October 29, 2024 • 30 mins
The purpose of Band Together Pittsburgh (a recognized 501 (c) 3 non profit organization) is to employ the power of music to engage youth on the autism spectrum. https://bandtogetherpgh.org/
https://yinzerchristmas.com/
https://yinzerchristmas.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Okay, welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh area. Good morning. My name is Johnny hert
well In. Guests in studio a couple of old friends.
It's way too early to see you your ugly faces.
Joe Waterick of the band fifty one South and the Stickers,
John Vento of the Needs Hotel Band. Really good to
(00:23):
see you guys again. How always a place to you?
Good man good If you're in studio, that means the
Yser Christmas Show is just around the corner.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You better believe it.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
In Sans Got is his naughty listening. I don't know
about you this year. I'm a little worried.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You never I always barely make it bare. I think
it's because it's our partnership. Then you know that, you know.
I talked to Joe and John and then he Sanda's like, well,
all right, I guess we vouch for you. Yans Are
Christmas tell us everything we need to know. Absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yin's Are Christmas is the third annual and it is
a celebration of music of all your favorite Pittsburgh artists
doing Christmas songs, and it's all benefit Band Together Pittsburgh,
which is an organization that enriches the lives of those
on the autism spectrum through music. And John's gonna tell
us all about that today.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
All right.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Well, before we get to that, uh, let's play some
of your songs that we might hear at the Benendem
Center coming up on December night. Here's Joe Haang all
the missus wrong?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Do get to know you did.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
This Christmas?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
And ask Jim the Tree how much thoughts dom beat?
Speaker 1 (01:32):
They can't see you dance on radium? But thank you
for performing.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's really good. I can't see him.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
And here's's John Christmas.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Beating You sure that treatment.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Met?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Christmas beany you surely dreaming? All right?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So, uh so, along with those songs, we're gonna hear
a lot of you know, traditional Christmas songs, some songs
that are kind of, you know, kind of a newer version.
But we're also going to hear some of the Band
Together performances as well. So tell us about First of all,
tell us how Yans of Christmas and Band Together got together.
(02:19):
I call it friendship.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I mean when we originally I brought the idea to
John and John, you know, being part of Band Together
was just a perfect fit, especially since the organization is
about music, and I think that's really what made it
come to light on John.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, Joe and I became friends through another one of
his projects, the Great Song for a Tree of Life,
which through a mutual friend of ours, I was invited
to go to the studio and add my voice to
the song, which was wonderful. And then he had for years.
I think you've talked about this Christmas thing, right for
as long as I've known you, and he wouldn't let
(02:55):
go of it, which I love it, you know, I
give him a lot of credit. So he had the
vision and then brought that to Band Together Pittsburgh, which
is an organization that creates music programs for people in
the autism spectrum. And it was just a great natural
fit for us to not only support the project with
our team, but also to include some of our Band
(03:16):
Together performers, which has been incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
All right, so tell us the history of Band Together.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, it all started many years ago. I'll give you
the short version, but I had the needs Hotel band.
I guess it's hard to believe. I think I got
to find the exact date, but approximately nine years ago
the Needs Hotel band had a gig at Moondogs in
Blocknacks and at the time our drummer was Ron Vitel
(03:44):
from Wild Cherry and we Fred Deleu on keyboards had
a great band, Tim Haley on guitar. Prior to the gig,
we had met three young autistic musicians and they were
really great and they had the chops and I came
up with an idea and said, why don't we let
these three guys sit in with us for a few
tunes of Moondogs And they did. So, you know, three
professional musicians sit down, three young teenagers come up joined
(04:09):
us for a few tunes. It was a great success.
And at the end of the night, Moondog basically said
to me after the gig, what was that all about?
You know, who are those kids? And I said, well,
here's the dirty little secret. All three of them are
on the autism spectrum. And he said, you know, my
son James is on the spectrum. We need to include
(04:29):
musicians like this more often. And that was really the birth.
That night at Moondog's was was the birth of being together.
We had no clue where it was going to go,
Like Anny, Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
We're street people, and so where has it gone?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Sorry, going back nine years ago, so you've been so
you've come quite quite.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, it has gone to where we have regular open
mic sessions, meaning the kids come and let me define
a kid. If you're fifty year below Yeah, okay, I
and you.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Could put that age a little higher. U. Well, I
don't think there's any there's no adults in this room today, right, So.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You know, people on the autism spectrum, they come to
open mic events on a regular basis, more than monthly.
Here in Pittsburgh. We have drum circles, we have music therapy,
we have we've trained people on the spectrum to be
professional DJs where they go do gigs and they get paid. Uh.
It's just been growth, growth, growth, And then most recently,
(05:29):
we're launching a chapter in.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Eerie, PA.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Two years ago we launched a chapter in Columbus with
the same program as you guys know, I'm sure a
lot of folks on the spectrum they're in their bedroom
playing video games twenty four hours a day. You know,
there are no social connections. So that's what we're most
proud of is that band together has opened the door
(05:56):
for people on the spectrum to feel comfortable and get
together and connect, and especially their parents and caregivers.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Right, Yeah, that is just as powerful because they're so
proud of their kids when they perform. Yeah, because when
you know we've done the you know, the yins of
Christmas and their backstage and they're more excited than the performers.
So it's so great to see.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, and you guys have been supportive and you know,
for Joe to bring this to us his vision and
this year we even have a few more surprises, including
more of our kids.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Oh that's awesome. That's awesome because it's a celebration of
not their disability, it's their abilities exactly. All right.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So now one thing I do want to say, though, John,
you give the definition in what you've seen, what your
vision was because you were in it, someone who's just
come into it and learning about it continuously. To see
them in the recording process, that was an absolute mind
blowing experience for me, something I will never ever forget.
(06:54):
To watch them get up to a microphone and just
you said it best show their abilities. It was eye opening.
There were tears there was joy. It was just it's
it's more than I can ever talk about. I mean,
everyone should experience this to see how special truly is.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
All Right, So we're talking to John Vento and Joe
Waterick about Yin's are Christmas. This celebration uh coming up
on the December ninth. Tickets available at yinso Christmas dot
com or trust Arts dot org and so not in.
