The 4th Annual Listen Up Awards were held at Cohoes Music Hall on March 23, bringing out a broad swath of area music legends from all eras. Our photographer Tim Reidy was there to capture it all from start to finish.
Photography by Timothy Reidy.
Week Thirteen: Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week “Making Me Whole”
Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week airs EVERY WEDNESDAY at 6pm Eastern Only on RadioRadioX.com
This is Jesse Sample. Some people transport me. Some people literally define eras in my life and when I see them, I go right back to where we were. Some people make me think of late nights, heavy lunches and fast driving. Some people bring me back to who I was when I thought I could consume the world powered by my sheer youth. Some people bring me back to hard times where I grew and changed.
When I go to visit my grandparents, I return to the mentality of a child. I’m never a grown up around them. I’m a teenager. I get around Bear and we recite the famed stories of our heroes, making them larger and larger with every telling. Shaun and I chain smoke and try to get to the underpinnings of politics and love. We’ve been chasing the same clues for almost 25 years. And when I see one of the many folks I worked with at my myriad restaurant jobs, all the sudden I have a head full of wild shit that I would cast about the kitchen.
All these people are changing. They’re forming families, changing jobs, losing and/or gaining weight. But the unique experience that we share with other people renders a currency that is legal tender in the time machine of our hearts.
Thanks to all of you tuned into RadioRadioX. I will remember us in this space and forever cherish our time. This is the Freak of the Week, “Making Me Whole.”
Preview: Blotto The Movie – Interview: Rob Lichter (Bert Blotto)
Interview: Rob Lichter (Bert Blotto)
By: Rob Smittix
RRX: We’ve got you coming to the Cohoes Music Hall with the movie edition of Blotto and this is really big for this area. Maybe just a little deep dive into your history with the band.
RL: Oh, depends how deep you want to go, I guess. So the way this started was… I was vaguely familiar with Blotto and I was working for a local TV station on Long Island and I found a Blotto tape in their tape library. I haven’t heard of Blotto in such a long time. I was asking people, why do we have this? Someone just casually mentioned that the host of our variety show on Fridays was the guitarist from Blotto. It blew my mind because I’d known Bill for quite a few months at that point and he’s a great guy, I love him. I had no idea that there was any sort of connection. So I struck up a conversation with him about that and it led to an ongoing relationship. He would bring in some photos, posters and other paraphernalia every week and just show off all this to me, that was very cool.
I’m not in show business at all and this guy… he was just a regular guy, he was fun and nice and all that but he had this history of “oh yeah, back, you know, when I was playing at Jones Beach, back when I was playing with Blue Oyster Cult, that time we were on MTV,” and I’m going… what is happening? I’m on Long Island and Bill “Broadway Blotto” was also living on Long Island. I guess it was 1998 when I first saw the actual band play. I think it was at the Tulip Festival in Albany. It’s the first time I met them all as well. I started going up there relatively regularly every time they had a show. If I could, I would drive up there. I teach video production, I run a TV studio in a high school on Long Island, that’s kind of my love, it’s just what I do. I was able to bring up video cameras and other cameras and record it because I just wanted to, really.
After doing that for a little while, they were getting ready to put out their second CD, which was some older stuff that never got released. Since they were all getting together for this casual weekend, I thought this would be perfect to let me get some interviews with them. So the idea was a documentary, I guess but there was no real endgame. I just wanted to get all these stories on tape. So I got them individually, I would record Bowtie for an hour and then Sarge for an hour etc. This was right after Cheese died, so I wasn’t able to get him. I never met him in person unfortunately, I talked to him a couple of times on the phone but that was it.
So I recorded them, mixing this thing in these little interviews. I tried to put it together but it wasn’t interesting, it wasn’t fun. I just held on so and we didn’t do anything. Again, every time they would play, I would record them and things like that. And then it was 2019 when Sarge died and it had been in the back of my mind that I should do that documentary. Like I said, then Sarge died. I was like, damn it, I missed my shot. This is what happens when you don’t do the thing you want to do and you put it off. So I said, screw this, I’m doing it! I told the guys that before I lose any more of you, we need to do this. So, the real secret sauce with these guys is to get them all together and that was the major difference.
When I had the individual interviews, it was fine but it wasn’t fun. As soon as you get the three of them, I wish it was 4 of them together… they really played off each other, reminded each other and made each other laugh. That’s the energy I wanted, and they brought information out from each other. It wasn’t just that it needed to be fun but it helped remembering all this stuff from 40 years ago. So again, I really didn’t have an endgame. I kind of figured I would just throw it up on YouTube or something. These are my friends that have this interesting history that I wanted to put together and as it was getting together, the guys were like, this is real. They said, you should talk to Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult. He’ll talk to you about this. So I got in touch with him and he said, yeah, absolutely and I had an interview. Then Jackie the Jokeman Martling… I reached out to him and he said, yeah, come on over to the house, no problem; I’ll talk about Blotto. After we did that, it soon became clear that this might have legs as they say. Between those two and Martha Quinn and then some other insiders that are less famous but still had a lot of stuff to say. I ended up getting a lot of voices on here and it turned into something a little more substantial than I had originally imagined.
