Hailing from a small New England town, comedian Jessica Delfino grew up listening to folk music legends like Gordon Lightfoot and Neil Young and the acoustic-fueled rock of Bob Seger and Led Zeppelin. Add in a touch of rap like The Beastie Boys and Snoop Dogg as well as the jokes she inherited from her sailor grandfather, and you’ve got the recipe for “Dirty Folk Rock,” the signature style that Delfino has made her own.
Delfino’s raunchy, sex-fueled comedic stylings are somewhat reminiscent of Nikki Glaser, whom Delfino often shared the stage with while honing her chops in New York’s comedy scene. She’s a critically acclaimed observational comedian with credits that include appearances around the world, and on Saturday, Delfino will bring her unique brand of comedy and music to Poconos Underground Comedy at The Hideaway Speakeasy, part of Newberry’s Yard of Ale in Stroudsburg.
I recently spoke with Delfino about her upcoming performance and more in this new interview.
Q. What can you tell me about Poconos Underground Comedy?
Jessica Delfino: Poconos Underground Comedy is mostly a showcase of comedians who’ve decided to schlep out to the Poconos to entertain people who used to be New Yorkers who now “hate New Yorkers” [laughs]. People can expect to laugh, drink fancy cocktails and have some pizazz with their comedy. The show is different, but don’t get me wrong. There’s classic stand up but there’s also a lot of sparkles. It’s not for the faint of heart, it’s a show for the bold and the beautiful. My show production partner, Boris Khakin (also a comedian) and I take turns hosting. He brings the dude energy and I bring the girl magic.
Q. How would you describe your style? Can you put into words what your comedy/music is all about?
My style is “dirty folk rock” comedy and jokes that reflect that style. I like to swear, talk about sex, gross people out a little and ultimately, I love to make people laugh. I make jokes about things that lots of other comedians do: life, love, and the challenges that come with those things, but obviously my take is from a female middle-aged mom perspective who likes to do things my own way. I love weird words and I love that I’m a little different. It took me some time to understand that about myself but now that I do it’s like my superpower. As Frank Sinatra famously sang, “I gotta be me.”
You can read the rest of my Morning Call interview with Jessica Delfino by clicking here.
August 13th, 1984. A day I will always remember, and one that I’ll now mark on today’s 40th anniversary.
My story about Pap (Willard Z. Appleman or “Woody,” or “Brother Will,” as he was known to most grown ups) isn’t one of your usual “grandfather takes grandson fishing” types. In fact, for all intents and purposes, I really only had that kind of a bonding relationship with Pap for the first five years of my life. And even then fishing wasn’t one of the things we did. In fact, there was only one activity I remember vividly, but more on that in a moment.
When I was born in October of 1969, my family had been living with my grandparents in their small turn of the century house on the south side of Easton. Pap had already been working as a dyer in a silk mill for many years, although I was too young to remember him ever going off to work. To me, my Pap was just too good to be employed by someone else. In fact, the only way I found out he even had a real job at all was by reading his obituary when I was a teenager. But even though he too worked for “the man” that didn’t diminish his “superhero” persona to me.
Pap was one of those meticulous types who loved to take care of his yard. If he wasn’t chopping down some tree or weeding he was mowing the few acres of land he had. All with one of those old school hand mowers. I can still imagine him taking an entire Sunday to do yard work every week in the summer, and this after having worked a full week in the mill. I have no doubt he enjoyed every minute of it.
When I was five and could actually start remembering the time we spent together, Pap often asked me to take a ride with him down to the Seiple Hardware store across town. I’d immediately drop my Hot Wheels cars and run outside to jump in the front seat of his green Rambler.
Those drives are what I remember most about my days with Pap. It seemed like we’d be driving for hours to get where we were going, but in reality the hardware store was only about a few miles away. Youth has a way of making good times seem to last forever.
I don’t have any fun tales about what we talked about on the ride, although I certainly wish I did. It was just me driving to Seiple Hardware with my Pap. The drive was the only thing I remember, but that was good enough for me.
From what I was told growing up, in addition to being my grandfather, Pap was also a scientist. I heard many stories from my great aunts and uncles about how he used to cross-pollinate azalea plants and make a new variety, or even how he invented a cure for baldness that really worked. Looking back now, I wish he would have passed the recipe down to me.