In addition to band together, you have every well known
yinser you can imagine on stage. So can you name
(07:31):
some of them?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I will do my best to try to remember them all,
and I apologize in advance for anything's name I forget
because every time someone asked me, I end up forgetting.
Johnny at this moment is trying to turn a screen
to me, but.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
No, I'm gonna have you do it. I gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm gonna do my best. Here we go.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Oh look at this, we got h We have Scott
Lazy of the Clarks, Jean the Werewolf, John Bellen, Clinton Klaig,
Bill Deazy, Joeygerschecking, David Gnaughti, stevev Wellens, Pete Hewlett, Jeff Jimmerson,
Pure Gold, totally eighties Abby Abadanza, Bailey Taylor, also Dan Taylor,
(08:10):
the Bee Taylor family, myself, my son Joey Waterg Junior,
who I'm a little biased too.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I think he's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
He's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Is your daughter going to participate this year?
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
She has finals that week and she does sing like
a bird, but I don't think she's gonna be able
to do it.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, that's a little heartbroken.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But she's great too.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, And the listen just keeps on growing and going
on and on it. If you are in there, if
you're from Pittsburgh, whether you are ten years old or
eighty years old, you're gonna find something in there that
you're gonna absolutely love. And it's it's all about the season.
It makes it really special.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Three years ago, Joe was able to get all those
individuals that he just talked about in studio and you
recorded close to what twenty five songs in like two weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yes, with a fantastic house band who I didn't mention.
The house band and they'll be on stage that night
is Jamie pat Ricky Wokowski, Herb Schweitzer, the Soulville Horns,
Dave Marion, Rob James from the Clarks. I mean, the
list goes on and on and on of just what
a fantastic group that we have. It's and it's such
(09:16):
a community of yensers. You should hear us all say
the words like don and I mean, it's it's a
hilarious conversation to record.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Now, you should do something behind the scenes because you know,
a lot of these bands and individuals are friends, but
they don't get to see each other because they're usually
performing a lot of times. So when they're backstage, it's
just it's just like an old reunion on they come there,
you see hugs and and they're and and you really
(09:45):
you really should because they're backstage and none of them
are behaving at all, and it's great to see.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
It's exactly And what's the My favorite thing is that
wall just drops for everyone and it's you're right, they're
like a bunch of little kids at Christmas. The excitement
levels way up and everyone's joking around and poking fun
and it's just a great atmosphere and it really shows
on the stage. All right, So three years ago, like
I just mentioned, you got all these ins ors to record.
(10:16):
Tell us what that was, like, I mean, because you
recorded twenty five songs and it was like like fourteen days. Yeah,
so did you get any sleep during those that problem?
So I didn't, you know, as that old saying, be
careful what you wish for, But I'm really glad I
did wish for it. But what we did is we
did two sessions a day.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Every day.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
The house band would come in, we go through it,
the singer would show up, he'd cut his vocal where
she'd cut her vocal, and then we'd move on to
the next one. And we had such a great group
of people that were involved in it.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
As soon as we would get done.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
We had a production team, you know, Jamie Peck, who's
our musical director, would do some mixing. Mic Off Goes,
a dear friend of mine and a great musician. He
was the engineer on it. And we just kept on
move and move and move. And at the end we
all looked.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
At each other say what the heck did we just do?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
And it was great.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I mean, twenty five songs in two weeks, and if
you listen to the caliber of the recordings, it's fantastic
and I think everyone has a lot to be proud
of it.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Worked on that project Now, musician and reliability aren't two
terms that usually go together. What was it like hurting
those kind of cats that have them came in on time?
You know what. We didn't have one issue.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
These guys are pros. Yeah, yeah, that's the difference between
the names we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah, really, there was not one issue in time. Everyone
was on time, prepared, ready to go. I mean we
were cutting vocals and if you've seen movies or TV
and you see people cutting vocals and you're like, okay, stop,
start over, these guys were so prepared. It was one,
two takes, we were done. I mean, they were just
everyone was just I was so grateful to the professionalism
(11:48):
that came there, the preparation, and it was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And the fruits of your labor can be heard at
Yinzochristmas dot com. Absolutely. Yeah, so you can listen wherever
music streams.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, and we should probably get that Spotify link up,
but we've had We came up with a campaign that
if folks donate to Band Together Pittsburgh, they receive all
the MP threes of the album, because, unlike typical music,
most of us like to keep our Christmas songs, you know,
segmented in a special place because we only you know,
play once a year for the season. So if you
(12:19):
go to yinser Christmas dot com, you can also choose
to download the MP threes if you'd like.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
So some of the names included our gene Werewolf, Clinton Klegg,
Scott Blazy. Uh, but also your band together. Oh yeah,
group's also performed as well, and we should play some
of this thing fantastic. Let's start with Patrick, Patrick and
Patrick and Joe. All right, let's give this a little
(12:48):
great yes chrismas one elast forever.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
It's a kiss me on this.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Called this sem all right. So Patrick and Joe when
they perform, they they blow it out. They just it's
just they every time they perform, it's actually better than
the recording. It's just so good.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Not just the performance of the music, how about the courage.
I mean it's a little intimidating for all of us.
You know, I won't say my age, but you know,
you stand on that stage at the ben at them
in front of two thousand people. You know, there aren't
many of us that have had that experience. You know,
there's a small handful in our group that have had
(13:35):
that our kids from band together certainly have never had
that experience, and they just they just go up there, man,
like they own the stage.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
One, mister Grinch, you really are just a newer version
of the cringe. The spectrum bands up.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Away, every cup up.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
The spectrum, man, And that's the lead. Say what is Jelina? Angelina?
She's a pistol.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That's an understatement.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Oh, she's a pistol. Funniest heck too, man. Oh and
she gives me a hard time every time I see her.
