Years of Rockin' Brings The Project to Local Stages

Just because you're a working father in the suburbs of Morris County doesn't mean you can't get your rock on every now and then.

The Project, a quartet of Madison dads, drew more than 70 people to a recent show at Crossroads in Garwood. They'll next bring their repetoire to in Madison Sept. 17.

The Project is lead singer Chris Bias, drummer Marc Cozzolino, lead guitarist Mike Preston, and Mike Shugrue on bass, harmonica and back-up vocals.

The members of the band have backgrounds as varied as their setlists, which range from Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam to Stone Temple Pilots, Jet and U2. Bias is a teacher, Cozzolino works as in-house counsel, Preston is a chief financial officer and Shugrue is a licensed social worker.

The members of the group played in cover bands in high school and college, but only got together when Cozzolino and Preston had dinner together with their wives and started talking about music. A jam session in Cozzolino's basement followed, and in a few months the duo began to think about putting together a band that could eventually play local gigs.

The couples began asking other parents if they knew anyone who could play bass or sing. Soon after, they added Shugrue to the basement jam session. In February at one of their children's birthday parties, they discovered Chris Bias could sing and asked if he wanted to join them in their jam sessions.

The band soon began rehearsals at a studio in Fairfield, and played their first show together at Crossroads in May, 2011. The excitement is building for 54 Main, whch will be The Project's official Madison debut. 

"We're all very excited about how quickly the band has jelled, both musically and personality-wise," said Cozzolino. "Our first rehearsal as a band was at the end of February and as we starting working on songs, it became clear that my bandmates all had serious musical chops as they had all played in bands previously.  

"We all love classic rock from the 1970s like Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, as well as alternative rock from the 1990s like Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, so rehearsing the songs has been a lot of fun. However, what is the most fun is when we play these songs live and the crowd really gets into it which, in turn, energizes our performance.

"The bottom line is that we're all having a lot of fun playing great rock music for people."

Band co-founder Preston agreed.

"It's been a tremendous experience picking up the guitar again after
hanging it up for many years and playing with talented musicians who
share the same passion for classic rock," he said. "It brings back memories of when I first picked up the guitar as a teenager, as I re-learn many of the same songs.  

"The Project has also provided a great opportunity to strengthen existing friendships and develop new ones that otherwise would not have existed."