About the only thing I didn’t like about living with Pap was his dog – the most obnoxious chihuahua you’d ever want to meet. His name was Butchie and all he did was growl if you came within ten feet of Pap, but Pap loved the hell out of him.The dog was loyal to him, hated everyone else and had no problem showing it. I still cringe to this day when I think about that hell hound.
In 1975, around the time of his 65th birthday, Pap suffered a major stroke. Suddenly, the man who had worked tirelessly all his life and was getting ready to retire was unable to walk on his own or feel anything on his left side. It just didn’t seem fair and as a 5 year old boy, I couldn’t understand why something so bad could happen to my Pap. Especially because I just thought Pap went to the hospital for a checkup and would be home soon. At least that’s what I had been told.
When Pap did come home he obviously wasn’t the same. He couldn’t walk on his own or talk anymore. Anything he said sounded like something a baby might say. When I first saw him come through the door in a wheel chair with my grandmother pushing him I knew right away the days of riding shotgun in his Rambler to the hardware store were over. And to add insult to injury shortly after Pap came home, Butchie suddenly died. It was as if he knew that his master would never be the same.
Over the next nine years we all adjusted to Pap being… well, Pap. He would spend most days sitting upstairs in the parlor watching TV with my grandmother. At mid day my grandmother would help him walk back to his bed to take a nap and afterwards, right back for more TV.
If he ever needed something when someone wasn’t sitting with him, he had a bell he’d ring to alert us or he’d yell out and someone would come tend to his needs which frequently, became the need to help him light his cigars.
One of the things I always admired about Pap was his artistic ability. I had seen quite a few oil paintings he had done over the course of many years. Sadly, the paints were put away permanently by the stroke but yet he was able to find another outlet for his love of art. He always liked to draw horses with his bum hand.
I have to admit, in the beginning they looked like something someone from kindergarten would draw and rightly so. Pap pretty much had to learn how to do everything all over again. But soon enough the drawings became more defined and we loved to watch him create his masterpieces.
Pap’s oil painting (above) and my watercolor impression of it.
Every summer we would have a big picnic on the patio. Relatives from all over would gather and we would wheel Pap down to enjoy the company. And Christmases were just as fun as we’d put up our fake tree in the parlor with Pap being the architect of the project.
He would sit there and tell us when a ball looked out of place or if the garland wasn’t running just right. You couldn’t understand a word he said but we always knew what he meant. Good times.
By early 1984 his condition began to worsen. My grandmother’s advancement in age would no longer allow for her to take care of him alone so inevitably, Pap went into a nursing home. On August 13th of that year he passed away at the age of 74. With his passing my grandmother lost her husband of 51 years and I lost my Pap. Sadly though, the worst was still to come.
A few days later we went to Pap’s funeral services. I could not tell you what was said or who all was there. Pap had many friends and relatives I had never met. He was also going by nicknames like “Woody” and “Brother Will” and I was confused as to who called him what. To me, he was always Pap.
Then the time came to say the final goodbye and I think you know the one I mean. The one where you file past the deceased, out of the room and the casket is closed for good. I thought I would make it out unscathed. I had relatives die before and never thought much about it. Then again, I never went to any funerals either. Even one of my great aunts died around the same time Pap suffered his stroke but I was too young to even bat an eye. But just as I was leaving I watched my grandmother fall to pieces.
She was sobbing over the casket and saying how much she was going to miss him and that’s when it really hit me. The tears began to flow and I suddenly realized how much I was going to miss him too. That day still haunts me.
I’m sitting here this morning drinking my coffee as a 54 year old man and still finding it hard to believe that it’s been forty years since he left this world. So I decided to take a look at one of the old family photo albums I have.
While reminiscing about Pap I stumbled upon his obituary from the newspaper clipping we had saved. I’ve probably read it dozens of times over the years but after reading it this time, a smile actually came across my face.
The date of Pap’s funeral service, my grandmother’s breakdown over the casket and me crying my eyes out and saying goodbye was August 16th, 1984. Seventeen years to the day after that horrible event, my daughter was born.
Coincidence? I’m not so sure.
