Local 518

This is a page for fans of Local Music in NYS's Capital Region - we call the artists "Local 518."

01/24/2025

Hello fans, supporters, and creators of music in the (and a bit beyond)!

Our awesome local music creatives have been very busy. For several years now WEXT Radio's award winning Local 518 Show host Andy Gregory has compiled and produced comprehensive quarterly lists of songs, albums, videos (and more) released by local artists.

Courtesy of Local 518 Show and WEXT Radio, get your very own FREE PDF copy of The Local 518 Music (and More) Report - 2024 Quarter 4 © covering the time period of October 1st to December 31st. The report includes clickable links so you can support every band & artist by listening to and buying their music and merch, and enjoy other features.

It's FREE - please share with others! 😎

https://www.wextradio.org/local-518/2025-01-23/local-518-music-and-more-report-2024-quarter-4

01/23/2025

Tonight at 9:00pm 🕚 on WEXT Radio, dig the rootsy singing 'n playing on Andy Gregory's playlist...
Kristian Montgomery & The Winterkill Band - "I Don't Know What's Real Anymore"
Shane Guerrette - "but You"
Shannon Tehya - "Dance With Someone New"
Billy & The Great Western Postal Service - "Virginia"
Turnover Mule - "Rita & Roxanne"
Aldvvin - "Hey Caterina"

ATTIC CLASSIC: Rural upstate native John Kribs has been immersed in music ever since he got his first guitar. By the time he was 13, he had already played his first bar gig! Of course, there was a high school rock band and choir, and a steady Sunday morning gig playing gospel-folk. It wasn't long until John began writing his own songs and playing them out.

After moving out west in the early 70's to tour with a rock band, he returned road toughened and wiser. Inspiration hit to get a VW bus, and with an acoustic guitar hit the Northeast coffeehouse and festival circuit. Upon returning, John formed other bands, produced a record or two and served as a studio player.

In 1984 John created Johnny & The Triumphs with Michael Hadfield (bass) and Frank Carcaterra (drums), a roots rock & rockabilly trio formed as a new outlet for his songs. Their 1987 self-titled release gained international play, especially in France. Here in the states, the band's regional popularity kept them very busy, including opening shows for national touring blues and rock bands. But after a dozen years and three albums, the late 90's was again time for a change.

The Attic Classic is "A Shot in the Dark," a track from that first self-titled Johnny & The Triumphs album.

At 9:30pm 🕧 Listen to a with Shannon Tehya. Followed with songs by The Abyssmals ("Death Row Messiah") + Trevor Collins ("You Don't Know Me Anymore") + The Kamikaze Hearts ("Secret Handshake [live]") to fill out the hour.

Tune in 📻 WEXT Radio at 97.7 and 106.1 FM, at 89.1's HD2 station, via 💻 online website stream, or by using the free app for iOS and Android 📱 devices.

01/23/2025

On WEXT Radio today (01.23.25) during the 9am, 1pm and 6pm hours hear an from the Archive

9am "On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)" - Ray Eberle & The Modernaires & The Tex Beneke Orchestra (1960s) with
1pm "Heartbeat" - Diversion Factor (1987) with
6pm "Driftin' Man" - Whitney Sunday (1970) with

01/16/2025

Tonight at 9:00pm 🕚 on WEXT Radio, rock along with Andy Gregory's playlist...
Buggy Jive - "Scheherazade of Schenectady"
Beard & Glasses - "Eternal Interstate"
Jesse O'Neill & Jon Tario - "one thousand computations accurately performed"
Zach Ronda - "Walls"
Timbre Coup - "Firestorm"
Shadow Estate - "Ghost"

ATTIC CLASSIC: When Luis Chaluisan landed in the Albany area in 1990, he already had a wide-ranging media, arts, theater, and dance resume, which included lead singer and producer of the band Little Otis and the Upsetters out of Toledo. Not long after he arrived, a friend suggested he become involved in the local music scene. With no band, but a demo tape from his Little Otis days, and a desire to keep his music and theater interests moving forward, he submitted and found himself on the card for the second, 1991 edition of the Albany New Music Expo.

Quickly putting together a band and a thematic set list, Luis billed the band as "psychotic Latin blues" and named it La Gran Orquesta El Extreme - or, El Extreme for short. That first night's performance landed them a recording deal with Mark Wilken's Blue Lunch Records.

As the group were recording their first album, 'Joke 'Em If They Can't Take A Funk,' Buzz Magazine - one of Albany's local arts & music scene publications - inserted a free flexi-disc of the song "Gina" in an issue featuring Luis and the band.

The Attic Classic "Gina" by El Extreme Luis Chaluisan comes directly off a pretty fair copy of that flexi-disc.

At 9:30pm 🕧 hear a with The Sugar Hold - Laura Grant gets the bands origin story, how they got their name, and a couple songs from the new EP 'Quickie'. Followed with songs by Ben Karis-Nix ("Skeleton Key [Live @ EXT]") + Hamilton Craig ("Skin Disease") to fill out the hour

Tune in 📻 WEXT Radio at 97.7 and 106.1 FM, at 89.1's HD2 station, via 💻 online website stream, or by using the free app for iOS and Android 📱 devices.

01/16/2025

On WEXT Radio today (01.16.25) during the 9am, 1pm, and 6pm hours hear an from the Archive

9am "Always You" - The Sundowners (1967) with
1pm "I Need to Be Told" - Fear of Strangers [ ] (1982) with
6pm "Champin'" - The Sifters [] (2004) with

01/09/2025

Tonight at 9:00pm 🕚 on WEXT Radio, rock along with Andy Gregory's playlist...
The Hard Luck Souls - "Hero"
Service Industry - "foreign objects"
Saucer - "Over Indulgent"
The Parlor - "Remember How"
Safety Meeting - "Manipulation"
The Jagaloons - "Forbidden Words"

ATTIC CLASSIC: In a local rock club, the stage lights wash over a band’s front-line trio wearing black Converse sneakers; slightly disheveled, (nearly) matching suits with white shirt & skinny ties; and TV Yellow finished guitars, with the drummer smartly attired the same behind a simple kit. With the opening power chords, they crack open a set of ultra catchy power pop songs with big melodies, big hooks, and killer 2 and 3-part harmonies to a standing room only audience.

