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An Xperience Interview: Interview: Parker Pollock (WRPI DJ) The Shuffle

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June 11, 2026

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Interview: Parker Pollock (WRPI DJ) The Shuffle

Parker Pollock: This is a little bit strange for me, I have to admit, but cool at the same time, you know?

RRX: Yeah, well … we are fans of good music. We are also fans of WRPI. But honest to God, it’s probably the station on the FM dial that I’ve listened to the most in my entire life.

PP: Yeah, there are a lot of people who call in who have been listening for years and years.

RRX: Long-time listener, first-time caller. But tell me about your show.

PP: I was a fan of WRPI, but I work here at the school. Before I worked here, I would listen all the time back when the Trojan Horse was on, Barbara Kaiser, Hair Man, of course, and all that stuff. When I got a job here … within the first week, I had a work order to go down and fix some lights in the record room, and the Hair Man walked in. I thought, now’s my chance, I could get to meet him. He talked to me like he knew me forever. So, I started hanging out down there. Since I was a little kid, I’ve always been into music, art, and stuff like that. So I started hanging out down there and getting to know the students. I started taking the classes, and it took me a while to pass the test because I’m not that good of a test-taker. But anyway, I passed, and I got Friday nights. That was, I think … 13 or 14 years. I lost track because of the pandemic. When we were shut down, we were off the air for quite a while.

RRX: Yeah, I remember it hurt.

PP: It hurt bad; we lost a lot of good DJs. We lost a lot of listeners. They ended up letting me, just myself, go back in to do my show because we needed so many broadcast hours a year or whatever to maintain a licence. Since I work here, I was part of the COVID protocols. It’s something that brings me joy, and I love to do it.

RRX: Yeah, Art Fredette, the boss man here, was like … you gotta talk to this guy. He’s like … I love this show, he listens all the time, and he said you’ve got a great selection of music. I’m always listening to WPRI as well, so I’m sure I’ve heard your show many times. There was actually another legendary DJ from RPI, Jim Barrett, who’s with us now at RadioRadioX with his show Kaleidoscope.

PP: That’s a great show. I don’t know if Artie knows, but he and I know each other.

RRX: I don’t know if he knows.

PP: I’m the guy who’s always hanging out with Anthony Alberino at all the shows. He and Anthony go back a long way. I mean … we followed Artie from bar to bar because he always had a great music scene. Also, my buddy Anthony, his father went to school with Jim, and I know Jim from the record store.

RRX: Oh yeah. He’s a Troy fixture.

PP: Yeah, it’s kind of a small town.

RRX: Yeah, they say it’s the smallest city in America with two post offices or something like that.

PP: Yeah, it really is.

RRX: Yeah, Jim told me this story. He said he just showed up at RPI back in the day with a book bag and tried to act like he was a student.

PP: I didn’t know that. That’s funny.

RRX: It worked out for him. That’s kind of the way to do it, I guess. A lot of geniuses up there at RPI.

PP: Well …

(Both Laugh)

RRX: We got the Brooklyn Bridge, at least.

PP: That is one.

RRX: Oh man, I remember RPI back when they used to have the concerts at the Field House.

PP: Yeah, they’ve got a beer mug that they sell at the bookstore that has all the bands that played there etched on it.

RRX: Lots of legends; didn’t like Hendrix play there?

PP: Jimi Hendrix played there, in fact, my buddy, Anthony again, some relation of his was a Troy cop, and he was backstage doing security. Jimi Hendrix offered this cop guitar picks and some memorabilia, and the cop said, I don’t want any of that hippie s***. So he turned it down.

(Editor’s note: Hendrix played at the Troy Amory, not the Field House, on April 19, 1968, after being rescheduled from the original date of April 7 due to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.)

RRX: Oh my God, what a regret that must have been.

PP: It’s hilarious. Just a bunch of dope smoking hippies.

RRX: Wow, that was an epic fail right there. Well, that’s awesome. So, you’re on Friday nights from what time to what time?

PP: I’m scheduled from 5:00 to 6:00, but since I’m here on campus, I sneak in and usually start around 4:30, just because I can.

RRX: And the show is called “The Shuffle”?

PP: That’s right.