God bless you, Pap. I know that whereever you are God has you taking care of his yard. Whenever I see azaleas I always think of you and still miss you terribly.
Oh, and if there’s any way you can send a message from the great beyond, I could still REALLY use that cure for male pattern baldness.
Author Virginia Lee Burton died in 1969, the same year I was born. I think I was in second grade when the librarian at my elementary school first read us her Caldecott Medal-winning book, “The Little House.” A story the author said was based on her family’s own little house which they moved from the street into a field of daises with apple trees growing around.
The story centers on a house that was built at the top of a small hill, far out in the country. Her builder decrees that she “may never be sold for gold or silver”, but is built sturdy enough to one day see generations of his heirs living in her. The house watches the seasons pass, and wonders about the lights of the city, which grow ever closer. The years slowly pass.
Then one day a road is built in front of the house. This is soon followed by gas stations and more houses, which are eventually replaced by apartment buildings, an elevated railroad and skyscrapers. Now rundown and finding herself standing in a large city, the house is sad because she misses being on the small hill in the countryside
One day one of the heirs of the builder sees the house and remembers stories that her grandmother told about living in it. She arranges to have the house moved out of the city and back to a hill in the country where she can live happily ever after.
I remembered being enthralled with the story. How roads, food stands, cool cars and trains would be right outside your front door! How naive I was.
Burton denied “The Little House” was a critique of urban sprawl and instead wished to convey the passage of time to younger readers. Personally, I think, perhaps prophetically, it was both. Hear me out:
About a mile from my Pennsylvania home there once stood an eighteenth century farmhouse. A home with a deed dating back to William Penn. A home which stood on the exact same spot of land for more than 300 years where it overlooked acres upon acres of rich farmland.
One day a developer decided he wanted to build a massive industrial warehouse on the exact same land where the little house stood. But rather than demolish it, the developer decided to uproot the house and move her hundreds of yards away in order to build a warehouse next to it. A warehouse that is surrounded by other warehouses, including an Amazon fulfillment center. A warehouse that will most likely remain half occupied. This is what you call progress?
Toad the Wet Sprocket, with its trio of founding members Glen Phillips, Todd Nichols and Dean Dinning, is still making music and touring with the same unwavering spirit of independence that made them one of the most seminal bands of the 1990s.
Toad’s third album, Fear, still ranks big on any ’90s playlist and songs like “All I Want,” and “Walk on the Ocean,” catapulted the band from college campus soundtracks to radio rotation royalty. Their music also found its way onto popular ’90s TV shows like “Friends,” “Dawson’s Creek,” and “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”
The band took a break in the late ’90s but reunited in 2006 and has since released two albums, including 2021’s Starting Now.
Toad the Wet Sprocket is currently part of a tour that includes themselves as well as Gin Blossoms and Vertical Horizon. It’s a show that stops at the Wind Creek Event Center on Thursday, Aug. 15.
I recently spoke with bassist Dean Dinning about the show, what makes Toad the Wet Sprocket’s music so timeless all these years later and more in this new interview.
Q. Can you tell a little about the inspiration behind this tour and what fans can expect?
Dean Dinning: I used to go to concerts in Santa Barbara [California] where you would see two or three bands playing and it always seemed like everyone was friends and would come out and jam on each other’s songs. I always thought that was the most fun thing you could possibly do, and that’s really what this tour is like. These guys are all friends of ours. We’ve known the Gin Blossoms since 1992. They were the first band we ever got to pick to be an opener for our whole tour. It will be a fun vibe and I think people will really enjoy it.
You can read the rest of my interview with Dean Dinning by clicking here.
It was a great catalog of songs and the slow burn of touring perseverance that catapulted alt-rock band Gin Blossoms from the ranks of indie circuit into the ’90s musical mainstream.
Although it didn’t happen overnight, it was their infectiously good 1992 sophomore album, New Miserable Experience, and songs like “Found Out About You,” “Hey Jealousy,” “Until I Fall Away,” and “Allison Road,” that eventually became staples of ’90s radio and firmly established the group as one of the decade’s most definitive acts.
