Split Level Concerts at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in Ocean Grove has unveiled the full lineup of opening acts for its third season, and the announcement carries genuine significance for the local music community, since four of this year’s opening performers come directly from the Jersey Shore’s own singer-songwriter scene. The series has quickly built a reputation for pairing respected national touring artists with rising local talent, and this year’s slate continues that formula while adding a few genuinely notable new names to the bill.
The season kicks off in dramatic fashion on Saturday, October 31, when the acclaimed Willie Nile takes the stage at JSAC’s Palaia Theater for a special solo Storytellers show, joined by opening act Robinson Treacher, an award-winning singer-songwriter who has built a substantial performing history across venues throughout New Jersey. Given that both of Split Level’s first two seasons launched with sold-out performances, including an opening night last season that sold out weeks ahead of the actual show, this pairing of Nile and Treacher is already shaping up to be one of the toughest tickets of the entire season.
From there, the series moves into An Evening with John Gorka on Saturday, December 5, before shifting into a run of shows built specifically around showcasing the Jersey Shore’s own homegrown talent. On Saturday, January 9, Dan Bern headlines with support from Redbird, the stage name of New Jersey native Danielle Marrone, an acoustic performer whose sound moves fluidly across genres and decades while still carrying her own distinctive signature style throughout every song. Marrone released her debut album of original material, Breaking Through, back in 2025, giving her a genuinely strong recorded catalog to draw from as she opens for Bern in front of what’s likely to be a substantial Ocean Grove crowd.
February brings Catie Curtis and her band to the Palaia Theater stage on Saturday the 13th, with support from Mike Montrey, an acclaimed singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bandleader whose music blends Americana, folk, rock, and soul into a genuinely distinctive sound. Montrey has spent more than two decades captivating audiences on stages across the country, building a reputation as a compelling storyteller backed by a powerful voice and a dynamic guitar style, and he’ll be joined during his set by band member Jen Augustine on vocals, adding another layer of harmony to an already well-traveled live show.
March brings Stephen Kellogg to the series on Saturday the 13th, with his opening act still to be announced at a later date, giving fans one more piece of the season’s puzzle to look forward to as the show approaches. April follows on Saturday the 10th with Abbie Gardner headlining, supported by Jersey City-based singer-songwriter Sean Kiely, bringing a distinctly urban New Jersey voice into a lineup otherwise rooted heavily in the Shore region itself.
May turns the spotlight toward one of this season’s more compelling local stories, as Heather Maloney and her band headline on Saturday the 8th, opening the door for local duo Tiny Cities to make their Split Level debut. Singer-songwriters Melissa Anthony and Dennis King formed Tiny Cities together in the winter of 2025, and their partnership has moved remarkably quickly from a simple phone memo recording into a genuine recording career built around introspective songwriting that finds real beauty in the quiet corners of everyday life. Their debut EP, The Wind Can Be So Cruel, landed songs on WFUV radio and earned the duo Best New Artist honors for 2025 from Making Waves-Jersey Stage, a genuinely impressive showing for a project barely a year old at the time. After spending the past year playing venues up and down the state, from Asbury Park’s stages to smaller local coffee shops, Tiny Cities signed with Hidden Tracks Records and released their follow-up recording, Beginning of the End, this past January, giving them real forward momentum heading into their Split Level appearance.
The season closes on Saturday, June 5, with Kim Richey headlining alongside opening act Sharon Lasher, who brings a genuinely sultry sizzle to the stage through vocals that manage to be both powerful and deeply passionate. Lasher’s range on stage spans gritty, done-me-wrong blues numbers, sweet vocal harmonies that bring a melody fully to life, and tender love songs capable of melting an entire room, giving the season’s closing night a genuinely dynamic vocal performance to send the series off.
Every show in the series begins at 8 p.m. inside JSAC’s Palaia Theater. While season subscription packages for this year’s lineup have already sold out entirely, general admission tickets for each individual show remain on sale now, giving fans still hoping to catch one or more of these performances a straightforward way to secure a seat.
Beyond the music itself, Split Level Concerts carries a genuine charitable mission running underneath its entire season. Net ticket proceeds from every show go directly toward supporting the programming and arts education offered by the Jersey Shore Arts Center, a nonprofit organization serving Ocean Grove and its surrounding communities that offers far more than live music alone, including visual arts, wellness programming, dance, theater, and comedy throughout the year. The series has also partnered with Brookdale Public Radio’s 90.5 The Night and Musicians On A Mission, a nonprofit dedicated to building connection and inspiring generosity through music, to help promote the concert series further. Musicians On A Mission will maintain a presence at every single show, collecting non-perishable food items and cash donations to benefit Fulfill, formerly known as the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean County. Concertgoers who stop by the MOAM table in the lobby before a show or during intermission can learn more about Fulfill’s mission directly and enter a drawing for a chance to win items donated by the performing artists, 90.5 The Night, and local area businesses.
The Jersey Shore Arts Center is located at 66 South Main Street in Ocean Grove, and with three full seasons of sold-out opening nights now behind the series, Split Level Concerts has clearly established itself as one of the Jersey Shore’s genuine musical destinations, one built as much around lifting up local Shore-area talent as it is around bringing respected national touring artists to Ocean Grove’s stage.
