Along The Mohawk #5

For the Mohawk Valley, Central New York region. 

Along the Mohawk features local music and interviews with musicians, storytellers, restaurateurs, and manufacturers and also features Soundscapes with local naturalist Matt Perry. The show will also include a short weekly old-time radio serial, Annie and the Loomis Gang, written and produced by Sharry and performed by a cast of local voice actors. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_10 0:01

Steve Ponty Chevrolet and Herkimer, your local family-owned and operated Chevy dealer, presents Along the Mohawk.

SPEAKER_08 0:10

Come with me as we travel along the Mohawk, sharing the stories of the people and places where we belong.

SPEAKER_10 0:21

Good morning and welcome to Along the Mohawk. I'm Sherry Whitney and I'm happy to have you traveling with me. On today's show, we head uptown, meaning South Utica, to Emerson Av Coffee and the Uptown Theater. But first, we celebrate Music Along the Mohawk, sponsored by our friends at Big Apple Music in New Hartford. I sit down with local blues musician Tom Townsley at Emerson Ave Coffee. An English professor, author, artist, and musician, he's been a fixture in the local blues scene for over three decades, even hosting WAER's Sunday Night Blues for 26 years. So add DJ to his list of professions. Though his talent spanned far and wide, his first love remains the blues harmonica.

SPEAKER_04 1:07

I've been a blues harmonica player since 1983, I think is when I bought my first harmonica. But the blues business I got started, I distinctly recall it was my birthday. I was my second year going to grad school at SU. A friend invited me over to his apartment. He put on a little Walter record. And I said, Wow, this music's really great. Who is this? And he explained it was little Walter who was a harmonica player in Muddy Waters original band in Chicago, but also recorded some groundbreaking seminal recordings of his own right, and is still considered generally to be like the most important blues harmonica guy. Well, I knew nothing about any of this, but as a trombone player before, I liked jazz and had gone to see Count Basie, you know, and so and this felt like that kind of music, but on a scaled-down level. And it was electric too, which of course was another important difference. I became entranced with it, and I went out and started buying records. And another day, serendipitously in the record store, I met a guy, you know, he saw I was going through the blues bin. He said, Oh, you're into blues. I'm like, Yeah, he goes, Yeah, I play in a blues band here in town. I said, What do you play? And he pulled out a harmonica and started playing there in the store. I said, This seems to be another sign, right? So um I went out and caught his band, triple shot. I went out and bought my first harmonica. Uh, I messed around with it for quite a while. Weirdly, another friend of mine in grad school said, you know, I have this book about blues harmonica up in my attic. I don't know why I have it here. And he gave that to me. So all these strange forces, you know, were coming together. And I moved to Florida, played in a band down there for a couple years, and came back. Right around this time, I got the radio show on WAER Sunday Night Blues, which I think started as a two-hour program, and 26 years later it was four hours, and um, through that I was getting to meet a lot of musicians from all over the world, were sending me their CDs and things for radio play. And I also began writing for Blues Review magazine. I got involved with putting a blues society and a blues festival together in Syracuse, you know, and just a whole lot of things. I got a band called Cold Shot Blues Band, which went through various incarnations but became a fairly popular blues act in the 80s.

SPEAKER_10 3:59

Later in the show, we'll talk more with Tom Townsley about his just released new CD, Too Late Smart. Here's a song from that album: Act Like You Love Me.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

The sun's gonna shine my backdoor one day. Yeah, the sun's gonna shine my backdoor one day. You know when you're gonna ride, blow my food away.

SPEAKER_12 4:31

Attention, listeners, your Mohawk Valley time travel experiment is about to commence. Stand by as we recalibrate the decades.

SPEAKER_18 4:44

Welcome to Cooperstown, June 12th, 1939. The air is buzzing, cars line the roads for miles, trains have been arriving all morning, and an estimated 20,000 people have poured into this small town. Why? Because today, baseball becomes history. Straight ahead, crowds are gathering outside a brand new building, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, officially opening its doors for the very first time. This isn't just a ceremony, it's a pilgrimage. And look who's here. There's Babe Ruth, larger than life, smiling for the cameras. Over there, Mel Ott and Hank Greenberg are shaking hands with fans. And yes, that's Dizzy Dean cracking jokes as flashbugs pop. It feels like every hero of the game has come back to where it all began. And in a way, they have. This is baseball's centennial celebration, 100 years since the game was said to be born right here in Cooperstown. Even Major League Baseball has paused. Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis ordered that no games be played anywhere in the country today. All eyes, all attention are right here. Later there'll be an exhibition game. Cheers will echo across the fields. But right now, in this moment, you can feel something bigger. A game becoming legend, a town becoming sacred ground, and a story, America's story, being written into history. Cooperstown, June 12th, 1939. Well, now it's time to get back to the future.