Fans of the Gin Blossoms — which features Robin Wilson (lead vocals / acoustic guitar), Jesse Valenzuela (vocals and guitar), Scott Johnson (guitar), Scott Hessel (drums), and Bill Leen (bass), can expect to hear all of the hits and more when the band performs with fellow ’90s rockers Toad The Wet Sprocket and Vertical Horizon at Wind Creek Event Center on Thursday, Aug. 15.
I recently spoke with guitarist Jesse Valenzuela about the show, career highlights — including the time he worked with Stevie Nicks, new music and more in this new interview.
Q. What was it about the ’90s era of music that keeps fans coming back?
Jesse Valenzuela: It was a terrific time for music and we were lucky to get some attention from radio. Toad [The Wet Sprocket] was so gracious and took us out on the road and showed us the ropes. Whenever we get to be together with them now, it’s always great fun. I have a real affection for those guys. Today we’re fortunate that we have a bunch of hit songs and this show will be long enough for you to hear all of them. We’re going to play all the hits and other songs people have heard and make sure everyone enjoys themselves. I love the Wind Creek venue. We’ve been there quite often over the years. This tour is just starting and the bands we’re touring with, Toad The Wet Sprocket and Vertical Horizon, are terrific. Everyone is playing so beautifully and firing on all cylinders.
You can read the rest of my Morning Call interview with Jesse Valenzuela by clicking here.
Even though it happened twenty years ago today, it still feels like it was yesterday.
I was standing alone in my upstairs bathroom. Just an introverted thirty-four-year-old man looking at himself in the mirror — and shaking like a leaf. It was 3 p.m. and very soon I’d have to muster up the courage to get in my 2001 Ford Focus and drive over to South Bethlehem for sound check.
August 6th, 2004 is a day I will NEVER forget.
I suppose it’s best to give you a little bit of the back story before I continue on with this tale of one of my greatest memories. So here goes:
From the day I first picked up my grandmother’s hand-held tomato slicer as a seven-year-old boy, pretended it was a guitar and did my best Ace Frehley interpretation, it’s been my dream – shredding my guitar (not tomatoes) on a huge stage while staring out into a sea of people. And so began the pre-Internet days of callused fingers, long walks downtown to the music store for weekly lessons and countless hours spent practicing Mel Bay scales and Metal Method mail-order licks.
Unfortunately, my newfound interest in music, repetitive practice and Les Paul guitars also brought with it the constant torment and ridicule from my siblings and their friends. Many of whom did not mince words when they told me that what I was doing would never amount to anything. But rather than wallow in denial and self-pity, their words only served to reinforce my passion.
So while other kids of the MTV generation hung out with friends after school tossing a Nerf football or playing Atari, I spent most afternoons trying to figure out how Eddie Van-Halen got his Kung-Fu. I was so sure of what the future held for me that I even wrote entries into my journal describing all of the lavish purchases I would make and all of things that were going to happen to me after I had officially “made it” as a rock star.
— on a side note, I’m still waiting for the hordes of beautiful women to chase me down the streets of New York City. Get with the program, ladies.
Yes, I had dreamed about that rock star moment for twenty years…. and suddenly, TODAY of all days, the wait was finally going to be over.
On August 6th, 2004, our band was going to be the opening act for Clay Aiken at Musikfest – on the biggest stage of them all! Yes, THE Clay Aiken!
OK, before you start giggling uncontrollably, remember this. Clay Aiken had just placed second in season two of American Idol and was almost on the same level as Justin Bieber at the height of his fame. That is to say, people were going absolutely bonkers for him. At the time, it was the fastest sellout in the festival’s history (6,000+ people) and we had the greatest singer ever in our arsenal, who’s soaring vocals had gotten us the gig.
News from the day – August 6th, 2004 (SOLD OUT)
And yet here I was, standing in the bathroom trying to keep from hurling my lunch. A complete nervous wreck!
To this day, I’m not sure how I held it all together. Somehow, my “Rock Star Moment” was here, and I wasn’t about to let it slip away. Grabbing my Les Paul and a blue-flamed doo rag, I slowly made the pilgrimage to Bethlehem.
The rest of that evening was a bit of a whirlwind for me. There was time spent setting up gear in front of the stage, testing guitar levels and watching the thousands of people standing in line waiting to get in. Then there was the anticipation of going out there and feeling a rush no drug could ever deliver.
