Black Jesuses to rock Red Bank

(Credit: Paul Ritchie)

On Tuesday (Dec. 23), the Downton in Red Bank will present a free show that looks like it's going to be an all-star night for fans of East Coast indie rock.

Along with Shore music scene staples Nicole Atkins and Rick Barry, the night will feature a set from Jeff Plate and Brad York -- members of New York City-based Sikamor Rooney -- as well as a performance by down-and-dirty Red Bank-bred blues duo the Black Jesuses.

Made up of guitarist Dave Rosen and drummer Sam Bey-- who both also hold down full-time gigs as members of the up-and-coming rock outfit the Parlor Mob -- the Black Jesuses hit the clubs when Rosen and Bay aren't occupied with their other band.

Bey, who lives in Asbury Park, recently spoke to Metromix Jersey Shore about the origins of his and Rosen's side project.

"Well, Dave started to write some songs, and instead of trying to put a whole band together, he wanted it to be kind of garagey and just kind of raw," said Bey. "He wanted ... no limitations, (where) we can do whatever we wanted, and he asked me, ‘I have a bunch of these songs, do you want to play on them?' and I said, ‘Sure, of course I want to play on them, I like the songs.' "

According to Bey, there is a certain appeal to playing in a band that only has two members.

"It's easy when it's just the two of you," he said. "You can do whatever you want; you don't ever have to play the same thing twice because you only have that one person to deal with. You don't have to count on a whole band to change gears along with you. As long as the two of you are on the same page, anything can happen."

The drummer also revealed that he and Rosen are hoping to take the band from the concert stage to the recording studio, and they have even discussed working with producer Jacquire King, who has worked with the likes of Tom Waits, Modest Mouse and Kings of Leon. King also produced the Parlor Mob's latest album, this year's "And You Were a Crow."

"Originally, Jacquire actually wanted us to come down to Nashville, and he wanted to record the project for us for free. It just hasn't happened yet because he's been super-busy and we've been on the road, but I mean, we're planning on recording something.

"I don't know if it will end up being with him. I mean, we'd like it to be if we can get it together on both our ends; we definitely want to do something. In a perfect world, I think we'd like to do an EP and just put it out, maybe on like a seven-inch or something like that."