Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: We get Spotlight with BJ Swinghammer.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Is that his real name? Yes, it is.
Yeah.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: We get Spotlight with BJ Swinghammer.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Is that his real name? Yes, it is.
Yeah.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: DJ Weekend Spotlight.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: Hey, what's going on, everybody? Happy Thursday.
Welcome to another episode of Unsigned 518's Weekend Spotlight. I'm your host, BJ Schwinghammer. And yes, that is my real name.
So, yeah, it's another one. It's another episode.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: And while I'm just gonna hit this real quick, Weekend Spotlight, that's how you get a hold of me on Instagram Weekend with no ease wknd Spotlight at Instagram.
So if you want to send me any messages after a show or have any suggestions for music or want to send me music, you know, so go to Weekend Spotlight on Instagram. I'll be there.
[00:01:24] Speaker C: And let's not forget the other podcasts. People are like, schwinghammer, you're the only guy in the world that does podcasts. And I go, yeah, that's not true.
Even.
Even for the Metroland, you have the original unsigned 518 with Andy sculling, which I'm sure you're all aware of.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: You've got Angelina Valente was taking off so quick. It's getting so much steam, it's incredible. You have Mistress of None with Aaron Harks, so always keep those in mind.
You can go to the metroland.com to listen to those or anywhere that you stream your podcasts.
And you know what we are.
This is going to be almost a singular episode with a singular subject.
You know, Single Cut north is having their holiday hootenanny, and it's not just another holiday hoot Nanny. It is the last show that's going to be at Single Cut in Clifton park because they are expanding the amount of tanks that they use to make beer and stuff like that. There's this expanding the operation, which is really great for them. I'm really happy for them. But it's also the loss of one of the favorite venues that I have in the area, and they've got some great venues, but Single Cut was one of the best. So it's the holiday hootenanny, you know, 2025, but it is the last one we're going to get. We'll get to more of that later.
Right now we're going to slide right into Schwinghammer's Pick of the week, which is what I'm calling that until I can find a better name for it.
And this week is Dryer.
You probably remember me playing that if you listen consistently to these episodes, you probably remember I played a Dryer song a few weeks ago.
And, you know, they've. They've been going consistently since I think, like, 93. They've evolved as a. As a band.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: You know, they've got new members, they've put out some newer album, which. Which is great. But I decided to take a. This entire episode is. Is taking a step back in time, either a lot or a little bit throughout the music that I'm playing for this episode.
So this is dreyer from the 90s, and it's a song about Desperate Annie's. So Desperate Annie's is a bar in Saratoga. And since Dreyer is a Saratoga punk band, those. You either. I mean, you either remember Desperate Amy's or you don't.
[00:03:46] Speaker C: At least you remember walking in there, not always leaving sometimes.
So, that being said, the Schwinghammer pick of the week for this week is Dryer, and the song is called Desperate Angels.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: Tonight I'll do that again.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: Desperate enemies waiting there for me.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: All the kids seem to agree.
[00:04:28] Speaker A: Thursday I drank too much.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: I woke up so drunk and scotch.
[00:04:38] Speaker A: Desperate and he's always there for me.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Wasted nights in vodka teas.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Travis always told me to listen to his radio show.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Drivers on the gearbox Listen to the smoking boat.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: And all our kids agree it's everything that you see Caught up in the night and it hurts.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: And all our kids green all the shots are free Caught up in the night When I were here as Freddy's hanging out with John Jim Mike Rock beat the animac.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Wayne used to work there and wish that he'd come back.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Travel so he's telling and listen to his radio show.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: All my favorites are the jukebox Wheezing around the smoke and throw.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: All our kids breath it's everything that you see Caught up in the night attitude.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: All the kids green and all the shots are free Caught up in.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: The night When I.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: Saw it just rock anything.
[00:06:52] Speaker C: All right, that was Desperate Andes from Dryer. I can't remember what album that's off of, quite honestly, but I know it was in, like, the. Like the mid-90s. So dryer, desperate Annie, it's one of my favorites.
And some of you younger people might listen to it and go, what the hell is that? Well, that was a chunk of my. My youth right there.
So.
All right, so we're getting back to single cut, and we're going. You know, we're just doing most of this is gonna land on Saturday the 13th.
And so single cut North Clifton park at 4pm is the holiday hootenanny 2025. And the last show that's gonna be played at Single Cut north, it is gonna be one for the fucking ages. It's gonna be immense. It go. It starts at 4 and they usually start like 6 or 7 or something like that.
[00:07:41] Speaker C: So the. The lineup is Bat and Killers, Shortwave Radio Band, Durio, Eerie, the Sugar hold and Sad Dads. And that is a hell of a local.