The crowd – Musikfest August 6th, 2004
Prior to August 6th, the most people I had ever played for was maybe 50 in some smoky bar at two in the morning. And even though I was fully aware that the audience wasn’t there to see us, I got to taste the experience of walking out on stage in front of six-thousand people for thirty minutes!! Finally looking out, instead of always looking in.
I liked what I saw.
Led Foot at Musikfest – August 6th, 2004
I’ve never had that kind of experience since and most likely never will again, but it doesn’t even matter. It was the love of music, a lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck that the cosmos aligned that particular summer night – and it was the beginning of a special journey we would all share together as a band. That experience also transitioned into one of my favorite quotes I still use to this day:
“Every once in a great while the universe tilts in your direction. You better be ready.”
As a seven-year-old boy imitating his guitar hero on a vegetable slicer it seemed like such a far away dream. But just the idea of having a dream – no matter how small it might be or how long it takes you to achieve, is something that doesn’t fade after the music stops and the lights go out. It’s only then that you realize that dreams do indeed come true, and the magic of the dream becomes a part of you forever. You just have to be ready.
On August 6th, 2004, twenty years ago today, I was ready – and that magic became a part of me.
To Heather, Todd, Kevin and Rick…. We did it, baby!
It’s kind of hard to believe, but that little ol’ band from Texas, ZZ Top, has been delivering their infectiously rowdy brand of blues, rock and boogie to legions of fans since man first walked on the moon.
The band has become a fixture of classic rock radio with songs like “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” and (of course) “La Grange.” All of which instantly conjure up images of long beards, sunglasses, hot rods and guitar riffs.
For more than 50 years the lineup of ZZ Top — Billy Gibbons (guitars), Dusty Hill (bass) and Frank Beard (drums), remained unchanged. Selling millions of albums, touring the world and introducing us all to music videos containing spinning guitars and fast cars with magical keychains. It wasn’t until Hill’s passing in 2021 that the band called up Hill’s long time bass tech, Elwood Francis, to hold up the bottom end and keep their musical legacy flowing.
Fans can certainly expect to hear a plethora of songs from the band’s more than half-century of hits and more when ZZ Top closes out this year’s Musikfest with a performance at the Wind Creek Steel Stage at PNC Plaza on Sunday, Aug. 11.
I recently spoke with Billy Gibbons about the band’s upcoming performance at Musikfest, its legacy, music and more in this new interview.
Q. This year marks the band’s 55th anniversary (coincidentally, the same age as this writer). When you look back on this milestone now with so much perspective what thoughts come to mind?
Billy Gibbons: We’re a band aiming to keep on keepin’ on as we genuinely like what it is we get to do. One of the true highlights of the experience was revealed when we heard ZZ over the radio airwaves for the first time. Then again, our induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Keith Richards delivering the honors also stands as a night to remember. We’re stoked that we continue getting to do what we do! The night-to-night intention is, ‘Have mercy! Let’s keep doing it!’
You can read the rest of my Morning Call interview with Billy Gibbons by Clicking Here.
Although you’ve never seen saxophonists Dean Mitchell and Saxsquatch in a room at the same time, it’s safe to say that the beast might have learned a thing or two from his human musical counterpart.
Saxsquatch began his career by posting videos of himself performing on social media; one of which, his smooth cover of Daft Punk’s song, “One More Time,” instantly went viral with nearly 3 million views.
After years and thousands of unconfirmed sightings and unsuccessful attempts by man to prove his family’s existence, it was Saxsquatch’s newly found notoriety that ultimately drew the cryptid out of the forest and onto the national scene, much to the delight of music fans everywhere.
It’s a journey that will bring Saxsquatch to Musikfest on Monday, Aug. 5 for two shows at 7 and 8:45 p.m., and Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 7 and 9 p.m. All shows will be held at the Highmark Blue Shield Community Stage.
I recently spoke with Saxsquatch and asked him about the mythos, music and monster as well as what fans can expect from his Musikfest appearances in this fun new interview.
