By Steve Sears

NK Architects of Morristown (with offices as well is New York City and Philadelphia), President, Stephen Aluotto, admits it. Playing music is something he casually refers to as his “therapy.”

“It’s something that I’m comfortable doing,” says Aluotto. “There’s a physical aspect to it. When you’re playing rock and roll and singing and playing guitar, there’s a callisthenic or cardiovascular aspect to it. And it’s a collaborative art form; any musician will tell you that, in a band format, there’s no greater high than when the band is clicking together.” 

Aluotto, a 33-year Chester resident who is on the Board of Advisors for the New Jersey Institute of Technology College of Architecture and Design, and is also Chairman of the Board for Morris Arts, is a guitarist and vocalist for a musical group called The Tones Band. “Between us in the four-piece band, we probably have close to 200 years of bar band experience at the various levels,” says Aluotto. “We do it for enjoyment, and we all love performing and listening to other bands.” 

Aluotto’s fellow Tones Band members are lead guitarist Bob Marks, who lives in Hackettstown, bass player Scott Randolph of Flemington, and drummer Ed Lavery, a resident of Denville. Bernie’s Hillside Lounge and The Lamplighter Restaurant & Pub in Chester, and Adam’s Beer Garden in Rockaway, are just a few of the venues the band performs at.

The Tones Band plays a couple of times a month a set list that includes songs from the 1960’s – 1980’s along with a handful of current numbers. And they do have a following. Aluotto alludes to why. “Our band goes over well, and I think one of the differences is, talking about the music, is that while there are many great amateur instrumentalists, there’s not a whole lot of bands that make the vocal harmonies a big part of their act, and I think that’s a big part of our band’s success. We incorporate a lot of vocal harmonies, which I think has a pedestrian appeal to it, when someone hears vocal harmonies versus just a hearing a great guitar lead.” Among their set list, The Tones Band performs Byrds and Beatles tunes, classic rock like Crosby, Stills & Nash and Van Morrison, and also do some blues oriented, classic rock. “That’s typically my favorite thing to play, music with a groove,” says Aluotto. “We do some Eric Clapton songs, and we like to add different, updated renditions of classic rock songs, too, as well.”

Occasionally Tones Band members take the stage and play with other bands as well. “There’s more of a cooperative out there right now,” explains Aluotto. “And while no one was playing during lockdown, as venues started to have outside performances, we found ourselves sitting in and sharing gigs, so there’s some intermingling that goes on between the bands. I’ve performed as many as three times a month, but not solely with The Tones Band. It’s a fraternity.”

As Aluotto previously stated, he and his Tones Band colleagues love performing, and there are many special moments when it all comes together. “You could have played a song together 100 or more times,” says Aluotto, “but that occasion when it’s coming naturally, and it’s channeling out of you collectively, that’s a great feeling.”

To join The Tones Band mailing list, contact gigfreelee@gmail.com.