RRX: Art, myself, and the staff here very much appreciate college radio. I’ve been on commercial radio since 1996, and I always listened to college radio more than commercial radio. I was often envious because, why can’t we do this sort of thing?

PP: Yeah, I mean, how many times do you wanna listen to “Sympathy For The Devil”?

RRX: Right?

PP: That’s been on the radio since I was a kid; the classic rock stations play the same stuff over and over.

RRX: Yeah, there’s one specific station way up the dial that has long-time notoriety, but I can’t even stomach it now. You wanna hear “Living on a Prayer”? Tune in right now, it’s playing.

PP: It is.

RRX: People have owned these albums for 50 years, right? So at least play some of the B cuts. Are they afraid people aren’t gonna know these songs? They do know them!

PP: They do. You’re absolutely right, that’s why I try to play songs that you don’t hear or songs that I like. I’m not a fan of the Rolling Stones, but the Rolling Stones have a lot of songs besides the ones that the commercial stations constantly play.

RRX: Their catalogue is huge.

PP: It’s huge for all those bands. It’s corporate-owned, and they’ve got a playlist that’s set, and that’s it.

RRX: And that’s why we do what we do here at RadioRadioX, and you do what you do at WRPI. Was there anything that you wanted to say to our readers?

PP: Tune in and check it out. It’s something that I enjoy, and it brings me joy in a world that doesn’t offer a lot of that. So I hope that the music that I play conveys that when you listen. I want people to be happy, you know what I mean?

RRX: I do, and Art was the one telling me how great the music that you play is, and he’s a music snob, like me.

PP: That’s a huge compliment coming from Artie. I mean … Artie is responsible for so many bands coming to Troy, like the Fleshtones. Without Artie, I think Troy would be a lot different. So, I really appreciate his support and interest.

RRX: It’s been a pleasure, man. I could talk radio all day!

Parker’s “The Shuffle” airs Fridays at 5pm (4:30ish) on WRPI 91.5 FM

Week Twenty-Three: Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week “We Make it Real”

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June 10, 2026

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Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week airs EVERY WEDNESDAY at 5pm Eastern ONLY on RadioRadioX.com

This is Jesse Sample. Have you noticed the circular nature of hate and fear in your life? It’s as though life delivers us into the arms of the things we fear most. It’s a reverse form of poetry how our repulsion for some things draws them closer to us. It’s almost like the universe plays an ironic trick. We can often see it when we take a Birds Eye view into the lives of others but we are often oblivious to see this pattern in our own lives. Maybe it’s because we’re in it too deep.

When I take the time to actively hate something in this world, it’s personal. I don’t like fish sauce or dumb government spending but I don’t make it about me. These things are gross and unethical, respectively, but I don’t feel personally offended. When I see something I hate, I have skin in that game and a dog in that fight. I own that thing on a deep level or it means something very deep to me.

And some of us run from these things our whole life and we scream to the stars, “I will never be that thing I hate!” or “I will never be that thing that I’m afraid of.” And its seems that if you listen close enough, the universe giggles a little bit and says, “Oh yeah?” If you hate rats, be careful, because sometimes it doesn’t matter if you spend your final few breaths screaming in agony while being eaten by them. The fear and the hate worked on you every day you possessed this fear. It stripped you of joy of and diminished the quality of your life. It might as well have been rats.

Here’s the good news. We are capable and change and are not damned to live out these nightmares. We just gotta see it. Maybe it’s not the universe playing the trick. Maybe it’s us.

Thanks to all of you tuned into RadioRadioX. This is the Freak of the Week, “We Make it Real.”

Xperience June 2026: The Prog Digest By Klyde Kadiddlehumper

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June 10, 2026

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The Prog Digest

By Klyde Kadiddlehumper

You all know that Klyde goes to shows. Usually with Constant Companion (CC) in tow. Recently, an old mate dropped a note and said, “Hey, let’s go see Dolby again.”

The numbers are interesting, as (similar to Peter Capaldi) the subject here is exactly five months older than Klyde – born Oct 14, 1958, in London as Thomas Morgan Robertson. To us, he’s Thomas Dolby, named for the noise-reducing process developed by Dr. Ray Dolby. (Perhaps one day Klyde will tell the story of the time The Fatman – long may he wave, probably having dinner with an Elvis Impersonator – and I were at a talk by Dr Dolby, and I asked pithy questions.)

