so you know there's gonna be some celebration going on some real music some reasons to celebrate art from our favorite musicians who have come from the jersey space proceeds going to - you know it the right places how did you kind of put this thing together before
we dive into the playlist and start to celebrate your life and music you know what were the key important parts of getting this thing off the road the governor is a local he lives right here near me here in Jersey and his wife had
come to me and said we have to do something specific for New Jersey because it's the second hardest hit state in the nation and a lot of small businesses and and working people are you know wondering where that next paycheck is coming from because they've
either been furloughed or laid off and they're not sure when they'll get back to work and so they put together this new jersey pandemic relief fund whatever money is raised a hundred percent of it'll go in grants to a variety of local
charity but I was tasked that you know curating a show the obvious and easiest first phone call was to the king of New Jersey and and he said yes and so once Bruce was on what does it make you I'm the I'm the Crown Prince I'm just not
getting in the way of that light no my my my hero my friend Bruce signed on quick and and then we got Tony Bennett which blows my mind the great Tony Bennett's singing better than ever and then we've got a bunch of stuff that there's the Charlie puth is a local he
grew up right across the river here we got Cesar who's a Jersey girl and Halsey who's a Jersey girl and then of course a lot of great actors from DeVito to Chris Rock to Whoopi and on and on and on beautiful well it gives us a great
reason to connect again I love talking to you for the first time it seems like a lifetime ago is any about four three four months ago probably we should touch on one important thing for you and for your listeners because it's just hit the
wire this second Bon Jovi has canceled their forthcoming tour I saw we've canceled it it's not postponed and so people are going to be able to get refunds and the reason that we cancelled instead of postponing it free here there's because I was very aware that
folks are going to need that money and that money's gonna help with ranter groceries and credit card bills and in this time of uncertainty we just wanted to folks to know that they were there for us for these three plus decades we
were there for them we'll be back when it's okay to be back so with that said you know the album is delayed until the fall and I'm disappointed especially disappointed because the record is so great what is it about New Jersey John
and and voices and and singing because when you've got you and Bruce and Whitney and Frank Sinatra all coming from the same stay I mean just the I mean we're talking about some of the most legendary voices and music across multiple spaces we grew up in this place
called New Jersey which was caught in between New York and Philadelphia in New Jersey in truth we don't have our own TV stations we rely on New York's stations we in Philadelphia this is being the same kind of an answer to that what we
had here was the shadow of the great metropolis but a place where we could work on that craft so when I was 18 and quit being in a cover band playing other people's songs we had a place to develop and to write songs and to to dare to suck as we say you know because he
worked on getting better every day without the glaring spotlight but we were only an hour away from it it's time for us to talk about Bruce and and how and how that was when you first I mean you've got to describe your relationship to Bruce from a fan and and from a
fellow artists point of view because the tool really are synonymous with each other in terms of your relationship with and the impact you've had for New Jersey and how far you've been able to take your talent around the world it's so
rare that two artists of the same caliber come from the same state in the same era to achieve the same things I'm 12 years younger and so I look up to those guys like they're big brothers and heroes and you know going to that
first show in 1978 and just looking up and saying that was my Beatles big and the reason I say that is because 30 miles from where I grew up and in the same bar that I was able to cut my teeth by playing first Southside Johnny and Bruce kind of their songs to
developing my own voice and writing my own stones that was 30 miles from my house and chances were in 1979 when I was still in high school 1980s I was graduating high school and playing in those bars you would run into one of them so it made those posters on my
bedroom wall of Led Zeppelin and and kiss and Aerosmith and those things that were up there on the wall come to life because the guys that were making records about your backyard were in your backyard and that made the impossible
possible that made you think I can actually achieve that I had that poster you probably remember this poster of Led Zeppelin in front of that big airplane it said lets up went on the side of it that poster hung on my bedroom wall
years and years and years later Bon Jovi had those airplanes and have had those airplanes I didn't they say Bon Jovi on the side it's because of that poster and so my relationship has always been one of of reverence it's never been competitive not from my
perspective because I was too in awe what's your favorites Springsteen story personal Bruce story you can share with us right here I was in high school and we were playing one of his songs I was 17 years old and he walked into the bar
and he walked right up onto the stage and he jumped up and he grabbed the microphone next to me and that was the first time so you went from emulating your heroes to trading spit on the microphone you know before we finish and we play our last song here Jon Bon Jovi
your hope for the future and where you where you see how you see us emerging from this and and what your feelings are at this point kind of as we're now starting to adapt to the new abnormal it is a new normal it's a scary time but much like other scary times we as
Americans have always seems to come through and right now people are wondering if they should go outside people are tired of being in the house and what is going on we six but this is the toughest moment then didn't we've had to face because we
can't go out too soon we as a people need to come together so that this doesn't boomerang on us and turn into something far worse and when people talk about the economy tanking if God forbid this thing turns around on us and
becomes worse that's when it's gonna tank you know right now if if people can they got to try to be patient and I understand you're cooped up in the house and I understand that the paychecks aren't coming in believe me I do but in the big picture just social
distancing and being patient in your community is really gonna make all the difference in the world in 50 years or 40 years or whenever it's time for you to move on to the next thing what's gonna be that image of Jersey what does that's what is that what is that what
does that picture of Jersey gonna look like for you you know I think it's it's the summertime it's the sunshine it's the beach it's it's our proximity to the great place called New York that we all love so much it's a place where we all
spend at least half of our day because you know we're all one around here these states are very small in you're in New York you're in Philly New Jersey is a is a small but but tight plates we're all in this together we always feel like
your loyalties may lie between the Giants in Jersey and the Jets on Long Island and the Eagles in Philadelphia but when we come together like this we're all just Americans and right now Jersey has that kind of sense of pride and we've come together for this event you