Matthew Morgis

Whether it’s on a big fancy bus or an old beat up van, touring is a standard in the entertainment business. The New Jersey-based band River City Extension will never forget its first touring experience, and is ready to give it a second go including a stop at the Vintage Theatre, 119 Penn Ave., Scranton, on Saturday, Sept. 18.

In early 2010, the band signed a record deal with XOXO records — which is responsible for breaking The Gaslight Anthem — and hit the road supporting their album, “The Unmistakable Man.” Soon before the tour, the band’s van broke down and was not able to be taken out on the road.

River City Extension left New Jersey to travel across country, with ten members — eight who play in the band — in a Jeep Cherokee and small Mazda. After playing a string a good shows and finding themselves in Wisconsin, the Jeep broke down.

Three members continued on all the way to Colorado while everyone else on tour waited for the Jeep to be fixed. The members were supposed to be reunited for the final tour date.

“We were in the green room waiting to go on stage,” front man Joseph Michelini recalled. “I get a phone call about 20 minutes before we were about go out from our tour manager that said ‘We hit a deer, the Jeep is totaled, we’re on the side of the road.’ After so much stress and excitement of them coming to join us, we just felt so defeated.”

On its current run, the band is set to play some impressive venues around the Northeast, and will also stop and play the main stage at the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans.

The group has been on the festival circuit before, previously supporting Cake and Robert Randolph at Artscape in Baltimore.

River City Extension is now headlining its own tour on a mission to share its music - well-executed pieces with strictly defined orchestration and narrative lyrics and elements of bluegrass, punk and folk.

“Everything in our past has been a huge learning experience. The good shows and the bad ones you learn something from,” Michelini said.

After all of the hardships the band is still living the dream — playing music they love in front of fans – and if you love what you do, you never have a bad day of work in your life.