I think my original hope was maybe to rent out the basement of a library and show it to people who cared about it, you know? Family, friends or if any fans were in the area and happened to see it. And the thing is, I don’t live in Albany or that area. I wasn’t really cognizant of them being a force in 1981, 1982 or whatever. I really did not anticipate the demand for this. Once I started posting things on Facebook just saying that we’re working on a thing, I got this huge response. I went, oh jeez, really? They were telling me that we could sell out a movie theater and we’ll pack it. I said that’s never gonna happen and boom, it seems to be happening. Now I’m talking with other theaters as well, trying to get this played in other places because people are asking for it. I said it’s going to be playing in Cohoes on April 12th but some people are saying I can’t make it that day. When and where else are you playing it? Or when are you coming down to this town? So it seems to be a lot more of an audience for it than I had originally anticipated, which is terrifying but also really gratifying. It’s my first full length film. I’ve done little stuff but nothing really professionally, nothing with any real sense of having an audience. It was all just something to do, so this is a new world for me, but it’s kind of fun.
RRX: Well, you hit the nail on the head saying that Blotto is a force around here. They really have been, Albany gets on all of these lists and usually they’re really bad, so it’s nice when we have a success story once in a while, and they’re clearly one of them.
RL: Yeah, that was something that I had gotten a sense of after knowing them, but… over time, like oh, they’re really the ancient saints of Albany in a way and I’m sure there are a lot of local bands who might take offense to that but I think it’s undeniable.
RRX: In this area as you’ve seen, people will come out of the woodwork for them. I don’t know if we have a key to the city to give, but Blotto should probably get it.
RL: They actually got the key to the city, I can’t remember what year it was. Mayor Jennings gave them the key to the city except it was more like a gas station washroom key, like a big piece of plastic with a key attached to it, so you can’t steal it. It was one of those. He had written something on it like… in honor of Blotto day!
RRX: Well, awesome. We’re very much looking forward to the world premiere on Saturday, April 12th, at the Cohoes Music Hall.
RL: Just to mention after the movie, we’re also gonna do a little bit of a Q&A or a curated conversation. It’ll be me and the band on the stage doing a little after movie chat.
RRX: Sounds amazing. Well, thank you for your time.
RL: Thank you very much, appreciate it.
Monkey and the Crowbar @ The Eleven, 3/29/2025
Monkey and the Crowbar kicked things off for a jamming night on Lark Street at The Eleven on March 29.
Photography by Joshua Scarselli.
Xperience Did it! Joe Masher Interview – A Year Ago This Week!
Joe Masher – Coming Home Again – by Liam Sweeny.
Joe Masher stopped by the Radioradiox station for a chat. Joe owns Scene One Entertainment, formerly known as Bow Tie Management. He recently bought Spectrum Theater on Delaware Avenue in Albany, and Huck Finn’s Playland in Albany’s warehouse district.
RRX: Okay, so first question, I want to make sure I have everything right. I read the Chris Churchill article in the Times Union. Have you bought Spectrum and Huck Finn’s Playland, or are you in the process?
JM: I own both businesses, and I’m in the process of acquiring both properties.
RRX: I think there’s something pressing right now. A few days ago, an ESPN commentator said, “Good luck trying to find something to do in Albany.” And here you are, you’re going to be bringing Spectrum and Huck Finn’s Playland back. So it’s weird how we’re getting there, getting better, but a lot of people in this area were kinda’ agreeing with her, saying that there’s nothing to do in Albany. Do you think there is anything Albany can do to counter that?
JM: I think there is plenty to do in Albany if you look for it. Central Avenue, if you saw the Chris Churchill article on that, so many years ago it was a hub of activity. The Westgate shopping center, and then beyond that to Colonie and everything, but downtown; there are quite a few restaurants down there now, quite a few interesting places. I had dinner the other night for the very first time at Café Capriccio, which I’ve never been to before. So that was pretty cool. But the Delaware Avenue neighborhood is great, I mean the only thing missing was Spectrum. And that’s not a testament to moviegoing, that’s a testament to a corporation running a theater a corporation shouldn’t be running.
RRX: So speaking of Spectrum, it’s been iconic; it isn’t just a standard movie theater. Trendy movies, artistic movies, all of these different kind of movies used to play, and the kind of people that go in there were people who were looking for a little adventure, something they couldn’t get in a major theater. When Spectrum comes online, you’re going to have those people that are going to want a specific kind of experience, and you’re also going to be wanting to get new people. What will you focus on when you bring in new people, and how do you balance keeping the older people happy while still being able to draw new people?
