Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week “This one’s for Humpy.”

This is Jesse Sample. Two days ago, we had the 2026 Listen Up Awards by RadioRadioX. It was great time and a real pleasure to catch up with a lot of the players on the Albany Scene. Somewhere over the night, I learned about the passing of someone from my past and it took me by surprise. He won an award but wasn’t there to accept it.  Let’s back up a minute.

It roughly 20 years ago, and I am running with a novelty punk band called The Whack Jobs. We were a mean three piece who specialized in funny songs. A friend of the family asked if we would do a benefit and we agreed, but we told her “Listen to the music first and make sure it’s right for your event.” I should probably mention that we wrote and performed some pretty far out songs often including illicit sexual references and plenty of foul language. I double checked “Are you sure you want us to play at your event? It might not be the best fit.” The lady insisted.

The day of the show arrives, and we are putting on our makeup and our costumes. I was the punk rock pantomime and my fellow band mates, Mike and Mike, were the Burger King and Darth Vader, respectively. The phone rings. I answer. Someone says, “Janice wanted me to call you and tell you guys that you don’t need to come.” Don’t need to come? We all took the night off work to come play this benefit and now she’s trying to cancel 1 hour before showtime. I say something to the effect of, “This is unacceptable. We’re coming to play this show, or they’ll have to escort us away in handcuffs. You can choose.”

I put this situation on the back burner. The show must go on. Me and my boys got the night off in the name of rock n roll. My drummer’s house was on Lansing in Colonie. There was a bar on the corner of Lansing and Central Avenue. I walked in, full makeup and leather jacket, and asked to speak with the person who makes the decisions around there. The guy behind the bar smiled and introduced himself, “I’m Humpy.”

I proceeded to make my case why we should play at his bar that night and about the tons of people we would draw. He wasn’t a hard sell and he seemed genuinely interested in the act. We came to an agreement. I went back to my boys and told ‘em to get in the truck so we can go ambush this benefit but also that we have a show tonight less than a quarter of a mile away.

We came in later that night and did our thing. A few people showed up but not many. Humpy seemed to enjoy the company, however sparse. After the show, we talked about dirt bikes, rock guitarists and the common people we knew in Colonie, beers in hand, and in the muffled roar of cars racing down central avenue.

This one’s for Humpy.

Thanks to all of you tuned into RadioRadioX. This is the Freak of the Week, “Humpy.”