By: Shane Bagot, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
SOUTH JERSEY – If bluegrass and folk pique interest, look no further than the South Jersey band, Law Abiding Citizens. Members include guitarist Shane Sankey, upright bassist Matthew O’Neil, mandolin player Steven Sebastian, banjo player Joey, and lead singer and violinist Sean Daniels.
Their origins begin in the South Jersey bluegrass community. They have been frequenting music festivals and jamming together around campfires for the past ten years, building bonds and connections that would later become the structure of their band, thanks to a Tonewood Brewery event that needed a band.
Bluegrass and Folk were always the path for Daniels and the band. Despite the music community being more dominated by rock, jazz, or even hip hop. The storytelling and timeliness are what speak to Daniels.
“One of the great things about this style of music is that it’s mostly about telling stories and speaking for what’s going on,” Daniels said. “Specifically acoustic instrumentation that focuses on singing and kind of touches back transition is really wonderful for the narrative aspect of songs and songwriting.”
For this type of focus on folk music, Daniels looks up to bluegrass artists Carolina Chocolate Drops and Bruce Mulsky. They specialize in telling stories and speaking about what’s going on. Their ability to modernize folk history music while honoring it is something he wants the band to be like.
These influences of bluegrass and folk are seen on their newest EP, Preamble. It consists of tracks that the band had been playing and performing for the last year and a half. The experience of being in a studio and recording has driven the band to start work on their new LP for the fall. For Daniels, the outcome is showing the value of experience.
“I think it’s happening faster than the first EP… kind of a different band now,” Daniels said. “We’re playing out more, and you’re a little more together, and we’re kind of pushing ourselves to be playing harder songs and writing new material at a quick rate.”
The band recently played at South Jersey’s “Camp Jam in the Pines” festival, where Daniels and the rest of the group got their start. Daniels said that at the beginning, he wasn’t the best violin player, but the people were supportive and helpful in taking him in. It made their recent performance at “Camp Jam” just that much more powerful.
“To play like that on the last day, you know, it’s hard to describe how meaningful it is. We’re talking about 10 or 15 years’ worth of life experience and trials and victories and all of that, all wrapped into this one performance at the last time that we get to do it for Camp Jam. It’s really magical,” said Daniels.
The next plan for the group is to get more attention and performances at bluegrass, folk, and Americana festivals. Daniels wants to progress to a touring act, seeing a future of gigs and an embrace from the folk community. All while still trying to write new songs and learn new covers.
All of this drive, dedication, and togetherness that Daniels and the group have is all thanks to their time growing up in South Jersey.
“I like to think that path is evolving,” Daniels said. “If that path is the leaves and the trunk of the tree, South Jersey is the roots… it means everything to us because that’s what we are, and that’s who we are from.”
It has been built into them or, as Daniels put it, “the fiber of the tapestry that were weaved of.”
Interested in giving their EP a listen? You can find Preamble on all streaming platforms. For more information and contact for the band, check out their website here.
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