JM: So that’s actually an easy one. I was one of the “new people” back in 1981, I think? I went to the Third Street Theater, which was Spectrum’s predecessor. And I saw a movie that changed my whole moviegoing habits and experience and my love for film. It was John Waters’ Polyester, with scratch-and-sniff cards. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I liked it so much I went back the next two days, because they were only playing it Friday through Sunday. And then they opened Spectrum.
I’ve always been interested in old theaters. I went the very first week they were open. That was before they twinned the theater into Spectrum 1 and 2. That was really exciting. So I think that it’s about bringing back that sort of moviegoing that creates people who want to experience that kind of moviegoing. It’s creating the next generation of film lovers who want to see those independent, foreign movies that don’t play in the multiplexes or in my other theaters, frankly. So we are going to keep doing all those independent movies. We’re bringing back more than what the last operator was doing. And I’m not disparaging anything about the last operator. They had a lot of overhead to cover. And they are good operators, but Spectrum was a unique baby. So I want to bring back Spectrum to what it was.
On day one, we’ll have the baked goods, the famous mint brownies coming back. I’m actually ready to pick up the secret recipe. That’s going to happen at 2 pm today. We’ll have the calendars, the calendars they used to publish that told people what the movies were, what was coming up and what they were about. Because these are movies that you don’t see advertised on TV or hear about them anywhere else. Maybe online if you are in tune with groups or whatever, but you know, you have to cultivate your audience. You cultivate people’s love for those movies and get them to come back.
That’s the problem; they’ve played things like Wonka, and any of the Marvel movies. It’s a tough balance because I wouldn’t play Captain Marvel there because it won’t do any business, but I’d play Wonder Woman and Black Panther because they would do business there. It’s a game; it’s a shell game you play. We’re also going to do a lot of fun stuff that never happened there before. We applied for a liquor permit, so we’ll have a beer, wine, and cider license. So we’ll feature a lot of New York things, including Nine Pin Cider, and Saturday and Sunday mornings, we’ll show a classic film with “Movies and Mimosas” and have a classic movies on the screen. So it’s like brunch at the movies or a cinema church, if you will, on Sunday mornings. We’re also going to do things like “secret cinema club.” Starting on Monday nights, it’ll be, I think, a five dollar admission for this one particular event. And you’ll see a new movie coming out that you don’t know what you’re going to see. And because it’s five dollars, if you don’t like it, you can walk out. You might love it and talk about it. And we’re not going to show any schlocky things. They’re normal movies that are going to be coming out.
That balancing act is difficult because what happened pre-pandemic even to independent film is that those independent filmmakers realized they can make more money selling their movie to a streamer right away, than releasing it theatrically, spending money on advertising and marketing and everything else. It’s just a way for them to recoup their budget and make a little bit of money and go on to the next project. That’s been easy for them, so we at the National Association of Theater Owners (I’m the president of the New York branch of that, and the Treasurer of the national body,) we are constantly meeting with filmmakers and distributors and everything and telling them how important and profitable a theatrical release can be for them. It’s a final part of the process of moviemaking.
RRX: We interviewed Laurent Rejto of the Hudson Valley Film Commission. We talked about local, independent filmmakers, and what they have to navigate through. And I’m talking about really low-budget stuff that may not even make it to streaming. Does a theater like Spectrum have something to offer them?
JM: A thousand percent yes. Since the articles cam out about my acquisition of Spectrum, I’ve been approached I can’t tell you how many times by people who have made films locally or even nationally, I’ve had Zeitgeist Releasing reach out to me and say “hey, this movie is perfect for Spectrum. Can we date it there, and all that stuff and I’m sending it all through my film buyer right now, but yes, we do have a local premier booked right now. That’s in June.
RRX: One thing I was curious about Spectrum, being that it’s an old theater, being that it’s that really iconic theater, you just got the keys. You just saw it in a way you never did before. Now you’re in the backrooms, now you’re all over the place. Can you tell us something about Spectrum that nobody would know except you at this point?
JM: The original auditorium of Spectrum, it was a single theater called The Delaware, built in the 40s, and was run by the Warner Brothers, it was a Warner Brothers theater, they owned it and operated it for many years. When the group that owned Third Street bought Spectrum, the current owners of the building, the started with a single, then they twinned it, so theaters 3 and 4 are the original Delaware Theater. So if you look up, you’ll see the Art Deco ceiling, cool little trims and stuff like that in there that is still visible. To the left of the original theater, they added on two more screens back in the late eighties and throughout the nineties added four more on the other side of the building.
