Bobby Mahoney / River City Tanlines / The Ellie Badge [Small Room-Downstairs]

If you could distill Bobby Mahoney’s flourishing career down to a single moment, it might well have happened in the middle of a blistering set at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park. The crowd was bouncing along to a thunderous backbeat and Mahoney – the songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist – was blasting his way through another fiery solo on his battered Gibson SG. With fans in a frenzy and the song at a crescendo, he looked back to the Pony’s stage manager and flashed a sweat-drenched, mile-wide grin that said it all in an instant; Bobby Mahoney was exactly where he was meant to be.

It’s a moment that thousands dream about but few experience, and it’s a moment Bobby Mahoney didn’t arrive at without putting in the work.  Bridging the gap between the stereotypical teenage desire and musical reality requires dedication, belief, talent and drive; qualities he’s always had in great supply.