A ceremony to unveil the second part of a mural outside State Theatre New Jersey will be held Wednesday. The first installment, unveiled in 2022, included Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and other legends. Glen Burtnik, an artist who will be included in the second installment of the mural, will be on hand Wednesday. So will Jim Babjak, a Carteret native and lead guitarist for The Smithereens.Photo Credit: Chuck O'Donnell
By Chuck O'Donnell
Published October 28, 2024 at 7:05 PM
NEW BRUNSWICK – Glen Burtnik is talking from his yard in Asbury Park, using words like humbling to describe his emotions about being included in a mural honoring recording legends who have graced the State Theatre New Jersey stage.
He was ticking off the names of some of the other musicians who are also part of the mural - Frankie Valli, Pat Benatar, Bruce Springsteen, Ella Fitzgerald and others – and then paused.
“I mean, gee whiz, Aretha Franklin, The Smithereens and everybody else,” Burtnik said. “(These are) great, amazing artists. I don't really belong there. That’s my main feeling.”
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Yet, Burtnik can make one claim that none of the other artists who have been immortalized in the mural can: He’s the only one of these artists who can claim to be one of New Brunswick’s favorite sons, an artist who can trace his earliest musical moments to playing guitar for an audience in Johnson Park and performing at fraternity parties at Rutgers long before rocking the State Theatre.
Burtnik will return to the city on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 2:30 p.m. – maybe with his guitar in hand, ready to play a tune or two – for a ceremony to unveil the mural.
He’ll be joined by fellow Jersey rock royalty Jim Babjak, the Carteret-born lead guitarist of The Smithereens.
The mural depicts the spine of album covers of famous works by these legends and others, including Tony Bennett, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and George Carlin.
The first portion of the mural, which covers an old brick wall in the alley adjacent to the State Theatre, was painted by Somerville-based artist Les Floyd and his crew.
The second installment will include Burtnik’s 1987 solo album, “Heroes and Zeros.”
It will also include The Smithereens’ 1986 album, “Especially For You.”
For Burtnik, it’s been a time to reflect on how far he has come since his days as a student at New Brunswick High School. Whether as a solo artist, as a member of Styx, or co-starring on Broadway in “Beatlemania,” New Brunswick has often been his muse.
In fact, the 1991 album he created in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under the name “Slaves of New Brunswick” was an 11-song love letter to the Hub City featuring songs with titles such as “Easton Avenue Fever Dream” and “Exit Number 9.”
“A lot of the first steps, the baby steps I took into being a serious, full-time musician, it all happened right there in that town,” Burtnik said. “I love these memories. I love New Brunswick, downtown and the surrounding areas.
“The State Theatre is really the cherry on top for a local musician. I spent much time playing the Melody bar and the Roxy and the Court Tavern and all of those downtown bars, I loved it. But then getting up on that stage at State Theatre, it was ... , it just felt very important to me in my life. And it still does. I look back at it, the number of gigs I played there, and I love it and I'm just blown away.”
The road rushing under the tour bus has taken him to some far-flung locales over the decades, from Ukraine to Israel to Poland to Israel.
On the horizon are some cruises, where he will be playing with a number of bands. Then, there’s a Christmas record he and his fellow members of The Weeklings are rushing to wrap up before the holiday season.
And yet he says one of his favorite gigs came a few weeks ago at the city’s annual Oktoberfest, playing with pals Tony Shanahan and Lenny Kaye as part of a group rechristened The Nuggets of New Brunswick.
“That was a thrill, right on the streets, George (Street) and Livingston (Avenue),” Burtnik said. “Boy, that's like the crossroads of my life.”