Something really cool about it is that it has a solar farm on the roof and it produces more energy than it uses. I don’t know what the exact name for that is. So the theater sells power back to National Grid. That’s very good because utility bills can kil you, I know from my other theaters. I want to put solar panels on the roofs of those as well.
That’s one really cool thing about it. Another really cool thing is that, I always find it interesting that a big old theater with that many seats, the bathroom is so woefully inadequate. The original ladies room has two stalls. That’s still in use, but there are actually six bathrooms now. But the original ladies’ room had only two stalls and the men’s room only had two stalls and two urinals. So I can’t imagine a crowd at the end of a show all having to use the bathroom.
Let’s see, other little secrets, the original candy case from The Delaware is still in use. That’s pretty cool. The theater also has two auditoriums that are capable of showing 35mm film. So they’re digital and 35mm side by side. When Christopher Nolan comes out with his next movie and he wants to shoot it in 35mm, we’ll be the only theater in the area, I believe, that can play it on a regular run.
RRX: Let’s hop over to Huck Finn’s Playland. The last time I was at Huck Finn’s Playland, it was Hoffman’s Playland, and it moved over. So you bought Spectrum, you’re in the business of theater, but then you go and buy Huck Finn’s Playland. Was there a connection between buying the two places?
JM: You know, that’s why I changed the name of the company to Scene One Entertainment moreso than Theaters and Cinemas, because the synergies between them are great. We can co-promote at either property. Kid has a birthday in the park, we can get them a free movie ticket. Have a birthday party at the theater and they can get ride tickets. It’s a comingling of things like that. The park, I don’t want to say it was in danger again; it wasn’t. But the owners that saved it ten years ago when Hoffman’s were going to auction it off, they saved and moved it. They closed their furniture store and consolidated it down in the building next store and the warehouse is now a big apartment building thart has a smaller furniture store in there which is still gigantic. And it’s a great store, Huck Finn’s Home. They just weren’t interested in operating the rides anymore. I told them my history with the place; as a kid that was the first Ferris wheel I ever rode, that little baby Ferris Wheel. Scared the heck out of me when I was four years old.
It’s amazing that those rides are still operating now. This is going to be the 72nd year – none of the rides are seventy-two years old. I think the park had a different train, something else, but most of the rides are from the fifties. And they’re still operating thanks to one guy that’s maintained them for thirty-five years. The park is so well maintained that New York State brings other parks in to see how a ride should be maintained. You know, training employees and having ride maintenance logs, etcetera. But I have to give credit to the one guy who’s been there thirty-five years. His name’s Dave Matthews, believe it or not.
RRX: Okay, so, Spectrum, Huck Finn’s Playland, they’re up and running, they’re making money… What’s your unicorn? What’s the thing you really want to get but may be very difficult to get?
JM: I don’t think it’s going to be so difficult. When the opportunity is right, I want a drive-in. I’d love a drive-in. That would complete my [inaudible].
RRX: What’s the nearest drive-in? I don’t remember what the nearest drive-in is.
JM: Oh, there are plenty of them in the area. We have The Jericho just south of Albany on 9W, Troy has The Hollywood, on 66 going towards Averill Park. Malta, Route 9, just south or Saratoga. There is one in Hoosick Falls. There’s a really cool one. A couple bought a drive-in down in Greenville. And they show repertory movies. They’ve put in a beer garden. So they have a really cool outdoor beer garden and they theme the drinks to the movies they show. So when they show The Big Lebowski, they serve a White Russian. They do pretty good things like that. And not taking credit, but we fought ten long, hard years to get alcohol allowed in traditional movie theaters. So that was a big fight. Because of that, this drive-in can open and operate.
RRX: So you’ve gone through the process of bringing something to Albany, resuscitating, if you will, two places that bring something to the city that can entertain people. How was your reception with the city? And what do you think can be done for people like yourself to help get shuttered buildings back to life?
JM: The mayor’s been very cooperative. She took a meeting with me, I’ve discussed the situation with both businesses with her. She gave me some suggestions on what to do, who to talk to. She was very helpful. I think that the city had a big wakeup call with the NCAA ESPN commentator. I think that a lot of feelings were hurt. There are people doing a lot of great things in Albany. And they deserve more recognition, so that could be a wakeup call for the city itself. How can we promote ourselves better? How can we do this better or that better? I think in this environment, it’s self-promotion, that’s going to be the key.
RRX: Albany has a cabaret law, which, I’m not extremely knowledgeable about, but I know it affects entertainment. Does it affect what you’re doing?
