Band of the Week: Seven Stone

Lucky-number seven doesn't simply apply to the casinos, especially when talking about one of the area's leading local acts. Seven Stone, a band that may as well be a household name in southern New Jersey, is kicking off the summer with a slew of live shows.

Lead vocalist Jeff Bugdon is proud to be a local.

"All of us in the band call Mays Landing home; it's our meeting point," he says. "We try and stay in the tri-state area, but we mostly play local gigs, especially during the summertime along the shore."

For Bugdon and the other boys of Seven Stone, there is something very special about playing southern New Jersey in the summer.

"To be honest, the New Jersey scene in the summer just has this great vibe with great crowds," Bugdon says. "Even if you play in this area during the offseason, you're still at the shore, and it's festive with a real party vibe that always sticks.

"And we can tell the difference when we travel. It's not that the other audiences are bad, but they just don't have the same vibe as they do here, and we just love that."

Seven Stone has been rocking the southern New Jersey shore as well as parts of northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania for four years, but each and every band member is no stranger to years of playing live music.

"We've all been in many local bands; some cover bands and some original music," Bugdon says. "We knew each other from being on the scene, and when we decided to try something new, we reached out to each other, and it all just worked out."

Though Seven Stone focuses on cover music, Bugdon reveals that the band is taking its original tunes much more seriously since it successfully opened for Bret Michaels earlier this year at the House of Blues.

"We are currently planning to record a full-length CD of original material," Bugdon says. "While we adjust to the summertime music schedule, we are going to work on the album on the side, but it's becoming a strong priority for us."

Until they unleash more original material, Bugdon says Seven Stone delivers a must-see live entertainment treat.

"We pride ourselves on our live show," Bugdon says. "There are a lot of excellent bands on the scene, with much bigger names than ours, but we really know how to entertain live. We attribute our great live show to the mix of our personalities - everyone brings something different to the table. It's not just about ear candy; there has to be eye candy, too. We try to be visually exciting because it's more than only sounding good."

What They Play: A solid mix of classic and modern rock, as well as some original tunes. "We try to make the classic-rock stuff a little more unique to our band and our feel because we want to separate ourselves a bit," Bugdon says.

How's The Crowd? Bugdon says a Seven Stone crowd is extremely diverse as well as extremely fun. "The crowd can be from 21 to 61 - literally!" he says. "That's the mixture we see, and it's awesome because everybody hears songs that they really enjoy."

Fan Favorites: Fall Out Boy, Nickelback, Prince, Kid Rock, Bon Jovi, a special Seven Stone signature Who medley, Eminem and everything in between. "There's definitely a wide mix; everybody's in there!" Bugdon says.

Roster: Jeff Bugdon, lead vocals; Rich Fredericks, lead guitar and vocals; Mickey Sacco, bass guitar and vocals; Guy DeFalco, drummer.

Go See Them: 10 p.m. Friday, May 29, at Ego Bar and Lounge in the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City. Call 609-449-5138. You can also check out Seven Stone: 10 p.m. Friday, June 5, at Ri-Ra Irish Pub, inside the Quarter at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City; 7 p.m. Friday, June 12, at The Deck at Trump Marina Casino Hotel Casino in Atlantic City; and 2 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino's Beach Bar in Atlantic City.

Web Site: www.sevenstonerocks.com

- Story by Rebecca Grites, photo provided by Seven Stone