I mean, she brings it. She brings it. She is amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
She sings with Kenny Blake on Wednesday Night, Kenny's Jam session. Away,
she goes everywhere Kenny's.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
He's such a sweetheart too. He is an amazing He's
a beautiful human. Angelina, she's a pistol. And then there's
let's do God rist Mary until nothing youtice christless s
(15:00):
born on Christmas? All right. So when you will ask
some of these we use the term kids colloquially. You
know what was their response of, Hey, we're gonna record
you and put it on an album, and then we're
going to have a whole show and raise money for
our organization. What was their response?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Well, first off, obviously we selected our more experienced performers
and they are a small percentage of band together and
that's one of the things I try to communicate. You know,
you have that small group that is the skilled in
music and his experience and so on. The vast majority
come to our events and have fun and camaraderie and
(15:40):
so on. But the reaction, to answer your question, the
reaction from our guys when we brought it up was like,
where do we start? Where do we go? And just
like Joe said, you know, they had to go down
to Stubaville or Weirton right Stupaville where the studio was,
had had to go and record under the direction of
Joe was the producer Mike Off Jamie Peck, and they
(16:02):
were ready to go. They went down and did it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
And I remember Mike called me the night before Joe
and Patrick came because I was here and he's like, wait,
they're gonna get here before.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I don't know what to expect.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I don't want and then my phone rings as I'm
in the car head in that way, he says, Hey,
this is amazing. I don't need you unless you want
to come, all right, so let's open it up to
a broader audience. So, uh, you these are more experienced,
probably say more experience. So let me say some of
(16:34):
these who's who's listening, who maybe want to be introduced
and want to participate in bands together, and you take
all levels of oh my.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
God, yes, oh dear, we take everybody, uh band together.
Pgh dot org. There's a list of events. Just come.
It's that simple, and on the website is my phone number.
Some families like to call and talk about it. First. Uh,
we have folks that come that don't perform at all.
They don't go on the stage to sing karaoke, your
(17:03):
bang on the drums are open like, they just come
and hang out. And again it's more of a social
atmosphere than necessarily, you know, some great musical performance.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
All right, So how often do you meet?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Well, every month the second Sunday of every month we
have an open mic at our clubhouse, which is in
the back of Moondogs and block knocks, and then we
have in between events. We've been at the Lindsay Theater
and so Wickley, We're going to be at Robert Morris.
We're in Murraysville at the community center out there. We've
(17:37):
been all over. So go to the website band Together
pgh dot org and you'll see a bunch of stuff
and it's all free, by the way.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Okay, And you get a lot of support from the community,
like you know, and so do you have any other
support systems, like who are some of your big supporters?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Well, we're grassroots. I mean, you know, I have to motion.
Moondog is a big supporter, and we have some We
get a lot of grassroots support, small donations from family
and so on. We're completely volunteered, by the way. So
you know, when you look at a charity or organization
and they rate the administrative cost versus the programming, we're
one hundred percent programming one hundred percent. We actually, in
(18:19):
some cases will purchase instruments and lessons for families that
maybe don't have the resources and their son or daughter
wants to get into music. Right now, we have eight
students that we support in that regard.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Who teaches.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Oh, well, the music teachers that are not only have
all the clearances at thirty three Act thirty four, but
they also specialize in working with people on the spectrum.
So I mean, we have a whole group of different
teachers that our kids work with.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
How about you do you do you ever teach any
kind of I.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Struggle with my own abilities dancing. My bad knee has
affected my dancing. Have you seen dance moves? He has
seen me, he knows, but there is no hope from
my singing.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Michael Jackson, who I saw earlier, you have no room.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
You shall not talk.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Do not talk. You a cut off. I'm cutting. I
use my hands to jazz hands.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
That's funny. We're blessed with some great teachers, and uh,
it's just been a you know, I mean, we do
need to grow and hopefully someday we have a staff
and all that stuff, but we're not there yet.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Okay, well you've already expanded like the Eerie and yeah
and plumbs and things like that. That's it with.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Families with grass again, we have the model. It all
starts with families and caregivers because they have the passion.
Like the woman in Erie that's leading the charts for
Stephanie Hall. She is a professional that has a job
that's literally seven days a week. But if she was
here right now, she would say, I'm doing band together
(19:52):
for my son and his friends, and that's the foundation
of the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
All right. So where would you like to see what
would you How would you like to see band together
grow in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Well, you know, obviously the more events that we can have,
we're able to touch more lives. That would be step
one in that regard. And also with Joe bringing the
Pittsburgh music community to us, I think it's opened a
lot of ideas. I mean a lot of eyes with
our peers, or more your peers, because you probably know
(20:25):
them better than I do. I remember when Moon and
I came down to the studio and you called that meeting.
Joe called us in and said, we need to tell
everybody why we're here. And that was pretty amazing. It
was it was Deez was there, and Ricky and there
were a lot of others and they're like, whoa, we
had no idea the impact this is making, you know,
(20:46):
So more integration, get the message out, get more people involved,
and get more families involved.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
All right. So this is the third year for the
Inns of Christmas, and after the first year, I'm like,
none of these people are coming next year, And they
all came back how about this year? Is it the
same group of the same group of Yinsers.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
We added a few.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
We've had, we did a couple of shifts, but but
for the most part the same group that that you
guys have been seeing new editions.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
First of all, the Yser Christmas. It started out in
the carnegiell Homestead. Then last year moved to the Benem.
It's at the Benaem again, which is a larger venue
December ninth, which is a Monday night, no stealer game
on Monday Night. That good good tickets available at Yanserchristmas
dot com or at the Benedem website is trust Arts
(21:41):
dot org. So, uh joke. Risheky is always the one
that ends the night with his big, huge rendition of
Santa Claus's coming to town. Clinton Clegg and Scott Blacy
of the Clarks. But you said a couple of surprises.
Can you fill us in on some of those? And
some of them I'm waiting for, Come on, confirmation, Come on, Joe.
(22:04):
But there is gonna be well pure golds in addition
this year, which is nice. The choir, Yeah, we're gonna
have choir from what what choir?
Speaker 3 (22:13):
So usually there's a number that that me, Pete Hewlett
and Jeff Jimmerson will do together and we have a
choir that we incorporate in it.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Well, this year we're gonna add to that choir. And
what is that song? That song that Silent Night? Let's
play a little they read the Is this the one?