The show was in Kingston, likely a part of the tour to allow his bass player, Gail Ann Dorsey, to hang with friends and family as it’s her current place of residence. A wonderful performer herself, she opened the show and has a really lovely voice and is a talented songwriter. Oh, and did I mention she played in Bowie’s band?

With a full band (which is uncommon for Dolby), the show was sold out, the audience excited, and the seats, ummmmm, uncomfortable.

Now, my companion for the evening (in honor of Mel Brooks, we will call him The Schwartz) and I were excited. What we did not know is just how much we would learn, some of which is pretty well known, other bits, not so much.

Thomas Dolby played in Bowie’s band for Live Aid in July 1985. I remember it well. Interesting story – Dolby snuck a small camera with him and caught a photo of Bowie, reflected in the glass, in the chopper as they flew to Wembley Stadium. Bowie had a serious fear of flying and did not want pictures.

On a trip to LA, the weather stunk, Dolby had mono, and there was a break. He called the only person in his Filofax in the area and took a car to the guy’s house. He got out of the car, the gates opened, he walked to the door, rang the bell, and that friend opened said door. Thomas Dolby warmed himself a bit by hanging out with Michael Jackson.

On the reissue of his album “The Golden Age of Wireless” is a song that was the B-side to “She Blinded Me with Science” called “One of Our Submarines.” As family lore would have it, his uncle (Stephen Spring-Rice, second-in-command of the WW2 submarine P48) was lost at sea during a “training exercise” off the coast of England.

Dolby told the story about meeting a guy and finding out, after many WW2 documents were declassified, that the P48 had actually been lost off the coast of Tunisia. Anyone with a map will note that Tunisia is in Northern Africa. Decidedly not the southern coast of England.

While cool enough, what The Schwartz and I were not clued in on was that Thomas Dolby is a professor at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins. Chaired even.

During his performance, Dolby played bits of a new piece and while I’d love to provide more detail, it’s not ready for prime time and, well, he asked we not make a fuss. As a writer, it’s tough not to, but then again, the man was nice enough to ask.

In the end, we did not eat at Colonel Sandurz, no Yogurt was offered, we did not Barf, and neither of us is married to a Druid American Princess.

However, The Schwartz was with me.

Until next time.

Klyde

No Joy with Retail Drugs at No Fun 5/31/2026

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June 10, 2026

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No Joy with Retail Drugs at No Fun 5/31/2026

No Joy Closing their show with Retail Drugs at No Fun on May 31.

Photos By: Tim Reidy

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Laramie Project By J HUNTER

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June 9, 2026

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Laramie Project
By J HUNTER

You’d think two Capital Region theater companies doing the same show – on the same
two weekends – would be considered an absolute disaster; in the case of The Laramie
Project (being produced June 12 – 21 by R’ville Stage Creations and Fort Salem
Theater), it can only be considered one thing: Kismet. FULL DISCLOSURE: I am proud
to be part of the R’ville Stage production, directed by actor/playwright Sean Allison.
The play, written by Moises Kaufman with Tectonic Theater Group, centers around the
1998 murder of Matthew Shepard – a 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student.
Both Shepard’s beating and the circumstances around it were so horrific, the college
town of Laramie, WY became a focal point for the entire world. Over the following year,
Kaufman & Tectonic conducted interviews with Laramie residents, including people
directly involved with the case.

This is a play that should be seen in any case: The dialogue – taken from recorded
interviews and other found sources – is both riveting and relatable, and the story shows
that the violent rhetoric running through our world today is not even close to new. But
given that this is Pride Month, with celebrations happening throughout the region,
presenting Laramie is incredibly important, especially given that there are generations of
LGBTQ+ who have never even heard of Matthew Shepard.
Even before I got involved with the show, I wanted to find out more about what went into
this incredibly timely “joint decision.” Michael Nichols-Pate (director of Fort Salem’s
production) and R’ville Stage Artistic Director Taradwyn McCormick were good enough
to step In The Spotlight to answer the same six questions:

RRX: Do you remember where you were on October 12, 1998? How did you hear about
Matthew’s death?