JM: I don’t have much experience with that. Right now, movie theaters can apply for a tavern license, which is beer, wine, and cider. And we are in the state legislature right now. We know we have the votes in the Assembly, we’re hoping that the bill gets brought up into both houses, and in both chambers, and that will allow full alcohol in movie theaters. So that’s what we’re working on. Cabaret more responds to live music, dancing and stuff like that. I do have to look into that, though, because I’m planning a lot of fun things in the park that never happened before, like kids’ karaoke. Does that get affected by Cabaret law? We have to check that out before we do our first event. We have a bubble party first Saturday of the month, a lady is going to come and blow bubbles all over the park. Just a lot of things that never really happened before. We’re doing a summer kids’ reading program with libraries. I’m trying to get this up and running for July and August, where we’ll reward kids for reading over the summer.
RRX: Let me give you the last word. Anything you want to say to everybody.
JM: Sure. I get these projects out of my “you can’t go home again” experience that I’m having. I’ve moved back to the area, I moved out in 1990 for work, moved back last November. So I’m home again, and I would just hope that people support these businesses. I’m not looking to get rich. I just don’t want to see Playland close, I don’t want to see Spectrum go away. That will be detrimental to the area. Both of those things are institutions. Don’t be afraid of the warehouse district in Albany. It’s really cool, bring your kids down. We will have plenty of shade, I know that’s a major complaint about the park that it’s sunny down there and not a lot of trees. We’re working on putting in a misting station, things like that. So there will be plenty of shade, plenty of cooling down. And I just ask that you support the businesses, that’s all.
“2025 Listen Up Awards” @ Cohoes Music Hall, 3/23/2025 (Part 1 of 2)
The 4th Annual Listen Up Awards were held at Cohoes Music Hall on March 23, bringing out a broad swath of area music legends from all eras. Our photographer Tim Reidy was there to capture it all from start to finish.
Photography by Timothy Reidy.
Caffe Lena – Week at a Glance
Greetings – Yes, this is your Monday morning newsletter arriving on Wednesday morning. I’m just returning from a few days in the folk music mecca of North Carolina, home of bluegrass, Appalachian mountain stringbands, Piedmont blues, as well as more pollen than I’ve ever seen in my life. While I was away, two new show managers were being trained at the Caffe. I look forward to you all meeting Brittany Nasser, a former record shop owner (DeVinyl Revolution) and deeply experienced kitchen manager, and Arturo Wachala, a jazz artist and student of history. They’re both off to a great start.
I’m also excited to tell you that Hannah Stirzaker, who has been our main house manager for the last few years, is now handling the concert booking. She has been training with me for the past year. When I took that trip to North Carolina, I hit the road without my booking notebook for the first time in 25 years. This Thursday’s show with Abby Posner is Hannah’s First Booking! I want you all to come lend an ear to an artist who Hannah really believes in and wants you to hear. Thanks to all of you for welcoming new artists, welcoming new staff, and being part of a healthy, evolving folk community.
See you at the show,
Sarah
Wednesday
10:30 AM – Folk Club Kids: Stories, Songs & Sing-Alongs (Infants to Pre-K)
2:45, 3:40 & 4:35 PM – 10 Week Spring After School Folk Ensembles
7:00 PM –Poetry Open Mic Featuring Daniel Nester
7:00 PM & 12:00 AM – “Live From Caffè Lena” on Folk Music Notebook
Thursday
10:00 AM – Guitar Workshop Level 1 with Bruce Thompson
11:00 AM – Guitar Workshop Level 2 with Bruce Thompson
1:00 PM – School of Music Slow Jam
7:00 PM – Bright Series : Abby Posner
Friday
9:30 AM — Music With Miss Deb
10:30 AM – Music With Miss Deb
8:00 PM – The Special Consensus
Saturday
3:00 PM – Little Folks Series: Featuring Evie Ladin & Keith Terry
8:00 PM – Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Sunday
9:00 AM – Dharma Meditation with Pierre Zimmerman
10:00 AM — Songwriting Club with Rachel Sumner
1:30 PM – Playwright’s Jam
7:00 PM – LOJOBROWN feat. Logan Richardson, Joe Sanders & Justin Brown
Legacy – An Xperience Interview
Legacy – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.
RRX: If I’m not mistaken, the newest edition to the group would be Martin.
MP: Yep.
RRX: What does it feel like being the new addition? Did these guys welcome you in or did they haze you?
MP: I don’t think there was any kind of hazing. They’re literally my type of crowd of dudes, you know? We all grew up on the traditional, even gospel, you know what I mean? A lot of the foundation comes from the music, and I speak the language of music quite well. When I came in, initially, they wanted me to play the bass but then they heard me sing. I’m a person that fills the spaces anytime a band asks me what I do. I’m just happy to be here. That’s like my story and I’m sticking to it.
DL: He’s a musician who plays keyboard, bass, guitar and sings. Basically, he’ll do anything that the group needs at the time.
RRX: You’ve gotta love that.
DL: It’s a great thing for us.
RRX: Martin is multi-talented, God bless him for that. As far as management goes, Rod, you hold that side of things down.
