Sister Salvation at One Centre Square in Easton, PA
By Josie Janci
What do you get when you take a successful cover band, and let them start doing things like write their own music? Generally you get one CD of original music that the band will carry around and sell at all their cover shows for the rest of their career. Now that's nothing to be ashamed of; everyone owns their own creative license and determines what is best for them and their career. But the reason I mention it- is because the new original band called sister salvation is the exception to that.
The New Jersey cover band Babyface Finster; is a 4 man cover band that selected their name from a cartoon in order to showcase the fun concept they want to emit. They are made up of vocalist (and band businessman) Joe Amabile, his son and drummer, Joe Jr, guitarist Jeff Lepore and bassist Chris Harvey (aka. Lenny Sours).
When they are in the "Finster" Zone you can feel the fun-loving energy as guitarist, Jeff L. and Bassist Chris come out onto the dance floor to engage the audience. Frontman Joe A. tells jokes between songs - even drummer Joe Jr. is back there smiling and throwing drum sticks in the air. But when they transform into their other "entity" Sister Salvation - well that, my friends, is something I wonder if the band themselves even knows about.
I've seen both bands and as a spectator it's obvious which band they are gonna be when they hit the stage-Baby face are the guys that play your local pubs, outdoor picnics, and work parties; they are the guys you used to play baseball with or who you share a school carpool with. They are your neighbors up the street who you invite to your picnics and feel comfortable asking for a cup of sugar. But Sister Salvation...that band is made up of rock stars. Larger than life performers who you just wish you knew! Each member stands a little taller, and seems a little prouder on that stage when they are doing their original music, and that's a great thing to recognize because it means, no matter what happens in their careers, they are doing something they love-don't we all wish to have that claim to fame! Bravo, Sister, Bravo!
The group has been playing together for 2 years as a cover band so they already have the chemistry and stage communication down pat. They know how to perform together and read each others signs. It's a great solid base and with that skill mastered, the rest of the day is about the creating-and something tells me they enjoy the creative outlet so much that song writing is downright fun for them!
Describing their music is a creative practice in itself, they call themselves hard rock but that's still vague for me. I like to think of them as "lifetime rock" since you can hear influences from a lifetime of music in them. They take the best of the genre's and combine it into a creative rock and roll tune for our enjoyment! their recent single, Rewind, was released recently and is a great example of the energy they put into their shows- here's a link-you decide! Rewind on Spotify
Because they have a super networking/marketing guru in Joe Amabile, they are hitting the big stages pretty quickly for a relatively new band. They have opened for national recording artists like Sponge and are scheduled to open for Richie Ramone and play on the bill with Tantric, Saving Abel, and Puddle of Mudd next month. Getting in front of those large audiences is key- and they know it! My advice, keep writing songs and start discussing names for your tour bus....Josie's a good one!
Lenny S.of Sister Salvation
Joe Jr. of Sister Salvation
Jeff L.(pop rocks) of Sister Salvation
Joe A. of Sister Salvation