MICHAEL: Well, on October 12, 1998, I was only 5 years old, so hearing about
Matthew’s death wasn’t something we had discussed in my household. However, I saw
one of the local schools (Hudson Falls) do a production of the show and was
immediately connected to the material. As someone who at the time was freshly out of
the closet by around 5-6 months, it resonated with me and drew a lot of similarities to
who Matthew was as described in the show and documentaries, and who I was as a
freshly out gay man.

TARA: I graduated high school in ‘98, so I was attending my first semester of college art
classes in Albany when Matthew Shepard passed. Being of similar age, his death was
something that my college and high school friend groups were both very aware of.

RRX: How did you come to be involved in your production of The Laramie Project?

MICHAEL: I saw that Fort Salem Theater had posted their season announcement, and
as I saw they were producing The Laramie Project, some thought in the back of my
brain told me to re-read the actual script. I had gotten about halfway through the show
before I reached out to Fort Salem and initiated the conversation to be hired as director
for the project. I also was able to see the 25 th anniversary production at the Audible
theater and meet Moises Kauffman to pick his brain a bit for ideas and how to navigate
the material.

TARA: As Artistic Director of R’ville Stage, I made the decision to perform The Laramie
Project about a year ago, shortly after I directed The Crucible. It’s been on my short list
of shows to produce for quite some time, but we needed to wait until we had enough
visibility to draw super talented artists to tell this poignant story.

RRX: It’s been almost 30 years since Moises and Tectonic dropped Laramie on the
public consciousness. Why do you feel this show is still relevant today?

MICHAEL: This show is still relevant as this story feels like it could come right out of the
headlines today. While society has come a long way since the brutal kidnapping,
assault, and murder of Matthew Shepard, there is still incredibly deep-seated hostility
towards the LGBTQ community, particularly the trans and non-binary community. The
Laramie Project has a number of folks that describe the town in the play (and the real
life interviews that have been used throughout the show) as “Live and Let Live” and
most of the folks interviewed dismiss the violence done to gay folks as somehow being
the gay person’s fault for existing or flirting with someone. Marge Murray in the show
explains how someone might “smack one of them in the mouth” if they were coming on
to someone. This is still the sentiments in society today for many in society.

TARA: I wish it wasn’t. I had hope, when I was young, that we would learn our lessons
of love and that all of humanity would move to a more peaceful existence. Unfortunately,
that is not the reality we live in, and hate shocks me. Sean and I had the pleasure of
meeting Moises Kaufmann a few weeks ago. Moises too, expressed hope that The
Laramie Project would be performed less and less over the years, because folks would
hear the message and create the change. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case as it’s still
one of the most produced plays in America. As a bard, my calling is to tell the stories of
humanity to humanity, even the ugly stories.

RRX: What’s been your biggest surprise during the rehearsal process? Given the
unique way the story & dialogue is spooled out, is that something that affected
how you approached directing Laramie?

MICHAEL: I have found the way the cast has truly come together in such a collaborative
way to be my biggest surprise. We all sat down at the read thru and the first thing I said
was that my goal was for this to be collaborative. The Tectonic Theater Project came

together as a group to conduct these interviews and write this show. While Moises
Kauffman and Leigh Fondakowski were the primary writers, the members of the
company came together to create this beautiful piece of art about an important moment
in LGBTQ+ history. The cast has been incredible with the amount of suggestions and
conversations and building each other up to create the best performances they can..

TARA: How much light we have found in the script and rehearsal process. A heavy story
can be difficult to tell when not balanced with the beauty of life. The Laramie Project is
not only a celebration of Matthew Shephard’s existence, but of all humanity. All of
humanity, at it’s most horrific and it’s most enlightening.

RRX: How do you feel about both these productions being presented during Pride?

MICHAEL: I think Pride Month is the perfect time to produce this production. Pride is a
moment to celebrate, but Pride also needs to be a moment where we all come together
and remember those we lost. Matthew Shepard’s story is one we should never stop
telling. PFC Barry Winchell’s story is one we should never stop telling. Harvey Milk’s
story is one we should never stop telling. Brandon Teena’s story is one we should never
stop telling. Julio Rivera is a story we should never stop telling. The li st just goes on
and on and on. The Laramie Project is a moment to sit down and not just watch a play,
but to check in and remember those that were lost, not just Matthew.