Q. Where did Saxsquatch originate? What brought you out of the woods?
Saxsquatch: I originally started playing music with my family. My Grandfather, Gigfoot, was a guitar player and my sister, Bigflute, played the flute. I started out doing the beats but one day I heard the saxophone on the radio. Our radio access was limited due to extension cord issues but I listened every chance I got. It was Jr. Walker’s sax solo on “Urgent” by Foreigner that got me hooked. When I got a sax from a pawn shop and wouldn’t stop playing it, everyone started calling me Saxsquatch. I have to admit I did like the attention and eventually felt like it was my purpose for other people to hear the saxophone in the same way that it has brought me so much joy and awe.
You can read the rest of my Morning Call interview with Saxsquatch by Clicking Here.
Most know Terry Bradshaw as the four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, two-time Super Bowl MVP and inductee in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Others know him for his 30-year stint as the Emmy-award winning co-host and analyst for FOX NFL Sunday, or for his scene-stealing appearances in film and television.
But did you know that not only is Bradshaw one of the only NFL players with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but he also once scored a hit with a version of the Hank Williams classic, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”? A song that reached No. 17 on the country singles chart.
On Saturday, fans of the legendary athlete will hear all the details of Bradshaw’s life through laughter, memories and song when Bradshaw brings his acclaimed stage production, “The Terry Bradshaw Show,” to the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.
The family show, one of only three being performed this summer, focuses on Bradshaw’s reflective retelling of his incredible life and career both on and off the football field and features a three-piece band under the musical direction of Smokin’ Joe Escriba.
Bradshaw will use his signature charm, comedy and country singing to chronicle his humble beginnings in Louisiana to the soaring heights as a Super Bowl champion, actor, analyst and motivational speaker. He’ll also discuss family and relationships, including the journey that ultimately led him to meeting the love of his life, Tammy Bradshaw.
I recently spoke with Terry Bradshaw about his upcoming performance at Wind Creek and more in this exclusive new interview.
Q: What can fans expect from The Terry Bradshaw Show at Wind Creek Event Center?
Terry Bradshaw: Let me describe it to you. It’s a fun show with me entertaining, telling stories and having fun with the audience. I sing about nine songs, including some gospel and country. The show was originally written for Broadway. We cut it back and started it off in [Las] Vegas at the Mirage and then from there went to the Luxor. I had signed a five-year deal with the Luxor and got a year in before the pandemic hit. I’ve since restructured the show to give it a little more “me” and my personality. It’s off the cuff, fun and lively. I will say that I hope people walk away from it going, “Gee, I didn’t know he could sing!” [laughs].
You can read the rest of my Morning Call interview with Terry Bradshaw by Clicking Here.
Rising country artist Lilly Moss has roots that run deep through the Lehigh Valley. Born and raised in Bethlehem, the talented singer-songwriter is making a name for herself by combining her uniquely ubiquitous voice with a good measure of poetic storytelling.
This year, Moss performed for a sold-out crowd at the Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s Hearts of Gold Gala, where her mosaic artwork brought a winning bid of $20,000 for the foundation. She also performed at the Sherman Theater Showcase as a special guest of Hayes Warner, who was named one of People’s “Emerging Artists to Watch 2023.”
Moss’ second single, “Heartbreak Summer,” will be released Friday; the release date of her album will be announced soon. The title-track, “Meet Me on Broadway,” is an energetic tribute to Moss’ dream of a Nashville happily ever after and was produced by Grammy-nominated producer Dan Malsch of Soundmine Studios in Stroudsburg.
Moss’ summer schedule is shaping up nicely and includes both band and solo (guitarist-accompanied) performances, including a Musikfest appearance at Lyrikplatz on Monday, Aug. 5. On Monday, July 22, she’ll appear with her full band, The Steel Ponies, at the Williams Township 75th Country Fair. Her performance starts at 7 p.m.
You can find out more about Lilly Moss on her website: www.lillymoss.com. I recently spoke with Lilly Moss about her music in this new interview.
Q. Did you always know music was going to be your calling?
Lilly Moss: I like to say that I grew into it. I started voice lessons in sixth grade and took them up until I left high school but never really thought about performing because I was self-conscious of my voice and its tone. I wasn’t confident enough to put myself out there until I realized that’s what set me apart. I performed for the first time back in 2021 and remember never wanting to get off the stage. It was then that I thought, ‘OK, let’s do this for real.’
You can read the rest of my Morning Call interview with Lilly Moss by Clicking Here.
go.Jimmy.go 