That's what I love about this song?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
It's a song that I wrote with a guy named
Jay McKnight is a dear friend of mine, fantastic musician,
and I never thought what I do with it until
this album happened and I was like, there's Pete Hulett,
one of.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
My idols of Pittsburgh, and Jeff Jefferson and I'm like, hey, guys,
you want to do this song together. So it was
great to see it come to life.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
But we're going to utilize that song to also give
more people from band together Uh Pittsburgh the opportunity to
participate as part of our choir song nice. So really
excited about that and I think it'll be a great,
great movement for for everyone there.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
So all right, I want to say something about that song.
I don't understand why it's not a huge Christmas hit nationally,
buttering me up no, I'm not. I'm not. It is
the first time I heard it, which is prior to
Inser and Joe sang it one of our Christmas shows
at the Oaks. I'm like, where did this come from?
I mean, it's an incredible song. It's such a beautiful rendition.
(23:36):
It needs to be a smash hit. You guys need
to make that happen.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Joe is very talented. Don't tell him that.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
His ball cap struggling fitting tight?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
All right? So three years ago, you you got all
these insers to record twenty five different songs where you
got a charity you know, behind it. You were able
to get a venue and you get the community to
support it. Uh. Is there any plans of maybe recording
another album? Is that going to happen in the few Absolute? Absolutely,
it's already the discussions already in the works. Are you
(24:13):
going to give yourself a little bit more time than
two weeks?
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I think so?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You know what, though, it works so good under pressure.
It was just a great move. Joe, you do it
one week this time one week and songs? Oh, I
think I could do it.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
So we need we we we absolutely want to shake
things up. Include more Ensers. Yeah, different yensers. And there's
so many yensers that come to me, you know, that
didn't have the opportunity, that want to be part of it. Yeah,
and I tell them, called Joe Watering, that's what I
hardly know. The guy called that jerk. I wanted you
(24:49):
on the list.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
He said, no, you know what, I'm a bad cough
on this whole thing. Why did I see my name
in the bathroom Free Us of Christmas called Joe water.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
There's nobody I love making fun of them, Joe smiling Joe.
All right, So what are the plans, what's what's in
the future, or what's what's your action of some of
these people that these luminaries, these Ends are luminaries, what
what was their responsible like, yeah, we'll do.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah, everyone's every I've had the discussion with, especially the
first The first part of course, is getting the Ends
a band together and and they're all on board, and
then it's gonna be You'll hear some repeat performers, some
new performers. It's it's gonna be really great. You know.
My My thought originally is yes, it's the third year
to us, it feels a little maybe starting to get
(25:40):
stale a lot of people have never heard it before. Right,
So there's that fine line of when do you do
the next one? But I think we're to that point
and probably after this year we'll be we'll be looking
at creating a new one.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah. If you look at the model that the great B.
Taylor presented to all of us with his incredible Christmas albums,
his shows, uh, you know, you look at what what
Bill did or what be he did of when he
released new Christmas albums and so on, and it was
in that four year mark, right in that neighborhood of
creating some new music. And we do want to include
(26:15):
a different group of performance.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
And the family is involved in this, yeah, and so
we're not trying to compete with but he did what
he did was amazing special. We're what we're doing is
more community oriented for Pittsburgh and just highlighting all the
talents of all the different insurers out there.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
All right, we only have about three minutes left, So
let's talk about Hyser Christmas. Tell us everything h is.
Everything we need to know about the show.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Come early they'll be there'll be entertainment in the lobby,
there'll be things for you to do and see and
then make your way in. There's some great videos that
that happen up on the screen, and then when the
show starts, you better be ready to sing, dance and
have your Christmas spirit. And if you don't, we're going
to find you. We're gonna make you dance.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
There's some Christmas classics and there's a few new newer
versions of songs that you may or may not know.
You you've got your song that that John loves and
things should be it should be a hit nationally and
you got to it's a variety. And then you have
a band together showing what they're capable of doing as well.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And an original Christmas song from Justin Capazzoli, one of
our Band together guys, Nordon Nardini's an original song.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Monday, December ninth, bendadem Center. It's gonna sell out now.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
These tickets benefit Band Together. So yes, we only have
about a minute left, so tell us everything we need
to know about Band Together.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Band Together creates music programs for folks on the autism spectrum,
and every penny that we receive is dedicated toward our programming,
and that could be buying instruments for folks on the spectrum.
And lessons that could be training DJs on the spectrum.
They get paid live sound engineers equipment just you know,
and all of our programs are free, so we we
(28:00):
buy food and drink and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
And how often do you meet?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
We meet minimum once a month.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
And and if somebody wants to check out the organization, go.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
To band Together pgh dot org and just come. Also,
my phone number, John Vento is on there. And I
do get a lot of phone calls where people have
questions and you know, we want to know more about this,
just call me.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's usually Joe. Just phone calls. Yeah, Prince Albert and aacan.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Always a pleasure, Johnny, you're the best.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I appreciate. We'll see you on December ninth at the
bene Atem. Get your tickets at Yinserchristmas dot com. Make
sure you check out all the Christmas songs there that
you're going to see here and see and here on
the at the Benetem stage. And of course you want
to get tickets, go to trust Arts dot org. John
and Joe, always a pleasure, Thank.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
You so much.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Can't wait all right? If you have any comments, concerns
or an idea for a future program. As always, you
can email us from this radio station's websit. I'm Johnny Heartwell,
thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
Cancer can feel like something we can't do anything about,
but you can. There are screening tests that can catch
cancer early when it may be easier to treat. Begin
cervical screening at age twenty five at forty five, start
colorectal and breast screening at fifty. Discuss lung screening with
the doctor. Find resources for free and low cost screening
(29:39):
at cancer dot org slash get screened. This is a
public service message from the American Cancer Society.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
Meistenia gravis. It's hard to say, hard to spell, but
easy to get help.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Hi.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I'm Jim Joyce, Executive director of the Meistenia Gravis Association
of Western PA. Meistenia gravis is a chronic neuromuscular disease
that impacts a person voluntary muscles. Our organization supports individuals
with Mayestenia gravis through education and advocacy programs. For more information,
please contact us directly at four one two five six
(30:11):
six one five four five or MGA WPA dot org
Okay, welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh area. Good morning. My name is Johnny hert
well In. Guests in studio a couple of old friends.