[00:07:55] Speaker C: That's a hell of a local band lineup if I've ever heard one. So it's gonna be outstanding. And I. I can't wait. Like, I'm gonna. I'm sorry to see you go, but I'm gonna love to see you leave because that's just gonna be an incredible show with a great lineup.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: And so for. I'm doing two songs, the two songs that I usually do, I'm just gonna do two songs that are gonna be People at the Hootenanny.
And the first one is Shortwave Radio Band. And this is so Long the Hope.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: Is it paranoia?
Is it clairvoyance?
Am I making myself clear?
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Conquering my instincts Rise above what you think Think Will I crumble in fear so long the hopeful.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: The faithful.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: So long the hope fall.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: The faithful and confused.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: So long the hopeful the meet the faithful we're glad that you were here.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: No more ill fated recongnating this was gonna be our year.
So long the hope of.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: The faith.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: Don't make me go home now I don't want to stay inside so long so long to the whole thing did you enjoy the ride?
[00:11:22] Speaker A: So I'm the hope.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: The faithful.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: So I'm the hope.
[00:11:57] Speaker C: All right, that was so Long the Hopeful from Shortwave Radio band. That's their 2022 single. It's a little bit of a harken back. It doesn't go too far back with Shortwave Radio Band, but it's definitely something that you've heard a lot over the past few years. And it's a great song and I love it. I love it so much. And I love Shortwave Radio bands so much. And the second one, the second song is coming from the Sugar Hole.
And anybody who knows me know that I not only love Short, you know, Short Wave Radio Band, but I also love the Sugar Hold. Since I love the Sugar hold so much, I'm gonna be playing one of their 2023 singles. And this one, you know it. You love it. This one is Get Fucked Up.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: We're gonna run these streets tonight. We're gonna dance to the rhythm and the beat Tonight we're go smoke till we feel that heat tonight Ain't knowing that we can't beat Tonight we're gonna rock on a roll Gonna get fucked up tonight.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: We ain't ever gonna stop Tonight we'll probably run from the cops Tonight we'll be lucky if we don't get caught Tonight we'll roam until we get our ass lost Tonight we're gonna rock on a roll Gonna get fucked up tonight.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: When I leave.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: To go.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: Go on to see no place to be oh yeah I know that I once that wasn't Find anything that gets me high Going to rock on a roll Going to get up to.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: Sa.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: Oh yeah I know that I'm one step closer to find anything that gets me high Gonna rock on a roll Gonna get fucked up tonight.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Gonna rock on a roll Gonna get fucked up tonight.
[00:14:54] Speaker C: All right, that was get up, the 2023 single from the Sugar Hold. Once again, it harkens back a few years, but not too many years.
All right, so we're just gonna go from that to always. One of my favorite areas of this podcast, and that is going to be checking in with our banjo. Our band show, of course, gives local musicians the spotlight. It gives them the rock star treatment. It gives them exactly what they deserve because as we all know, the local musicians, local talent, local artists, artists work their ass off. And our band show, you know, gives them. Gives them their moment in the sun. So, guys, what is going on with our band show this week?
[00:15:36] Speaker D: Thank you, bj, and welcome in to our band show.
We're back from a very festive Thanksgiving and hope all you music fans out there found a way to enjoy your time with your family, friends, and maybe some musicians at some shows.
I'm thankful that the cranberry sauce covers up overcooked turkey.
I guess I shouldn't put the cook on notice. My bad, Mom.
Kidding aside, the meal was actually fantastic. In all respects, I'm truly thankful to share the shorter, darker days this time of year with a lot of cheerful folks, including my family.
Not only that, but I ended up hanging out with a young jazz musician, Nick Solomon, at the Poughkeepsie Jazz Project here in our area.
A jazz jam managed by none other than Ben Bisilli, who we recorded earlier this year. I don't think I ever caught a jam like this before. It was great to see the talented musicians rotate on the stage and improvise some solid jazz all night long.
It was great to catch up with Ben who invited Nick and I to his next show in Newburgh where he played his Ben Ergy album in an impressive church environment. The acoustics really did sound great. I'm not used to being at a show without recording it, so I grabbed a moment with my phone where Ben discussed trips with his brother Anthony to New York City to catch certain shows at a venue called the Knitting Factory.
[00:17:04] Speaker E: Growing up right here in the Hudson Valley is a pretty special place, wouldn't you all agree?
[00:17:13] Speaker E: That last tune is called 74 Leonard street, which is an address in Manhattan, which was the old address of the Knitting Factory music venue right between church and Broadway downtown. And my brother and I grew up going to see shows down there in the city all the time. I would take the train from the Wappinger's stop in Hamburg all the way down to Manhattan. So I wrote a song in tribute to the Knitting Factory, which is. Which was a fantastic venue. Moved to Brooklyn. It's a lot smaller now.
