July / august 2006:

Hot musical acts



Guster - Hot Jewish Music Act | Still dominating the college scene after attending their 10-year reunion last year, proud-to-be-Jewish alterna-rock band Guster is only getting better, with this summer’s release of their fifth studio album, “Ganging Up On The Sun”. Famously, founding members Ryan Miller (guitar/vocals), Adam Gardner (guitar/vocals), and Brian Rosenworcel (drums/percussion) met in 1991 as freshmen at Tufts University, and recorded their first album as students there. They soon became a fixture on nearly every college kid’s playlist for their likeable acoustic sound and vocal harmonies and, more recently, for their intimate shows and the online diaries they maintain despite enjoying huge success.

Endearing releases like “Hanukkah Rocks” (2005) — a joint effort between Gardner and Dave Schnieder of the Zambonis — have made them favorite Jewish icons, as well. Not that the three founding members have kept their Jewishness any kind of secret. On their website, they offer the following clues when asked if they are a Christian band: 1) Brian’s last name – ‘Rosenworcel.’ 2) Any photo of Ryan where you can see his profile. 3) The Guster Backstage Contract Rider, where we stipify that “the dressing room must be furnished with plenty of borscht, noodle kugels, potato latkes, gefilte fish, and homemade rugulah for dessert.”

The Black-Eyed Peas - Hot Non-Jewish Music Act | Sure, My Humps made us all want to make like Van Gogh and slice off our own ears, and Fergie may be the most questionable export from the sunny shores of children’s television since child welfare poster child Britney Spears, but it’s official: the Black Eyed Peas deserve your love. In their recent concert in Tel Aviv, Peas frontman and modern-day Herzl Will.I.Am declared the band’s time in Israel to have been the best five days of their lives and revealed that he wanted to abandon his Christian roots and convert to Judaism. Questionable sources speculate that Will.I.Am plans to follow up on his newfound interest in Judaism by converting under the auspices of Rabbi Shmuley “Kosher Sex” Boteach in a live television broadcast, and releasing an album of Chasidic tunes titled Don’t Ferkockt My Heart.


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