It's way too early to see you your ugly faces.
Joe Waterick of the band fifty one South and the Stickers,
John Vento of the Needs Hotel Band. Really good to
(00:23):
see you guys again. How always a place to you?
Good man good If you're in studio, that means the
Yser Christmas Show is just around the corner.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You better believe it.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
In Sans Got is his naughty listening. I don't know
about you this year. I'm a little worried.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You never I always barely make it bare. I think
it's because it's our partnership. Then you know that, you know.
I talked to Joe and John and then he Sanda's like, well,
all right, I guess we vouch for you. Yans Are
Christmas tell us everything we need to know. Absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yin's Are Christmas is the third annual and it is
a celebration of music of all your favorite Pittsburgh artists
doing Christmas songs, and it's all benefit Band Together Pittsburgh,
which is an organization that enriches the lives of those
on the autism spectrum through music. And John's gonna tell
us all about that today.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
All right.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Well, before we get to that, uh, let's play some
of your songs that we might hear at the Benendem
Center coming up on December night. Here's Joe Haang all
the missus wrong?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Do get to know you did.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
This Christmas?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
And ask Jim the Tree how much thoughts dom beat?
Speaker 1 (01:32):
They can't see you dance on radium? But thank you
for performing.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's really good. I can't see him.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
And here's's John Christmas.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Beating You sure that treatment.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Met?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Christmas beany you surely dreaming? All right?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So, uh so, along with those songs, we're gonna hear
a lot of you know, traditional Christmas songs, some songs
that are kind of, you know, kind of a newer version.
But we're also going to hear some of the Band
Together performances as well. So tell us about First of all,
tell us how Yans of Christmas and Band Together got together.
(02:19):
I call it friendship.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I mean when we originally I brought the idea to
John and John, you know, being part of Band Together
was just a perfect fit, especially since the organization is
about music, and I think that's really what made it
come to light on John.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, Joe and I became friends through another one of
his projects, the Great Song for a Tree of Life,
which through a mutual friend of ours, I was invited
to go to the studio and add my voice to
the song, which was wonderful. And then he had for years.
I think you've talked about this Christmas thing, right for
as long as I've known you, and he wouldn't let
(02:55):
go of it, which I love it, you know, I
give him a lot of credit. So he had the
vision and then brought that to Band Together Pittsburgh, which
is an organization that creates music programs for people in
the autism spectrum. And it was just a great natural
fit for us to not only support the project with
our team, but also to include some of our Band
(03:16):
Together performers, which has been incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
All right, so tell us the history of Band Together.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, it all started many years ago. I'll give you
the short version, but I had the needs Hotel band.
I guess it's hard to believe. I think I got
to find the exact date, but approximately nine years ago
the Needs Hotel band had a gig at Moondogs in
Blocknacks and at the time our drummer was Ron Vitel
(03:44):
from Wild Cherry and we Fred Deleu on keyboards had
a great band, Tim Haley on guitar. Prior to the gig,
we had met three young autistic musicians and they were
really great and they had the chops and I came
up with an idea and said, why don't we let
these three guys sit in with us for a few
tunes of Moondogs And they did. So, you know, three
professional musicians sit down, three young teenagers come up joined
(04:09):
us for a few tunes. It was a great success.
And at the end of the night, Moondog basically said
to me after the gig, what was that all about?
You know, who are those kids? And I said, well,
here's the dirty little secret. All three of them are
on the autism spectrum. And he said, you know, my
son James is on the spectrum. We need to include
(04:29):
musicians like this more often. And that was really the birth.
That night at Moondog's was was the birth of being together.
We had no clue where it was going to go,
Like Anny, Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
We're street people, and so where has it gone?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Sorry, going back nine years ago, so you've been so
you've come quite quite.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, it has gone to where we have regular open
mic sessions, meaning the kids come and let me define
a kid. If you're fifty year below Yeah, okay, I
and you.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Could put that age a little higher. U. Well, I
don't think there's any there's no adults in this room today, right, So.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You know, people on the autism spectrum, they come to
open mic events on a regular basis, more than monthly.
Here in Pittsburgh. We have drum circles, we have music therapy,
we have we've trained people on the spectrum to be
professional DJs where they go do gigs and they get paid. Uh.
It's just been growth, growth, growth, And then most recently,
(05:29):
we're launching a chapter in.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Eerie, PA.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Two years ago we launched a chapter in Columbus with
the same program as you guys know, I'm sure a
lot of folks on the spectrum they're in their bedroom
playing video games twenty four hours a day. You know,
there are no social connections. So that's what we're most
proud of is that band together has opened the door
(05:56):
for people on the spectrum to feel comfortable and get
together and connect, and especially their parents and caregivers.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Right, Yeah, that is just as powerful because they're so
proud of their kids when they perform. Yeah, because when
you know we've done the you know, the yins of
Christmas and their backstage and they're more excited than the performers.
So it's so great to see.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, and you guys have been supportive and you know,
for Joe to bring this to us his vision and
this year we even have a few more surprises, including
more of our kids.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Oh that's awesome. That's awesome because it's a celebration of
not their disability, it's their abilities exactly. All right.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So now one thing I do want to say, though, John,
you give the definition in what you've seen, what your
vision was because you were in it, someone who's just
come into it and learning about it continuously. To see
them in the recording process, that was an absolute mind
blowing experience for me, something I will never ever forget.
(06:54):
To watch them get up to a microphone and just
you said it best show their abilities. It was eye opening.
There were tears there was joy. It was just it's
it's more than I can ever talk about. I mean,
everyone should experience this to see how special truly is.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
All Right, So we're talking to John Vento and Joe
Waterick about Yin's are Christmas. This celebration uh coming up
on the December ninth. Tickets available at yinso Christmas dot
com or trust Arts dot org and so not in.