Speaking of venues, last night we played in a basement and here we are today in this beautiful, beautiful church with wonderful acoustics and well lit.
[00:17:58] Speaker E: Thank you to the Calvary Presbyterian Church.
[00:18:06] Speaker E: It's a pleasure being here today on Sunday afternoon making music with all of you.
[00:18:10] Speaker D: Ben has some great stories and reasons for the names behind all his songs.
Overall, his show was pretty cool and we got to hang out with the community afterwards, enjoying some delicious Caribbean food. A really good time had by everybody. One thing that sort of stuck in my mind from that night was a dedication Ben made for Jimmy Clifford, who recently passed a couple weeks ago. I totally missed the news myself and this moment propelled me to go down the rabbit hole of music from a great Jamaican performer who helped introduce reggae to the world.
That's why this week's spotlight is the same song Ben dedicated to Jimmy Cliff, A negative piece recorded live at Reason and Ruckus in Poughkeepsie, New York by our banjo.
[00:18:57] Speaker E: The world lost a wonderful musician this week for for the past 81 years he had been singing for peace, love and hope.
This next song is dedicated to Jimmy Clifford.
[00:23:01] Speaker D: It has been such a great year making some new connections, exploring some new music and producing our banjo with some amazing people.
I am really thankful for everyone that has worked hard on this show to make it happen.
I hope you all check out full videos of Ben Basili's performance on the YouTube channel and check out some clips from our past guests on the Instagram both at our band show.
Also, for a catalog of all our sessions, just go ahead and pop over to our website, ourbandshow.com.
it's time to tag you in, BJ.
Sending it back to you.
[00:23:45] Speaker C: All right, thanks a lot, guys. I really appreciate it. I always appreciate it. You guys are awesome. Our band show, doing the Lord's work. I am not a religious man, but that's the only way I can think of saying it. They do incredible and important work through musicians in the 518. And don't forget, you can find them on Facebook, you can find them on Instagram, you can go to our bandshow.com that gives you a nice little lineup. Let you know what's coming, let you know what's been done. I personally always like to just go right to YouTube because you can just sit there and check it out in all its glory. They've got some. They just got some amazing acts on there, and it's just a ton of fun to watch. And it's a ton of fun to watch them have a ton of fun.
It's just an amazing thing that they do. And, you know, speaking of amazing things that are being done, we have to take a moment and Andy wants to check in. Andy has got a little something for us. Something about ticket giveaways. So, Andy, what exactly is going on, man?
[00:24:40] Speaker F: Hey, thanks, bj. Yeah, I just have a couple of tickets to give away to Jingle Bell Rock at Larcal. That is this Saturday on the 13th. It is a no. 1, you know, presentation.
And I have two tickets, and I'm not. Not actually gonna get give them away on the show, but I'm basically invading your show to just point people to Instagram because that is where the contest is. You can go to either my page unsigned 518, or no one you knows Instagram. We did a collaborative post and you basically, it's a, you know, tag two friends and share the post. And on Friday, we'll pick a winner, and that winner will get two tickets to Jingle Bell Ranger Rock at lark hall on 1213. And I think it's just going to be an amazing time. And I think it was worth coming on here to point people over to Instagram for the contest. So head over to Instagram. You have to tag two friends who like emo female pop stars or holiday music or just will you want to turn them on to those things? Then share the post and tag knowing, you know, presents.
And then we'll draw a winner tomorrow. So get over there right now. It'll be active. You know, I think we'll. We'll take submissions until, like, noon time tomorrow. And then we'll. We'll tally things up and. And pick a winner. So head on over to Instagram unsigned 518 or no one, you know presents, which is just N O Y K presents.
[00:26:13] Speaker A: That is their.
[00:26:14] Speaker F: Their tech. So, yeah. All right, that's it for me.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Back to you, B.J. jay.
[00:26:18] Speaker C: All right, well, holy Andy, thank you so much. That's awesome. You heard the man. Get on it.
[00:26:25] Speaker C: And yeah, it is time for the last musical segment that we have. It's Metroland. The Metroland now hot singles in your area.
And it's a. It's a list compiled every month by T.J. foster.
[00:26:41] Speaker C: And that man is busy as hell. And you know we're all busy, but you know, he is extra busy. So he was so busy he really didn't have time to work on the reviews that much, so he decided to tap the always, always, ever present, always hard working Andy Scullen. I mean, you just heard from him, but you know, now you know that he also worked on the hot singles in your area for this month. And this, this week, I decided to go with the lichen. So if you like some good crunchy metal, you're gonna love this. So this is their single from October 21st.
So once again, this is the lichen and the track is Dead skin. Pity party.