SPEAKER_10 6:55

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SPEAKER_05 7:32

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SPEAKER_18 7:52

Big Apple Music in New Hartford has served Central New York and the best musician since 1979. Guitars, amps, drums, sound systems, digital pianos, and school instruments. And providing sales, rentals, repairs, and musical instrument private lessons. Got an instrument that needs a little love? Let Big Apple Music repair it for you. Check us out for Sound System installs and repairs. The best brands for the best bands. Shop local, shop smart, shop Big Apple Music in New Hartford. Loving people for over 46 years. Check us out on Facebook and our website.

SPEAKER_10 8:48

Were people really worried when the Domenicos were closing? Was there fear of losing the space?

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Oh, they were so scared. They're such like legends, and I think there was a lot of anxiety. But I feel like we've tried to keep the heart of what they were doing and put our own spin on it. So I think for the most part we've we've been received really well, which I'm grateful for. I started working in coffee when I was like 21. It's one of my first jobs, and always imagined opening my own, but I definitely didn't expect to be able to open a coffee shop in a place that I already loved so much. So that was really, really cool. Like when I go to a new town, it was the first thing I would look for is like what are the coffee shops like. Like I was homeschooled, so I really had a pretty isolated experience to see what the world was like in a safer environment. And you know, I felt like that with a few different coffee shops in the area. We're so lucky to have several great coffee shops. That was kind of my little intro to like what the outside world was like was like meeting people in coffee shops, getting to know the community that way. You worked at Cafe Domenico. What have you changed and what have you tried to keep the same? I think the biggest thing I try to keep the same is just their love for the community and for art specifically. So I'm trying to keep the like local artist vibe going. We do some open mics and their paintings are still hanging in different corners of the shop. We're actually gonna be bringing in a different artist collective, is gonna be swapping out some different art shows. Um, they also were just really themselves, which I appreciated. They were super funky and fun and way cooler than me. And so when I took over, it was important to me to feel like the space I was being myself in. And I knew I wasn't gonna like fill their shoes in the same way, but I just wanted to make sure I was being like authentic. You're cool, adjacent.

SPEAKER_10 10:41

Yeah, I am we'll we'll go with that. How what do you want people to feel when they come in the door scene?

SPEAKER_00 10:48

I want them to feel like they can be themselves. Like I think that's why I appreciated how true the Dominicos were to themselves because I knew that we were different, but it felt like it gave me permission to be who I was, and I think that's what I want people to feel when they come in.

SPEAKER_10 11:05

Have you changed up anything as far as the coffee offerings?

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Yeah, we've changed the coffee offerings quite a bit. Um, we use Partner's Coffee from Brooklyn, and then we also use Tug Hill uh roasting, and they're local, which is amazing. We've got different pastries coming in. We're hoping to start doing our own baked goods in the future. So we've got some big plans on the horizon. So we're coming up on two years. In May, it'll be our anniversary, and we're having a huge party, so that's gonna be really, really fun.

SPEAKER_10 11:37

Looking out the window of Emerson Ave Coffee, you can't help but notice the historic facade of the Uptown Theater. And if you're like me, you have many decades of memories there. So I crossed the street to speak to the new owner, Brianna Mahoney. It seems her husband Devin also pondered the theater from the coffee shop on the corner.

SPEAKER_17 11:58

Yeah, he uh grew up in South Utica and so had grown up going to the uptown, and he has the same affinity for it as many people do locally. It has been part of people's history. After graduating from his master's program, he moved to Los Angeles. I was living there at the same time. We were both out there for about 15 years. When he left, the uptown was closed, so he missed the time that it was open most recently, so it just felt closed forever to him. And was back here, we were visiting his family, and he was sitting at the coffee shop across the street, and he started asking questions about what was going on with the theater.

SPEAKER_10 12:38

So when your husband you were sitting over at the coffee shop, he looks across and then he said, Hey, honey.

SPEAKER_17 12:44

He did, and I was like, Okay, well, we're not gonna do that. Um, however, I was like, Well, I'll just help you start to like research it, but I just started getting myself all excited about the possibilities of it, and I think we were both looking for a different trajectory or like a new adventure and something that could be impactful. The building was uh construction started in 1926 and it opened in 1927, so we're coming up on its hundredth year at the end of next year. There's like very a very steep stadium seating. It was built as a movie house at the time. A lot of theaters in general, but in theaters locally, were originally like live sort of opera or playhouses that were being adapted to show movies, but the uptown was built specifically to be a movie theater. It was also built with at the time modern safety standards, and there was a lot of concern about fire safety. It is limestone, concrete, as opposed to like just a lot of wood and um fabrics and stuff like that. The vision has remained consistent in that we wanted to get the theater back online and have it be available to the community that loves it and to offer stuff that doesn't already have a home and to just be a place for people to like meet other people who are like them, start exploring their creative sides. All of that has happened, all of that is rooted in improv, coming as you are, being who you are, and I think that's just the philosophy that has been the undercurrent of everything that we're doing. The vision that has changed is like the approach, the timeline, all of that. We definitely thought we would be able to get here, keep the doors closed while we raise the money, and then not let anybody in until everything was done. As we started to get underway, we were like, this is not realistic. It's going to take so long. We're just sort of sitting here. And so we started finding ways to start offering classes and smaller types of programming, and that's what we were building momentum with. So it will be live events and movies. We're getting a bunch of stuff installed literally next week. It's all sitting in boxes, I can show you. Like lighting, speakers, a new movie screen delivered. Like that's how close we are to getting things installed.

