East Side/West Side: Greetings from Asbury Park

An old story takes on new life in a stirring single from Jason Didner

JASON DIDNER & THE DRIVE (with RO STAFA) – “Come Across the Tracks” (Self-released)

Jason Didner, the Montclair singer-songwriter who gave us the tongue-in-cheek Jersey anthem “You Can’t Get There from Here in Jersey,” has never been afraid to show his serious side. His latest single, “Come Across the Tracks,” finds him tapping into Asbury Park’s complicated history — that invisible barrier of race and class delineated by the railroad tracks — and the musicians who dared to cross it.

The song was inspired by E Street Band bassist Gary Tallent, who as a teen in the mid‑Sixties joined Little Melvin & The Invaders, a Black R&B outfit on Asbury’s West Side. Tallent recalled in an interview that no one told him he wasn’t “supposed” to cross the tracks. He just wanted to play music, and he did, defying the city’s unspoken segregation and playing with the likes of Clarence Clemons and David Sancious. It was a decision that would later define the E Street band. That story clearly resonated with Didner, who turns it into an anthem of unity and soul.

Back in the Nineties, when I started spending weekends at The Saint and The Stone Pony, Asbury still bore the scars of its past. The East and West sides were separate worlds, even decades after the riots. But art — and especially music — became the bridge. You’d see it in the clubs, the murals, the antique shops, even in Doug Forbes’ old Be Gallery. “Come Across the Tracks” carries that same hopeful thread — a belief that creativity can dissolve the boundaries that greed, fear, and history have drawn.

Musically, the tune has that unmistakable Jersey pulse: chiming guitars, a twinkle of xylophone, an anthemic chorus, and a touch of E Street swagger. Didner and Ro Stafa trade verses that sound like a conversation across time, while Didner’s own sax solo (simple, heartfelt, unshowy) ties it all together. Leah Fox and Alyssa Menes keep things grounded with a tight rhythm section that lets the story breathe.

What’s remarkable here is the balance — you hear shades of Bruce, yes, but never imitation. Didner’s Jersey roots run too deep for pastiche. He’s telling a real story, rooted in our shared geography and its sometimes messy history.

I’ve long admired Jason for his humor and heart, but this one hits a deeper place. As Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches, “Come Across the Tracks” isn’t just another Asbury Park story. It’s a reminder of what music can still do: bring people together, one verse at a time. There’s no better time to dream.