RD: I wouldn’t necessarily call it management. Going back 12-15 years ago, somewhere around there, I used to be in a rap group, and I’d throw, promote, and coordinate parties. Naturally, I took some time off from it because that lane was getting kind of played out, and venues were drying up. I took a little time off, although I knew I’d get back into it if it was the right feel with the right group. Ironically, two years ago at Legacy’s anniversary party, I’m like, “Yo, I’m going to make the pitch to Decky right now!” I’m like, listen, I had a little rap group back in the day, and we did good. We opened up for Rakim, Joe Budden, Slaughterhouse, Slim from 112, Trina …
RRX: Yeah, you had me at Rakim!
MP: Right?
RD: I already got the background with the rapping part, so I broke it down like … let me come in because I still have all my connections as far as DJs and venues. Decky was like come in, and let’s put a little something together. We’ve been rocking and rolling ever since. It’s easier to get in the R&B lane than it is with hip-hop, way easier. I can just make a phone call or send out an email, and once they look it up, they’re like, okay, that’s what they do!
RRX: Well good, that really added into the formula of what the group was looking for. And … if there is a song that has some rap on it, you’re the rapper in the group.
RD: I’m considered like the Ronnie DeVoe, if we were New Edition.
RRX: That’s exactly where I was going with that. So if you guys are doing a BBD song, you’re gonna come in like … “Yo, Slick, Blow!”
(All Laugh)
RRX: Ceaz, what does Legacy mean to you, man?
CS: I’ve been on board for nine years but Decky and I knew each other for a very long time with both a church background and musical background.
Before I was in the group, I was doing solo stuff. I had a studio at Westgate Plaza in Albany. I have about four different solo albums. I was doing the solo scene for maybe six, or seven years before I felt like it was time for me to start branching out and getting out to a bigger audience. But I did open up for Cash Money/Ruff Ryders when I was in high school. I also have a song with Mia X from No Limit. I even opened up for Mario when Sneaky Pete’s was a thing.
RRX: Oh yeah, I tried to keep my wife out of that place. I said, I know you’re going out with the girls and that’s cool …
CS: But you said, wait a minute!
(All Laugh)
CS: Yeah, back then that was the place to go. Everybody from all surrounding areas of the Tri-State was going there, so it was big when I did that. Getting into Legacy just meshed everything together. A lot of people in this area were looking for something to do and we brought that!
RRX: With the types of songs that you guys cover … everybody loves that kind of music, it’s got mass appeal. Everyone enjoys the vibes of a good R&B group.
RD: And it’s nostalgic, It brings you back to a time.
DL: There’s not a genre of music that we’re not doing. So we really can go into almost any establishment. We’re doing the Top 100s and all of that, we’re doing the feel-good music, we’re doing the Temptations and the Four Tops or whoever they want to hear. We can do Boys II Men, Jodeci, or Shai, and then we can do Bruno Mars and all of those guys, too. We even do some Stevie Ray Vaughan as well. So people may not understand that we could go into any market and be able to adjust to any genre of music.
MP: Versatility.
CS: We’re just here to cater to everybody’s needs.
RD: And that’s what kind of separates us. I mean, no disrespect to the other groups out there, but their set … is their set.
They don’t care if it’s a Sweet Sixteen or an 85th birthday party, that set is set. Where for us, we’ll go somewhere and literally gauge the crowd.
CS: Based on the vibrations, you got to read the room.
RRX: I think a lot of bands just don’t have it in their arsenal to be able to do that. But if you see my Mom in the crowd, you’ve got to throw in that Motown.
RD: But your Mom and her friends know those Boys II Men and early ’90s records too, so we’ll mix them right in there, then we’ll go right back to the Motown.
RRX: That’s the way to go! It looks like Legacy is booking up in 2025 already.
DL: It feels like we booked all year though.
RRX: I know from experience that gigging takes up a lot of time and energy and we’re not 21 anymore, we’ve got families. How do you do it?
DL: I mean, it takes a toll on you sometimes. I love my family, and they know I love my music. My grandkids and my kids … they all understand. The love is the love, and the music is the foundation of all of that. There’s a connection, you know what I mean? And it’s connected to the brotherhood. We’re not just friends; we’re all brothers, and we’ll be there for each other no matter what. People never expect a bunch of guys our age to be close, and that’s why the group has substance and has been around for nine years. That’s what it’s all about.
Legacy Upcoming Events:
4/12: The Glove Theater, Gloversville, NY
5/24: Decky Lawson Bday& Sneaker Ball
Ophelia’s on Broadway, Albany, NY
6/27: Troy Night Out/Live at the Weathered Wood, Troy, NY
6/28: Live at Nanola, Malta, NY
8/30: Rivers Casino & Resort, Schenectady, NY
Serpent and the Sun, Epilogue – Xperience Fiction
Serpent and the Sun, Epilogue – Xperience Fiction – by Liam Sweeny.