[00:27:52] Speaker G: No longer healing waves a man with nothing left somehow I can play. What the hell do you even do in your life? Seems like every movement made me come to style of lion put up the topic ship plunder everyone lies So I can tell a day from a parent's life Say I'm reaching out my soul again to space is so grief it's not enough that woman slander was expected of me. You can send her like a victim, bitterness, disguise but at the end of the day you made the very own.
[00:28:15] Speaker A: L.
[00:28:27] Speaker C: Don't get me wrong I want.
[00:28:29] Speaker G: The world to be a better place.
But you're always crying at me I let you in you just my skin.
Guess that's the way of the world.
[00:28:46] Speaker G: You'll never win with a mass of chance eating cats from their wounds.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: Run.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Run.
[00:29:17] Speaker G: You'll be the burn while you can't arise. Don't even look me in the face like the problem lies I've been putting in the work while you did ride hope in the contempt save if the pain was fine. You can go tell all your friends.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: You made an enemy I can heed it.
[00:29:29] Speaker G: Cherry picking through our history made me out to be a menace I'm no longer compelled if it isn't Good enough to do it yourself.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:29:40] Speaker G: Spurman.
[00:29:43] Speaker G: Oh, you trash shiny.
[00:29:46] Speaker B: Don't get me wrong, I want the.
[00:29:48] Speaker C: World to be a better place.
[00:29:51] Speaker G: But you're always crying at me?
I let you in and you duck my skin.
Guess that's the way of the world.
[00:30:05] Speaker G: You'll never win with a masochist.
[00:30:10] Speaker G: Ladies, get from the wood.
[00:31:14] Speaker C: All right, that was dead skin. Pity Party by the lichen from their October 21, 2025 single.
[00:31:21] Speaker C: I love it. I love good.
I love good metal, I love good heavy music. And these guys are awesome and it's a awesome song and thank you guys so much for making that song. And I can't wait to. To just get kind of dig into the things you guys have been doing. It's gonna be great. I can't tell.
And as far as Metroland now, don't forget Metroland. You can, you know, you can find what's going on the Metro land on Facebook, Instagram themetroland.com which is of course the treasure trove of information goings on in the 518 and beyond.
And if you're ever lacking for things to do for a day, an afternoon, a weekend, just go the metroland.com and you will just have so many options. You will be inundated with options for what to do in your local area.
So get on that as well because I know some of you are bored and there's really no reason for you to be when you get on the metroland.com and one final thing. Metroland, don't forget Metroland physical copies are back. The Metroland physical copies are one of my favorite parts of the Metroland. They were around for a really long time and I was really happy. Then they would. Then they went away and I just walked along and started punching people in the face and I didn't really though that would be horrible. But. But now they are back.
So you know, you can go to your local wherever there's so there's so many places that carry the Metroland. You can go pick one up and inside those pages you can just see the. The sweat and the tears and the blood that has gone into making that publication. There's people doing reviews, there's people doing all sorts of things to keep the information flowing through the pages of the Metroland. So definitely pick up a copy and if you can't find a copy and you go, oh man, swing hammer. I can't find one, no problem. Go to the metroland.com go to contact us, get a hold of somebody and we can Tell you where you know you can find it. And if you're like Schwinghammer, you son of a. I want to start carrying the Metroland, you know, at my place of business. Well, of course you do. It's amazing. And unless people know that you give a shit about your local area, you can just go to themtroland.com, you scroll to the bottom, the bottom. It has the whole thing that says, start carrying the Metro land. Click here, you click on it, you fill it out, you've got it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
And yeah, I just said that. You what? Do something about it.
[00:33:44] Speaker C: And you know what? That's it. That's it. It went by so quick.
Once again, don't forget, catch me at Weekend Spotlight weekend with no ease. So wknd Spotlight on Instagram. Feel free to send me some music if you got some new music, if you have some music that you're proud of that nobody's ever heard of, just send it over to me. Reach out to me, leave me a message, I'll get back to you. We'll set something up, and I will put you on a podcast. And it'll be great. People will be dancing in the streets. People will hold parades in your honor.
At some point, maybe, who knows? And all right, that's it for me. Thank you once again for letting me babble into your ear week after week. I really appreciate it. I have a lot of fun doing it.
And you know what? Go out, enjoy yourselves. Enjoy the weekend. We all deserve it. And as usual, you stay cool. 518.
[00:34:37] Speaker A: I'm calling shotgun.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: Where's the party tonight?
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Let's take a ride with swinging. We're driving.
[00:34:53] Speaker C: The Weekend Spotlight.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: Get ready.
[00:35:02] Speaker F: The Weekend Spotlight is a production of Unsigned 518 and part of the Metroland now network of podcasts. Unsigned 518's Weekend Spotlight is produced by Andy Scullin and hosted by BJ Schwinghammer. Look for new episodes every week at themetroland.com and everywhere you stream podcast.