In addition to band together, you have every well known
yinser you can imagine on stage. So can you name
(07:31):
some of them?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
I will do my best to try to remember them all,
and I apologize in advance for anything's name I forget
because every time someone asked me, I end up forgetting.
Johnny at this moment is trying to turn a screen
to me, but.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
No, I'm gonna have you do it. I gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm gonna do my best. Here we go.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Oh look at this, we got h We have Scott
Lazy of the Clarks, Jean the Werewolf, John Bellen, Clinton Klaig,
Bill Deazy, Joeygerschecking, David Gnaughti, stevev Wellens, Pete Hewlett, Jeff Jimmerson,
Pure Gold, totally eighties Abby Abadanza, Bailey Taylor, also Dan Taylor,
(08:10):
the Bee Taylor family, myself, my son Joey Waterg Junior,
who I'm a little biased too.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I think he's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
He's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Is your daughter going to participate this year?
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
She has finals that week and she does sing like
a bird, but I don't think she's gonna be able
to do it.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, that's a little heartbroken.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But she's great too.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, And the listen just keeps on growing and going
on and on it. If you are in there, if
you're from Pittsburgh, whether you are ten years old or
eighty years old, you're gonna find something in there that
you're gonna absolutely love. And it's it's all about the season.
It makes it really special.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Three years ago, Joe was able to get all those
individuals that he just talked about in studio and you
recorded close to what twenty five songs in like two weeks.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yes, with a fantastic house band who I didn't mention.
The house band and they'll be on stage that night
is Jamie pat Ricky Wokowski, Herb Schweitzer, the Soulville Horns,
Dave Marion, Rob James from the Clarks. I mean, the
list goes on and on and on of just what
a fantastic group that we have. It's and it's such
(09:16):
a community of yensers. You should hear us all say
the words like don and I mean, it's it's a
hilarious conversation to record.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Now, you should do something behind the scenes because you know,
a lot of these bands and individuals are friends, but
they don't get to see each other because they're usually
performing a lot of times. So when they're backstage, it's
just it's just like an old reunion on they come there,
you see hugs and and they're and and you really
(09:45):
you really should because they're backstage and none of them
are behaving at all, and it's great to see.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
It's exactly And what's the My favorite thing is that
wall just drops for everyone and it's you're right, they're
like a bunch of little kids at Christmas. The excitement
levels way up and everyone's joking around and poking fun
and it's just a great atmosphere and it really shows
on the stage. All right, So three years ago, like
I just mentioned, you got all these ins ors to record.
(10:16):
Tell us what that was, like, I mean, because you
recorded twenty five songs and it was like like fourteen days. Yeah,
so did you get any sleep during those that problem?
So I didn't, you know, as that old saying, be
careful what you wish for, But I'm really glad I
did wish for it. But what we did is we
did two sessions a day.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Every day.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
The house band would come in, we go through it,
the singer would show up, he'd cut his vocal where
she'd cut her vocal, and then we'd move on to
the next one. And we had such a great group
of people that were involved in it.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
As soon as we would get done.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
We had a production team, you know, Jamie Peck, who's
our musical director, would do some mixing. Mic Off Goes,
a dear friend of mine and a great musician. He
was the engineer on it. And we just kept on
move and move and move. And at the end we
all looked.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
At each other say what the heck did we just do?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
And it was great.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
I mean, twenty five songs in two weeks, and if
you listen to the caliber of the recordings, it's fantastic
and I think everyone has a lot to be proud
of it.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Worked on that project Now, musician and reliability aren't two
terms that usually go together. What was it like hurting
those kind of cats that have them came in on time?
You know what. We didn't have one issue.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
These guys are pros. Yeah, yeah, that's the difference between
the names we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah, really, there was not one issue in time. Everyone
was on time, prepared, ready to go. I mean we
were cutting vocals and if you've seen movies or TV
and you see people cutting vocals and you're like, okay, stop,
start over, these guys were so prepared. It was one,
two takes, we were done. I mean, they were just
everyone was just I was so grateful to the professionalism
(11:48):
that came there, the preparation, and it was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And the fruits of your labor can be heard at
Yinzochristmas dot com. Absolutely. Yeah, so you can listen wherever
music streams.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, and we should probably get that Spotify link up,
but we've had We came up with a campaign that
if folks donate to Band Together Pittsburgh, they receive all
the MP threes of the album, because, unlike typical music,
most of us like to keep our Christmas songs, you know,
segmented in a special place because we only you know,
play once a year for the season. So if you
(12:19):
go to yinser Christmas dot com, you can also choose
to download the MP threes if you'd like.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
So some of the names included our gene Werewolf, Clinton Klegg,
Scott Blazy. Uh, but also your band together. Oh yeah,
group's also performed as well, and we should play some
of this thing fantastic. Let's start with Patrick, Patrick and
Patrick and Joe. All right, let's give this a little
(12:48):
great yes chrismas one elast forever.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
It's a kiss me on this.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Called this sem all right. So Patrick and Joe when
they perform, they they blow it out. They just it's
just they every time they perform, it's actually better than
the recording. It's just so good.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Not just the performance of the music, how about the courage.
I mean it's a little intimidating for all of us.
You know, I won't say my age, but you know,
you stand on that stage at the ben at them
in front of two thousand people. You know, there aren't
many of us that have had that experience. You know,
there's a small handful in our group that have had
(13:35):
that our kids from band together certainly have never had
that experience, and they just they just go up there, man,
like they own the stage.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
One, mister Grinch, you really are just a newer version
of the cringe. The spectrum bands up.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Away, every cup up.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
The spectrum, man, And that's the lead. Say what is Jelina? Angelina?
She's a pistol.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That's an understatement.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Oh, she's a pistol. Funniest heck too, man. Oh and
she gives me a hard time every time I see her.
