early 1990's and have been circulated among my family and friends for years; 2) they are admittedly "low-fi"; and 3) thanks to MySpace my music is now available for enjoyment worldwide! In May of 2006 I founded a start-up Open Mic Night on Thursdays at Connie's Bar, Grill & Night Club in Sayreville, NJ, which I hosted through July of 2009 when the bar was sold and live music was discontinued entirely. I have also appeared recently, and in most cases regularly, at such fine New Jersey establishments as The Engleside Sand Bar in Beach Haven (Long Beach Island), McDonagh's Pub in Keyport, The Shark Fin Inn in Forked River, Beacon on the Bay in Highlands, The Olde Village Pub in Middletown, Tumulty's Pub in New Brunswick, The Cambridge Inn in Spotswood, The Firehouse Eatery & Pub in Rahway, The Clubhouse in Monroe Township, Molly Maguire's in Clark, Yogi's All-American Grill in Carteret, J.O'Neill's Place in Sayreville, The Beacon Street Grille in Neptune, The Walt Street Pub in Red Bank, Espresso Joe's in Keyport, The Twisted Tree Cafe in Asbury Park, & Via Dolce in South River. In October of 2007 I performed for the first time outside of the USA, a house concert in Ojochal, Costa Rica. I AM CURRENTLY BOOKING PERFORMANCE DATES FOR
ALL OF 2011. I AM AVAILABLE FOR WEDDINGS, PRIVATE PARTIES AND CORPORATE EVENTS. REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. FOR BOOKING INFORMATION, MYSPACE MESSAGE ME, OR CALL 732 778-2914, OR EMAIL stoneaj1@yahoo.com. PLEASE JOIN MySpace AND VIEW MY GALLERY OF PHOTOS FROM THROUGHOUT MY MUSICAL CAREER. THANKS!