TARA: R’ville Stage Creations is honored to hold space for any person in our
community wanting to tell stories. You can catch us marching in the Hudson Pride
Parade on Saturday, June 20!

RRX: If there’s one single message you’d like the audience to get from your production
of Laramie, what would it be?

MICHAEL: I think Doc O’Connor says it best in the show, “Just like the whole world
hoped that Matt would survive. The whole thing, you see, the whole thing, ropes around
hope, H-O-P-E.” Throughout the play, we watch these real life characters start to
change their mind through conversations with the Tectonic Theater Project and with how
this tragedy impacts their lives either as being directly involved, or for the first time
confronting the reality that their small town could in fact produce kids who could engage
with hate in such a violent way. So, I hope the audience leaves the play with hope for a
better future, hope for a more tolerant acceptance towards those who might be different
from them, and hope for a more connected and inclusive community. Hope. H-O-P-E.
Hope.

TARA: Forgiveness. Be gentler with yourself and everyone else.

R’ville Stage Creations and Fort Salem Theater will present The Laramie Project
June 12-14 and June 19-21. For show times, locations and tickets, please go to
www.rvillestage.org/the-laramie-project and www.fortsalem.com

Thanks For Asking: Mundy

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June 9, 2026

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Photo Provided By The Artist. Photography By: Zach Durocher

RRX: Every artist’s first song is a milestone. But so is the latest song. Describe the first song/album you recorded, and also the latest song/album you recorded; what are the differences?

Mundy: The first songs I recorded were freestyles. I only had access to a microphone and my roommates SP-404SX. We would record a YouTube beat and myself rapping with the microphone simultaneously into SP. No processing, no punch-ins, just a 2 track with unmixed vocals. Nowadays I got the audio interface with a condenser microphone, all going into my DAW. I make a majority of the beats so I got the stems. I can really control all facets of the recording/production process now.

RRX: Like songs, every artist has a unique feeling about their first show. What was your first show like? Was it your best show? If not, what was your best show like?

Mundy: My first “show” was at a Juneteenth event in 2021, I think. I just performed one song and the speaker they had wasn’t working so I ended up having the crowd clap on beat and perform my song like that using the clapping as the drums/tempo. Definitely not my best show but I think it was the best “first” show scenario to have. It was basically the worst case scenario in a live setting so every gig after that is a cake walk in comparison.

RRX: You sing or you rap, you play guitar, play drums, what have you, you have no doubt struggled to learn music. Something probably tripped you up. What was it for each of you? What did you have to overcome (bands, pick a member)?

Mundy: I was pretty fortunate to have a pretty smooth learning process when it came to rapping and producing. I never took it super seriously, so that allowed the learning process to be pretty stress free. Outside of the actual music, the music business has been the hardest to learn. An example of that would be the promotion/marketing of albums has been a consistent learning process. Every album I learn from the last especially with the importance of social media. Having to evolve your marketing or finding a niche and staying consistent has been difficult for me. Especially since I like my privacy, so finding the balance between sharing and concealing in the public eye is a challenge. Lastly, I would say booking is something that continuously trips me up. If you’re reading this and run a venue book more black hip hop artists, please. Don’t gotta be me.

RRX: What do you think is the most poorly understood thing about music, or the music you play?

Mundy: The artistry that is involved with being a Hip Hop artist. Seeing people jump to conclusions based on stereotypes the minute I say “I’m a rapper” is astonishing. Hip Hop is home to some of the best songwriters and producers. It’s unfortunate in some spaces it doesn’t get the respect it deserves. It has a lot to do with people being close minded and frankly a lil racist. People get lost in the stereotypes of hip hop that are pushed by these major labels that understand the violence and sex sells. Regardless of it being a “conscious” rapper or “trap/drill” rapper, there is validity and artistry in it all. It is simply a reflection of the times.

RRX: With services like Spotify, streaming revenue can be pretty dismal. Without spilling secrets, do you have a promotional mindset or philosophy?

Mundy: Selling your music independent from streaming. Using Bandcamp or your own website for digital downloads and physical media. These are all essential in being autonomous from streaming platforms. Plus, it makes way more money in the long run.