I mean, she brings it. She brings it. She is amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
She sings with Kenny Blake on Wednesday Night, Kenny's Jam session. Away,
she goes everywhere Kenny's.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
He's such a sweetheart too. He is an amazing He's
a beautiful human. Angelina, she's a pistol. And then there's
let's do God rist Mary until nothing youtice christless s
(15:00):
born on Christmas? All right. So when you will ask
some of these we use the term kids colloquially. You
know what was their response of, Hey, we're gonna record
you and put it on an album, and then we're
going to have a whole show and raise money for
our organization. What was their response?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Well, first off, obviously we selected our more experienced performers
and they are a small percentage of band together and
that's one of the things I try to communicate. You know,
you have that small group that is the skilled in
music and his experience and so on. The vast majority
come to our events and have fun and camaraderie and
(15:40):
so on. But the reaction, to answer your question, the
reaction from our guys when we brought it up was like,
where do we start? Where do we go? And just
like Joe said, you know, they had to go down
to Stubaville or Weirton right Stupaville where the studio was,
had had to go and record under the direction of
Joe was the producer Mike Off Jamie Peck, and they
(16:02):
were ready to go. They went down and did it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
And I remember Mike called me the night before Joe
and Patrick came because I was here and he's like, wait,
they're gonna get here before.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I don't know what to expect.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I don't want and then my phone rings as I'm
in the car head in that way, he says, Hey,
this is amazing. I don't need you unless you want
to come, all right, so let's open it up to
a broader audience. So, uh, you these are more experienced,
probably say more experience. So let me say some of
(16:34):
these who's who's listening, who maybe want to be introduced
and want to participate in bands together, and you take
all levels of oh my.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
God, yes, oh dear, we take everybody, uh band together.
Pgh dot org. There's a list of events. Just come.
It's that simple, and on the website is my phone number.
Some families like to call and talk about it. First. Uh,
we have folks that come that don't perform at all.
They don't go on the stage to sing karaoke, your
(17:03):
bang on the drums are open like, they just come
and hang out. And again it's more of a social
atmosphere than necessarily, you know, some great musical performance.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
All right, So how often do you meet?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Well, every month the second Sunday of every month we
have an open mic at our clubhouse, which is in
the back of Moondogs and block knocks, and then we
have in between events. We've been at the Lindsay Theater
and so Wickley, We're going to be at Robert Morris.
We're in Murraysville at the community center out there. We've
(17:37):
been all over. So go to the website band Together
pgh dot org and you'll see a bunch of stuff
and it's all free, by the way.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Okay, And you get a lot of support from the community,
like you know, and so do you have any other
support systems, like who are some of your big supporters?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Well, we're grassroots. I mean, you know, I have to motion.
Moondog is a big supporter, and we have some We
get a lot of grassroots support, small donations from family
and so on. We're completely volunteered, by the way. So
you know, when you look at a charity or organization
and they rate the administrative cost versus the programming, we're
one hundred percent programming one hundred percent. We actually, in
(18:19):
some cases will purchase instruments and lessons for families that
maybe don't have the resources and their son or daughter
wants to get into music. Right now, we have eight
students that we support in that regard.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Who teaches.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Oh, well, the music teachers that are not only have
all the clearances at thirty three Act thirty four, but
they also specialize in working with people on the spectrum.
So I mean, we have a whole group of different
teachers that our kids work with.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
How about you do you do you ever teach any
kind of I.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Struggle with my own abilities dancing. My bad knee has
affected my dancing. Have you seen dance moves? He has
seen me, he knows, but there is no hope from
my singing.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Michael Jackson, who I saw earlier, you have no room.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
You shall not talk.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Do not talk. You a cut off. I'm cutting. I
use my hands to jazz hands.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
That's funny. We're blessed with some great teachers, and uh,
it's just been a you know, I mean, we do
need to grow and hopefully someday we have a staff
and all that stuff, but we're not there yet.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Okay, well you've already expanded like the Eerie and yeah
and plumbs and things like that. That's it with.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Families with grass again, we have the model. It all
starts with families and caregivers because they have the passion.
Like the woman in Erie that's leading the charts for
Stephanie Hall. She is a professional that has a job
that's literally seven days a week. But if she was
here right now, she would say, I'm doing band together
(19:52):
for my son and his friends, and that's the foundation
of the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
All right. So where would you like to see what
would you How would you like to see band together
grow in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Well, you know, obviously the more events that we can have,
we're able to touch more lives. That would be step
one in that regard. And also with Joe bringing the
Pittsburgh music community to us, I think it's opened a
lot of ideas. I mean a lot of eyes with
our peers, or more your peers, because you probably know
(20:25):
them better than I do. I remember when Moon and
I came down to the studio and you called that meeting.
Joe called us in and said, we need to tell
everybody why we're here. And that was pretty amazing. It
was it was Deez was there, and Ricky and there
were a lot of others and they're like, whoa, we
had no idea the impact this is making, you know,
(20:46):
So more integration, get the message out, get more people involved,
and get more families involved.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
All right. So this is the third year for the
Inns of Christmas, and after the first year, I'm like,
none of these people are coming next year, And they
all came back how about this year? Is it the
same group of the same group of Yinsers.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
We added a few.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
We've had, we did a couple of shifts, but but
for the most part the same group that that you
guys have been seeing new editions.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
First of all, the Yser Christmas. It started out in
the carnegiell Homestead. Then last year moved to the Benem.
It's at the Benaem again, which is a larger venue
December ninth, which is a Monday night, no stealer game
on Monday Night. That good good tickets available at Yanserchristmas
dot com or at the Benedem website is trust Arts
(21:41):
dot org. So, uh joke. Risheky is always the one
that ends the night with his big, huge rendition of
Santa Claus's coming to town. Clinton Clegg and Scott Blacy
of the Clarks. But you said a couple of surprises.
Can you fill us in on some of those? And
some of them I'm waiting for, Come on, confirmation, Come on, Joe.
(22:04):
But there is gonna be well pure golds in addition
this year, which is nice. The choir, Yeah, we're gonna
have choir from what what choir?
Speaker 3 (22:13):
So usually there's a number that that me, Pete Hewlett
and Jeff Jimmerson will do together and we have a
choir that we incorporate in it.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Well, this year we're gonna add to that choir. And
what is that song? That song that Silent Night? Let's
play a little they read the Is this the one?
