Billy McCarthy's bartending lessons

He may be rocking appreciative live crowds for a living these days, but Pela frontman Billy McCarthy didn't always depend on his musical gifts to pay the bills.

In fact, the northern California native and current Brooklynite used to earn his keep by tending bar, and in a recent conversation with Metromix Jersey Shore, McCarthy filled us in on some of the lessons he learned during his days behind the bar.

"Sometimes it's better to call the cops than to try to get somebody out of the bar yourself when they're wasted, because you might catch a right hook," McCarthy advised us, adding, "Keep your eye on your tip jar, don't throw drug dealers out because they'll come back and pull a knife on you (and) it's always nice to work with a girl bartender because fighting words happen very quickly with guy bartenders and drunk thugs. It was a pretty rough experience. I had a knife pulled on me, I've been punched, I've been jumped; it was pretty rough."

Maybe McCarthy can offer those words of wisdom to some of the fine bartenders at the Stone Pony when Pela and the Gaslight Anthem hit the historic Asbury Park club tonight (May 8) and Saturday (May 9).

Pela's debut LP, 2007's "Anytown Graffiti," is a must-listen for alt-rock fans (especially those who wish the Kings of Leon had never gone mainstream), and McCarthy told us the band's next album is expected to be released in August.

For more from Billy McCarthy, check out our interview with him here.