November 11, 2023
D’Jais, Belmar, NJ
By: John Dammacco
On a beautiful fall day at the shore, a culmination of 7 months of stellar coordination lead by Col. Jeff Cantor of The Veterans Association of America resulted in an epic event. 7 bands contributed their time and talents to give back in a small way to thank all who served. With Robin Layne from 95.9 WRAT as our emcee, the day kicked off with a beautiful rendition of our National anthem by Candice Miller. The Midnight Ramblers took the stage first, offering up a reggae infused set. These guys set the tone for the rest of the day with spirited classic Jamaican songs and rhythms. Next up was the Spider Daniels Band, close your eyes and be transported to the Filmore East with scorching classic Allman Brothers and solid blues standards. Jump Back took the stage next offering 45 minutes of original hard driving rockin’ blues, bookend blues covers opened and closed the set. The stage welcomed back the return of The Bob DelRosso Band. Deeply seated in blues, the band delivered the type of performance we’ve come to expect, tight, right and mighty. Enter The Incinerators, a Jersey Shore band known to fill dance floors with swinging blues and deep grooves. This six-piece band was hitting on all cylinders and delivered the goods. Peter Veteska and Blues Train, coming off the success of their 7th cd release, Full Tilt, Peter and his crew left it all on the floor, tearing the place up. Original blues delivered as only they can, on time and worth every minute. Last up, never least, The Chuck Lambert Band. Chuck Lambert, local blues/jazz legend, is the go to show for decades. As this year’s headliner, the room was warmed up and ready for Chuck to throw down and put a capper on a perfect day. As every band in the area knows, you don’t want to follow that! NJ12 filmed live on hand some of our acts and did a couple of key interviews.
This event is to support the veterans, their admission compliments of the Veterans Association. We had over 550 people pass through that day, raising much needed funds for local veteran organizations. To have the event be the success it was, Col. Jeff had a team of 10 with various areas of expertise. Everyone got to it and made the festival the hit it was. Of course, none of this is possible without our sponsors. A special shout out to:
Horizon BC/BS
NJ Economic Development Authority
NJ Small Business Development Center
The Millenium Group
NJ State Veterans Chamber of Commerce
Veterans Foundation of America
Your JSJBF was involved from the start with 2 board members on Jeff’s team and many JSJBF volunteers on the floor and behind the scenes working to make the day seamless. The joining of the Veterans Association of America, Band Together for Veterans, your JSJBF and all of you made a great day for our veterans. See you all next year, November 09, 2024.

