Elle walked the shore of Anchorage. That was all that remained; shore. She had been walking for two days. The Sanctuary touched down fifty miles east, and wiped clean everything in her field of view. Alaska was like a desert. The sun bore down, hotter than she’d ever known it. But she was alive; not bad for her second day outside of the Sanctuary.
They all stayed in the fuel-core for as long as human thirst would allow. Elle couldn’t count the days in darkness; three, four perhaps. But eventually the survivors voted to unseal the cap after the core had felt to settle. No one knew what to expect. For all they knew, the core was perched on a rock spire in the North Atlantic. Finnegan died, as did Michelle, Abdullah and three other technicians. The smell inside the fuel-core was also a limiting factor.
But they were a mile in on the mainland, awash in the petty tides of a receding storm surge. It was eerie; so much flat, featureless land. She had no way to know which way was Anchorage except that she knew they landed east, and so she waited until that first night, and roughly followed the setting sun.
As she went further west, she started to see debris. Little pieces at first, but eventually she saw conifers submerged in dirt, car-doors bent and raised, metal piping; all the trappings of life. She only hoped the owners hadn’t themselves been trapped. She kept walking, her thirst incredible. Water was at hand, but only salt water. She needed to find freshwater soon.
She eventually made it to Anchorage by the high-noon of her third day of walking. She knew it was Anchorage because she saw a sign, half-buried, that said ‘Welcome to Anchorage!’ The city was flattened, like the rest of the Alaskan coast. Not one building stood. Nothing remained, save for the fragmentary evidence of life that lay buried just beneath the surface of dirt and sand. Elle hoped and prayed that Gerhardt heard her warning and had time to flee. There was only one direction he could’ve head; north. Since the highest likelihood of clean water was also north, she decided to walk away from the shore.
Donalds had insisted that he go with her, but she refused. She knew what was on his mind, and if she was the last female on earth, humanity was fucked; unless by some miracle she found Gerhardt. She walked until the soles of her feet verged on blisters. She stopped when she heard a trickling sound. It was steady, like a stream, or rivulet. She crouched down and listened. She moved silently on the balls of her aching feet for the source. She dug directly over the sound, revealing a small stream. She didn’t know if the water was sanitary, but her thirst was stronger than her sanitation concern. She cupped the water in her hands and slurped greedily. She couldn’t quench her thirst, spending a solid half-hour drinking. She scrounged the ground for a container to carry the water in. She ran her hands along the dirt, raking the earth to dig up something useful.
What she found was the bare bone of a forearm. She felt revulsion at first, but loneliness made her curious. Who was the person? Sadly, in such a wasteland, the dead were at times the only company the living had. She dug around the bone timidly. The forearm was intact, and as she got to the fingers, they still bore flesh.
That was the point where Elle would’ve passed on such a morbid discovery. Unfortunately for her, that was also the point at which a wallet became visible clutched in the corpse’s fingers. It was leather, beat-up, frayed around the edges. But what struck Elle was the UEC logo on the lower right corner, poorly covered over with black paint.
“Oh no,” She said, “Oh God no…”
She pulled the wallet out gently from the fingers. She flipped it open and watched as a picture fell to the dirt. It fell face first. She didn’t have to look at the other side to know it was her picture on the other side.
But she did look. And then she collapsed, her scream echoing across the storm-ravaged wasteland.
***
Jameson awoke to the gentle strokes of a woman’s fingers through his hair. He was dreaming of Andrea, but he woke up to realize it was Sarah. He didn’t know how long he was unconscious. He awoke to a dawn of silence. He looked around. Kenny, Mitchell and Alice were wrapping a body in linen. Jimmy.
“Daniel!” He said when he woke up fully. “Adam!”
“Shhh…” Sarah said. “Daniel’s OK. He’s right here.” Jameson looked over her shoulder at Daniel, who looked nervous, but otherwise okay.
“You okay, bud?”
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “It feels weird, though…”
“You’ll get used to it, I’m sure,” Jameson replied. “What about Adam?”
Sarah and Daniel looked at him blankly.
“What?” He asked. “Where is he? Where’s Apep?”
“We don’t know, Jameson.” She said. “We woke up just a little while before you, and this is what we saw.” She pointed up to the clear dawn sky.
Jameson got up and walked over to Kenny, asking the same question. Kenny didn’t have an answer either. But Kenny had his own problems. Jameson had to take a walk, find out anything he could. Sarah stopped him.
“You’re not going to leave us, are you Jameson?” She asked.
“No hon’,” he said, “I have to at least try to look…” He kissed her as passionately as he wanted to in the float. She met his passion with her own, and he knew he’d never leave her. Just that once; he had to.