RRX: Sometimes you gotta go on the road. Miles can build up, and it can stretch the comfort level of any travelling act. What do you bring on a road trip, or tour? What will you forget to bring?

Mundy: My SP-404 so I can perform my songs and make beats on the side when I get time. An excessive amount of extra underwear, you never know. An excessive amount of merch to sell, you also never know. An excessive amount of chords, you never know. I will most likely forget a toothbrush or toothpaste.

Interview: Aurora LaFond By: Sara Busone

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June 9, 2026

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Interview: Aurora LaFond By: Sara Busone

Sara Busone talks with Aurora LaFond about traveling coast to coast, Philosophical Waffles, the origin of Sister Outlaw, favorite guitars, and joining the roller derby

RRX: You are originally from upstate New York and it looks like you’ve made a return from the West Coast. Is that correct?

AL: Yes, I grew up in Voorheesville, New York, and then I went to school in New Hampshire once I turned 18, and then lived in Vermont, New Hampshire for about six years and then, I moved out to California where I was there the last six years.

RRX: I was looking, doing a little bit of background research on you, and, uh, looks like you were “Philosophical Waffles”, and now your “Sister Outlaw”. You have a great penchant for names.
Tell me a little bit about the origin story of those.

AL: Philosophical Waffle was an old girl band in New Hampshire that we had. So we were just, you know, staying up one night being a little silly, and, I kept trying to say philosophical, but it kept slurring over our words, so then we just kind of went from there.

RRX: That’s funny!

AL: And then I kind of re-branded after the girl brand broke up. I had a philosophy teacher. – it was a spirituality and philosophy class, and it was kind of a low stakes, high reward class so there wasn’t a whole lot of test material. One of the only notes that I took was when she was kind of going on the story about her, her relationship with her ex-husband and saying, “oh, my sister, my sister-in-law, but I guess we’re divorced. So really, she’s my sister outlaw.” And it just kind of stuck with me. So I fell in love with the name.

RRX: Oh, that’s really cool. I like that. I like a good origin story of a name.
So it looks like you’ve been playing locally. Do you have more shows booked in the area?

AL: Yes, I’m playing…let’s see…this weekend I’m going to Vermont where I used to live a little bit outside of Woodstock, Vermont. And then I’ll be playing at Emac and Bolio’s the day after the album comes out, so that’s June 28th. And then I’ll be playing at the Blackbird Tavern. I play there pretty much every month.

RRX: You mentioned the new album. Tell me a little bit about that.

AL: Yeah, so my brother’s a full-time musician out in Colorado. Last December, I flew out to just kind of get 5 songs down and recorded, and then we’ve kind of been back and forth. We both had busy years. He was releasing his album, so it took about a year and a half to produce everything, but it goes through changes of my life.. like leaving an abusive relationship in Vermont, finding myself moving across the country, falling in love, and then one of the songs I wrote for my wife. We just got married this last year.

RRX: Oh, congratulations!

AL: Yeah, thank you. So some of the songs are a little silly. One of them I wrote about my dog who just passed a couple years ago… and just kind of saying goodbye, a lullaby kind of song. It was originally called Dog Water Lullaby and then I just decided to name the whole album Dog Water.

RRX: I’m very sorry about the loss of your dog.

It looks like you posted on Instagram about a lava blue guitar. We have a lot of guitar enthusiasts who listen in and read our publications, so tell me a little bit about that guitar.

AL: When I moved out to California, I only had one guitar in my car . So I said, you know what? This might be the time… once I get settled I’m gonna upgrade again. So everywhere I stayed, I was staying with friends that I’ve known over the years. I was kind of testing out different guitars that they had when I was staying on their couch and things like that. And so I fell in love with this mint blue baby blue aqua, Ibanez guitar. I couldn’t find it anywhere and I, I tried to order it online from a used guitar store and then as soon as I went through with the payment, they called me immediately said we’re so sorry, we, we double sold this guitar. Couldn’t get it, had to wait. Had to wait another couple months and then , I think I just found it at a used guitar shop in Oakland Yeah… it’s an Ibanez i semi hollow body guitar and it’s yeah it’s, it’s my baby.

RRX: That is so cool. My husband is a singer/guitar player, and I always joke around that he has a million guitars, but there’s that one that’s like his trusty steed. Would you say that’s your trusty steed, or is there another guitar?

