Jersey Kidz ready to rock the masses

Above: Jackie "Cole" Miskanic (r) with singer-songwriter Demi Lovato, one of her influences. Right: Miskanic (r) performs with Jersey Kidz at the Bamboozle Festival outside Giants Stadium in East Rutherford. The band, whose average age is 12, secured the gig by winning a four-month battle of the bands. EAST BRUNSWICK — Mick Jagger may be well into his 60s, but rock and roll is still the music of youth.

One needs to look no farther than East Brunswick for proof.

Thirteen-year-old Jackie "Cole" Miskanic is the lead singer of Jersey Kidz, the same JerseyKidzwho in May shared a festival bill with popular acts Fall Out Boy and No Doubt in front of tens of thousands at the Bamboozle Music Festival at Giants Stadium. The band is the youngest to grace the stage at the annual festival.

Jackie, who just finished seventh grade at Hammarskjold Middle School, fronts the band, which is made up entirely of teens and preteens from the local area.

The band earned the Giants Stadium gig by winning the "Break to Bamboozle" contest, a four-month battle of the bands, according to Jackie's father, John Miskanic. He said Jersey Kidz beat out more than 800 other bands, all of them older than Jersey Kidz, to win the coveted spot at Bamboozle. Finals for the contest were held at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

The band includes Jackie, who handles lead vocals; Shane Tieger, an 11-year-old bassist from North Brunswick; Jeff Mourer, a 15-year-old drummer from North Brunswick; Richard Schaafsma, a 12-year-old guitarist from Wyckoff; and Michael Salerno, a 12- year-old guitarist, also from Wyckoff.

"All the kids are prodigies," John Miskanic said. The band formed after Jackie saw a local cable access show run by Michael and Richard and featuring local teen bands. Jackie sent the boys a demo of a recent show she did at The Stone Pony. Although she was already in a band, she was unhappy with the progress of the band.

Jackie met the boys, sang with them, and Jersey Kidz was born. Soon enough, their manager got them some gigs at schools and fundraisers, and they entered the Bamboozle contest.

Jackie's family used to reside in Long Is- land, and she was more into musical theater than anything else, her father said.

"Her first love is the stage," John said. "And she was always a freakishly good singer."

Jackie said she's been singing almost from the time she was born.

"It began as singing in front of parents, then doing theater. I love being onstage," she said.

When the family moved to East Brunswick, they were hard-pressed to find local theater opportunities for Jackie. "Then she fell in love with the rock scene," John said. "And the transition stuck."

Jackie said it is her dream to be a professional singer, and she feels like she's starting to live that out.

"I love the music, it's awesome," Jackie said.A

contest victory earned the band $1,000 as well as the representation of Shirley Grant, a talent manager who has worked with Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. Coincidentally, the Jonas Brothers grew up in Wyckoff, just like members of Jersey Kidz.

Grant's help paid off for Jersey Kidz.

"Within a matter of months, things just started taking off," he said.

Although the band only formed last September, it has already played a number of shows and has several shows lined up this summer, including at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Jackie described the band's sound as "power pop" and said her influences range from classic rocker Janis Joplin to today's singers such as Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato. The guys in the band, on the other hand, are more influenced by the likes of hard-rockers AC/DC, she said.

"They want to inspire the younger generation," Jackie said.

"It's really her new thing," said Jackie's mother, Jill. "We really did not start out with the rock thing. We began in musical theater, so this is all new to us, and I'm cautious about this scene."

The band rehearses up north with its musical director, as well as at the family's home in East Brunswick. The band has recorded some originals, including three written by Richard and one by Jackie. Her tune is called ILY, the term used by text-messagers to say to "I love you." The band recently played the North Brunswick Youth Sports Fair and the New Jersey State Fair at the Meadowlands.

John said the band plans to shoot a music video and will record three originals for an upcoming CD.

"They work very, very hard," he said. "They practice once or twice a week."

Jackie had to give up soccer to dedicate herself to the band, and has to work hard to keep her grades up with so much attention focused on the music.

"All the kids have to give up a lot," John said. Upcoming shows include a 4 p.m. July 9 show at the Northern Star Arena at Six Flags Great Adventure, with Disney Star Raven Symone; a 3 p.m. July 11 show at Six Flags Great Adventure's water park; and a 3 p.m. Sept. 6 show at the Hoboken Italian Feast.

For more on the band, visit www.myspace. com/jerseykidzrock.