That's what I love about this song?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
It's a song that I wrote with a guy named
Jay McKnight is a dear friend of mine, fantastic musician,
and I never thought what I do with it until
this album happened and I was like, there's Pete Hulett,
one of.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
My idols of Pittsburgh, and Jeff Jefferson and I'm like, hey, guys,
you want to do this song together. So it was
great to see it come to life.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
But we're going to utilize that song to also give
more people from band together Uh Pittsburgh the opportunity to
participate as part of our choir song nice. So really
excited about that and I think it'll be a great,
great movement for for everyone there.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
So all right, I want to say something about that song.
I don't understand why it's not a huge Christmas hit nationally,
buttering me up no, I'm not. I'm not. It is
the first time I heard it, which is prior to
Inser and Joe sang it one of our Christmas shows
at the Oaks. I'm like, where did this come from?
I mean, it's an incredible song. It's such a beautiful rendition.
(23:36):
It needs to be a smash hit. You guys need
to make that happen.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Joe is very talented. Don't tell him that.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
His ball cap struggling fitting tight?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
All right? So three years ago, you you got all
these insers to record twenty five different songs where you
got a charity you know, behind it. You were able
to get a venue and you get the community to
support it. Uh. Is there any plans of maybe recording
another album? Is that going to happen in the few Absolute? Absolutely,
it's already the discussions already in the works. Are you
(24:13):
going to give yourself a little bit more time than
two weeks?
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I think so?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You know what, though, it works so good under pressure.
It was just a great move. Joe, you do it
one week this time one week and songs? Oh, I
think I could do it.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
So we need we we we absolutely want to shake
things up. Include more Ensers. Yeah, different yensers. And there's
so many yensers that come to me, you know, that
didn't have the opportunity, that want to be part of it. Yeah,
and I tell them, called Joe Watering, that's what I
hardly know. The guy called that jerk. I wanted you
(24:49):
on the list.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
He said, no, you know what, I'm a bad cough
on this whole thing. Why did I see my name
in the bathroom Free Us of Christmas called Joe water.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
There's nobody I love making fun of them, Joe smiling Joe.
All right, So what are the plans, what's what's in
the future, or what's what's your action of some of
these people that these luminaries, these Ends are luminaries, what
what was their responsible like, yeah, we'll do.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah, everyone's every I've had the discussion with, especially the
first The first part of course, is getting the Ends
a band together and and they're all on board, and
then it's gonna be You'll hear some repeat performers, some
new performers. It's it's gonna be really great. You know.
My My thought originally is yes, it's the third year
to us, it feels a little maybe starting to get
(25:40):
stale a lot of people have never heard it before. Right,
So there's that fine line of when do you do
the next one? But I think we're to that point
and probably after this year we'll be we'll be looking
at creating a new one.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah. If you look at the model that the great B.
Taylor presented to all of us with his incredible Christmas albums,
his shows, uh, you know, you look at what what
Bill did or what be he did of when he
released new Christmas albums and so on, and it was
in that four year mark, right in that neighborhood of
creating some new music. And we do want to include
(26:15):
a different group of performance.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
And the family is involved in this, yeah, and so
we're not trying to compete with but he did what
he did was amazing special. We're what we're doing is
more community oriented for Pittsburgh and just highlighting all the
talents of all the different insurers out there.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
All right, we only have about three minutes left, So
let's talk about Hyser Christmas. Tell us everything h is.
Everything we need to know about the show.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Come early they'll be there'll be entertainment in the lobby,
there'll be things for you to do and see and
then make your way in. There's some great videos that
that happen up on the screen, and then when the
show starts, you better be ready to sing, dance and
have your Christmas spirit. And if you don't, we're going
to find you. We're gonna make you dance.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
There's some Christmas classics and there's a few new newer
versions of songs that you may or may not know.
You you've got your song that that John loves and
things should be it should be a hit nationally and
you got to it's a variety. And then you have
a band together showing what they're capable of doing as well.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
And an original Christmas song from Justin Capazzoli, one of
our Band together guys, Nordon Nardini's an original song.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Monday, December ninth, bendadem Center. It's gonna sell out now.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
These tickets benefit Band Together. So yes, we only have
about a minute left, so tell us everything we need
to know about Band Together.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Band Together creates music programs for folks on the autism spectrum,
and every penny that we receive is dedicated toward our programming,
and that could be buying instruments for folks on the spectrum.
And lessons that could be training DJs on the spectrum.
They get paid live sound engineers equipment just you know,
and all of our programs are free, so we we
(28:00):
buy food and drink and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
And how often do you meet?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
We meet minimum once a month.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
And and if somebody wants to check out the organization, go.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
To band Together pgh dot org and just come. Also,
my phone number, John Vento is on there. And I
do get a lot of phone calls where people have
questions and you know, we want to know more about this,
just call me.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's usually Joe. Just phone calls. Yeah, Prince Albert and aacan.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Guys.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Always a pleasure, Johnny, you're the best.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I appreciate. We'll see you on December ninth at the
bene Atem. Get your tickets at Yinserchristmas dot com. Make
sure you check out all the Christmas songs there that
you're going to see here and see and here on
the at the Benetem stage. And of course you want
to get tickets, go to trust Arts dot org. John
and Joe, always a pleasure, Thank.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
You so much.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Can't wait all right? If you have any comments, concerns
or an idea for a future program. As always, you
can email us from this radio station's websit. I'm Johnny Heartwell,
thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
Cancer can feel like something we can't do anything about,
but you can. There are screening tests that can catch
cancer early when it may be easier to treat. Begin
cervical screening at age twenty five at forty five, start
colorectal and breast screening at fifty. Discuss lung screening with
the doctor. Find resources for free and low cost screening
(29:39):
at cancer dot org slash get screened. This is a
public service message from the American Cancer Society.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
Meistenia gravis. It's hard to say, hard to spell, but
easy to get help.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Hi.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I'm Jim Joyce, Executive director of the Meistenia Gravis Association
of Western PA. Meistenia gravis is a chronic neuromuscular disease
that impacts a person voluntary muscles. Our organization supports individuals
with Mayestenia gravis through education and advocacy programs. For more information,
please contact us directly at four one two five six
(30:11):
six one five four five or MGA WPA dot org
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