That band would have been The Charlie Watts Riots. The front-line trio are slightly aged and wizened veterans of past popular, acclaimed local bands The Wait, Lughead, Bloom, Vodkasonics, The Day Jobs, and Coal Palace Kings. Coming together around 2008, Mike Pauley (lefty Bass, Vox); Brendan Pendergast (Guitar, Vox); and Seth Powell (Guitar, Vox) drafted local photographer Joe Putrock on drums to form a band that would create a long lasting buzz and excitement within the local music scene, and beyond here too.

Some of the band’s songs were initially available only in demo form on their various websites, but fans were familiar enough with them that when the debut album, titled ‘Long Story Short’ came out in 2010, the 12-song set read like a greatest hits package.

The Attic Classic from The Riots’ debut is "Running In Place."

At 9:30pm 🕧 listen to a with Sara Milonovich & Daisycutter's Greg Anderson. They discuss new music coming, and play a couple songs - including a demo of another from a future album. Session fills out the hour.

Tune in 📻 WEXT Radio at 97.7 and 106.1 FM, at 89.1's HD2 station, via 💻 online website stream, or by using the free app for iOS and Android 📱 devices.

01/02/2025

Tonight at 9:00pm 🕚 on WEXT Radio, you'll hear one of those playlists Andy Gregory puts together, this one featuring...
Chris Sanders Music - "Ain’t the Life"
A Band Called ERIE - "Little Heartbreak (ft. Caity Gallagher Music)"
Annie Scherer - "You Like The Blues"
Shane Guerrette - "Whole Thing’s Gonna Blow"
Amanda Case - "Ruin the Moment"
Zan & The Winter Folk - "New Morse Code"

ATTIC CLASSIC: In the late 1950s, Mercury Records introduced the voice of Albany High School grad Fred Bassler. Performing under the name of Fred MacKenzie, he had gained a following in the Lake George area before relocating to Florida, appearing in several hotels and supper clubs. He even appeared coast-to-coast on the Lawrence Welk tv show in 1956, the singer being introduced to Welk by champion boxer-turned-impresario Jake LaMotta.

Mercury released two singles by MacKenzie before moving on to other artists. The Attic Classic is "From The Bottom Of My Heart," out in 1957.

At 9:30pm 🕧 listen to a with Amélie, recorded in the Caffe Lena Green Room, followed with songs by Jim Gaudet and The Railroad Boys ("Hey Now") + Summer of Doug ("Never Before Noon") to fill out the hour

Tune in 📻 WEXT Radio at 97.7 and 106.1 FM, at 89.1's HD2 station, via 💻 online website stream, or by using the free app for iOS and Android 📱 devices.

01/02/2025

Tune in WEXT Radio today (01.02.25) during the 9am, 1pm and 6pm hours for a

9am "There's A Girl I Need To Go See About (live)" - marcusruggieromusic (2001) with
1pm "Everything To Me" - Dirty Face (1988) with
6pm "Hey Hey" - The Intruders (1964) with

12/26/2024

Tune in WEXT Radio tonight at 9:00pm 🕚 to continue the festivities with The Local 518 Holiday Show with Andy Gregory. It's a special half hour of holiday classics & music inspired by the season featuring...
ShortWave RadioBand - "Jingle Bell Rock"
The McKrells - "Silent Night All Day Long"
Millington-Band - "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
Kelly Bird - "Wonderful Christmas to Come"
Madison VanDenburg - "The Light of Christmas"
Deb Cavanaugh Music - "Christmastime in the Mountains"
Belle-Skinner - "In the Bleak Midwinter"
The Sea The Sea - "Tie A Ribbon On The Year"

At 9:30pm 🕧 is a with Sawyer Fredericks, part of this year's Saratoga New Year’s Eve 2025 festivities at the City Center! More info at https://www.discoversaratoga.org/events/saratoga-new-years-eve Followed with songs by Dan Berggren ("Today and All the New Year") + Tor & the Fjords ("Somewhere") + A Band Called ERIE ("A Lot to Think About") + Sydney Worthley ("4:15") to fill out the hour

Before 2024 is done & gone, please consider contributing to, or better yet become a sustaining member of WEXT Radio. We've been here for you for 17 years, and are so glad you've been here for us. Your support allows a solid foundation for 2025 to help people like yourself discover great music in the Capital Region. Besides becoming part of the WEXT Radio family, there's some great gifts to say THANK YOU.

Call 1.800.272.6492 or go to www.wextradio.org/donate to help us reach our goal of $25k by 2025.

Tune in 📻 WEXT Radio at 97.7 and 106.1 FM, at 89.1's HD2 station, via 💻 online website stream, or by using the free app for iOS and Android 📱 devices.

12/26/2024

Tune in today (12.26.24) during the 9am, 1pm and 6pm hours for a

9am "Hard To Swallow" - Mambo-X [w/ ] (1989) with
1pm "Raincheck" - Nick Brignola (1988) with
6pm "Check for a Pulse" - Scotty Mac & The Rockin' Bonnevilles (2001) with

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Since our very beginning in 2007, WEXT Radio has championed music from our community. The very first song we played was a Local 518 band, The Kamikaze Hearts. We continue to love and nurture the artists in the Local 518. It’s our passion!

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