AL: I would say so. You know, it’s between that one and… I have an acoustic one. It’s called a lava guitar and it’s got carbon fiber, it’s bright pink and it that was one of the guitars I played in Durango, Colorado. Somebody had a matching guitar ukulele set, but it has built-in effects so you can play it acoustically. You don’t need to plug it in anywhere and it will give it a reverb and delay effects on it that you just turn with a dial, and it’s really nice for playing outside. It has such a nice tone, but when I was teaching kindergarten in California, something happened. You know, you’re working with kids and it has a huge crack in the side of it. It almost cracked like an eggshell. But the tone and everything is perfect, so I just, I can’t, you know, when you think of a trusty guitars, I just can’t set it down. I keep playing it at shows even though it’s got a little crack in it. So, you know, it’s almost like Willie Nelson with his beat down guitar.

RRX: Tell everybody where they can find your music, and your new album!

AL: I’m on Apple Music, Spotify, pretty much every available streaming source, Distro Kid, um, when they release your album, they put it to pretty much everywhere, so it’s on YouTube, iTunes, Tidal, Bandcamp as well, so (my album) will be up and available. You can pre-save, the link as soon as, June 10th, so I’ll be posting that on my socials too to pre-save the link either on Apple Music or Spotify, whatever streaming platform we use.

RRX: Anything special coming up in the works that we need to keep an eye out for? I know you mentioned your shows. I know you’ve got the album release.

AL: Yeah, outside of, of music too, there’s a really cool community of folks- I joined the roller derby team! ‘m part of the Hellions of Troy. So if you wanna come out and not talk music, we can watch all of that. We have our bouts at the Bethlehem YMCA pretty frequently, so you can follow along on there as well, if you wanna see me not all dressed up and ready for music but ready to, you know, duke it out on the on the court.

RRX: That sounds awesome. I might join you for that. I’ll need a helmet, but I’ll definitely join
you.

AL: Yeah, exactly. You should. It’s real fun.

*Aurora LaFond will be playing June 8th at Public House in Vermont 6-8pm, Sunday June 28th at Emack and Bolios in Albany 4-6pm, Friday July 17th at Black Bird Tavern Voorheesville 6-9pm, Thursday August 20th at Black Bird Tavern Voorheesville 6-9pm and Friday September 4th at Indian Ladder Farms 6-8 pm. You can also check her out in the Hellions Roller Derby June 20th at the Bethlehem YMCA, 3pm and July 18th, also at the Bethlehem YMCA, 3pm.

Rockin’ For Alex McNamee Strong at Hangar On The Hudson

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Staff

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June 8, 2026

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It was an impressive turnout for Rockin’ For Alex McNamee Strong at Hangar On The Hudson! Here are some highlights from Off The Record Trio’s set, who were joined on stage by Luke McNamee, Joe Mele, and Johnny Rabb. There were performances by The Albany Rock Pit, Blue Hand Luke, and raffles for prizes including Baseball Hall Of Fame tickets and RadioRadio X apparel.

The Waterford Harbor Market

Stories

Staff

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June 8, 2026

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By: Joshua Scarselli

The warm weather is here and that means it’s market season! The Waterford Harbor Market is one of the more interesting ones! This market runs from June to October on Sundays.

You will find a variety of vendors to keep you busy at the Waterford Harbor Market. Booths selling food and artisan good line the waterfront. From baked goods to fresh vegetables there is a wonderful selection to choose from.

Shopping isn’t the only thing to do at the Waterford Harbor Market. You can learn a thing or 2 as well. One booth was sharing information about some of the invasive species in the area and the conservation efforts to combat them. You can also explore full scale replica of the Seneca Chief. The Seneca Chief was the boat that carried Governor Dewitt Clinton on the very first ride on the Erie Canal.

No trip to the Waterford Harbor Market is complete without a boat ride! Maria from Mohawk Maiden Cruises is offering complementary rides on her brand new pontoon boat. Maria will take you on a lovely trip around where the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers meet while she tells you about some of the historical sites along the way.

For a fun Sunday morning, by yourself or with family, get out to explore the Waterford Harbor Market. Running now on from 8am to 1pm through October this market it one not to miss!