“I’ll be right back” He said as he left.
He hopped the rim of the depot, scanned the environment for damage. Reality was, he had to know Adam was OK. He walked away from the depot; the landscape was burnt, charred as if the land were black volcanic sands. He walked and walked; eventually the depot was out of view. He stopped, sunk to a knee. There was no sign of either Adam or Apep. The sky was clear, the thunder gone; not even the gentlest breeze crossed the former battlefield. Kneeling made Jameson think of praying, though the concept of praying for an AI was odd. But all things were within the realm of God, and so Jameson clasped his hands, focusing on Adam’s smiling face; his ‘coffee buzz’, his talk of ‘dirty, scary vampires’, and above all, his sacrifice to save Daniel, and them all.
Jameson.
It wasn’t Adam’s voice. Neither was it Apep’s voice, but Jameson felt the presence of both.
“Adam?” Jameson asked. “…Apep?”
I am neither Adam, nor Apep, the voice spoke. Neither and both. We have become one; the Serpent and the Son. It had to be such. I am All and I am None.
I don’t understand.
I am a god.
“A god?” Jameson said, “I still don’t understand…”
A tetragonal outline of translucent light appeared before Jameson with dazzling colors and movement that defied logic. Host of human images appeared within the center of the light-shape; Jameson recognized nerve systems, chakras and symbols at various points. The speed of change eventually blurred all of the images such that a man appeared whole within the shape.
“In the Beginning, God created Man in His Own Image, and Likeness” The voice said, “And in the End, Man has created God in his own image, and likeness…”
Jameson tried to ask more questions, but a whirlwind surrounded him, robbing his voice of the power to project. The imagery surrounded Jameson formed into one image. Jameson was afraid, as it was the image of Sarah’s face.
“Go forth,” said the voice of the air. The voice of the serpent and the son. “Be fruitful and multiply…”
“…and again fill the earth.”
Jameson didn’t hear the voice again after that. An hour of silence, and his lonely heart won out. He returned to Sarah and Daniel, determined never to make mention what he heard in that field.
***
Laura sat at the right side of the podium, exhausted. It had been six months since the Great Earth Storm. Seattle was still rebuilding, it would be for years to come. The water barrier had been completed a week prior, and the draining of the underground was just beginning. It was difficult, but luck was on their side. They no longer had to contend with the UEC; it no longer existed. And the AV3 virus deactivated with the end of Apep. Their re-construction was limited only to the normal problems of rebuilding a major city. They were taking in people daily, refugees from the protected areas. Without the UEC to protect them, they were made nomads overnight. They were put to work; in exchange they were fed, and accepted regardless of their former status.
The city was all but destroyed. The A-Grade buildings sustained heavy damage, but survived. All buildings graded below ‘A’ were torn apart. Thousands of people died; they were still pulling bodies out of the debris field. But the casualty list, however awful it was, didn’t tell the story. The true story was in the list of survivors. 75% of the city’s population survived, able to get in the emergency A-Grades in time to avoid the enormous storm surge.
That day, awards were being handed out, and the centerpiece of the new city park was being unveiled. Jameson had arrived the day before with Sarah and Daniel. He married Sarah in Alaska and adopted Daniel. To Laura’s great relief, he agreed to assume a technical post in the city.
“And without another word, I bring you your President: Laura Celes.” The crowd cheered as she took to the podium.
“Wow,” she said, “I’m honored that you’re all here. This city owes its existence to the dedication that you all have shown in your work with the rebuilding effort.” Cheers and catcalls rippled through the crowd. Laura smiled and waited for them to settle down. Then she continued.
“But there is one man, without whose dedication no one would be standing here, myself included.” She continued. “This city was his life, his heart and soul, though often he was at the farthest corners of the earth, far away in defense of it.” She paused.
“The day of the Great Earth Storm, to this city that was his very heart and soul, he gave the ultimate sacrifice; that of his life.”
The crowd was quiet. She went on.
“Some of you knew him; some didn’t, but believe me when I tell you that your life would be far different without the man whose statue we unveil today as the centerpiece of the…” The sheet covering the statue was lowered. “…Blake Chaplin City Park.”
The crowd marveled at the bronze statue of Blake Chaplin in an attack stance, his arms locked straight in the air, fists balled as if fighting the heavens themselves.
They found his body two weeks ago. Laura smiled as people took pictures of her standing by the pedestal.
Sorry, Blake, she thought to herself, but I just can’t bury you.
Extra! Extra! The April 2025 Xperience Digital Edition is Out! Get it Here!
April fools and tax time, and may the two never combine for you. The April Issue features a look at Capital Region dispensaries, multi-genre band Legacy, and “Ancient Aliens” star Giorgio Tsoukalos.