SPEAKER_10 15:04

It's like if I knew it was gonna take this, would I have done it?

SPEAKER_17 15:08

No.

unknown 15:09

Right.

SPEAKER_17 15:10

No, but but I'm glad that I did. We were only doing it because we were ignorant of all of the challenges we were going to face. And now that I know, but then when you overcome them and you look back, you're like, oh, all right, well, we did manage to come this far. Or when we will show somebody the space who hasn't seen it in a while and they point out all of the stuff that's been done. I'm like, yeah, you're right. Okay, you're right. This was cool.

SPEAKER_10 15:36

To follow updates on the Uptown Theater and its events, visit alongthemohawkradio.com. It's a week before Easter, so I'm stepping into So Sweet Candy Shop on Collis Street here in Clinton. An old-fashioned candy shop where everyone, for a moment, becomes a kid in a candy store. Hello, Margaret!

SPEAKER_11 16:03

Hi! Are you busy? A little bit.

SPEAKER_10 16:10

Okay, Margaret, this is a very busy time of year for you. What is the most sought-after Easter treat?

SPEAKER_11 16:17

The most sought after are the chocolate bunnies. We have them in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate, and about four or five different sizes. The ones that we make ourselves, we make our own lollipops, chocolate-covered Oreos, coconut nesses, potato chipness, the bark, all the bunnies. We make all the bunnies ourselves. We have panoramic Easter eggs, which are not chocolate, but those are something that nobody else has. And the things that we buy in, we have beautiful truffles from all around the country, cake bites that are in Easter shapes and our whole chocolate case.

SPEAKER_10 16:54

What makes a good chocolate cream?

SPEAKER_11 16:55

The buttercream, the cocoa butter that makes the good chocolate.

SPEAKER_10 17:01

And how were you drawn to this as a career?

SPEAKER_11 17:04

I started making stuff with my mother when I was a kid. She had all kinds of um the chocolate molds and and everything. We would go to craft fairs and find that we'd want all the stuff that you could eat. Our our first business was um candy jar confections. And then when we decided to open a brick and mortar, then we changed the name to So Sweet Candy. Trying to create an old-fashioned candy store. We have all the old-fashioned penny candies, we have fresh fudge, um, we have the cinnamon roasted nuts. So it's just all the stuff that, you know, kind of makes you feel like you're going back in time in your childhood. So Christmas, um, everybody wants to fill stockings. We we are the stocking stuffer at the place. And Easter, they're looking to fill Easter baskets. I just love the colors, the pastels, and you know, I I love all the the colors of Easter.

SPEAKER_10 18:07

Local blues harmonica player Tom Townsley just released his sixth album, Too Late Smart. Unlike his previous releases, this one is partly an homage to the musicians who shaped his music and his life as a musician.

SPEAKER_04 18:21

Uh so on the C D, the guitarist is Maurice Tarbell, who I've been playing with uh for 40 some years on and off. Um bass player is Sean Peters. We have Frank Challerico on keyboards, and uh on the CD it's uh Phil Leon on drums. He's the guy who's down in Nashville now, but you know, he's from here originally, and most of the time the my drummer's Lenny Milano. I kind of wanted it to be in some sense a legacy album or kind of looking back over a career. So while many of the previous ones were mostly original songs, I wanted to pay tribute to a lot of the blues artists that meant something to me over the years. Uh, there's still some original songs on here, too. I wanted to get a really sort of authentic sound, like some of the old chess recordings from the 50s and 60s. And to some extent, I guess, celebrate having had this career and having had the good fortune to be able to play in front of people and have some of them like it, you know.

SPEAKER_10 19:28

For information about Tom Townsley's new CD, Too Late Smart, and upcoming gigs, visit alongthemohawkradio.com.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

To keep her man at home, cause she's an AI woman. She's been built, please. Bring the grown man to the knee.

SPEAKER_10 20:06

Coming up after the break, episode 5 of Annie and the Loomis Gang, an MB soundscape with local naturalist Matt Perry.

SPEAKER_08 20:14

Come with me as we travel along the Mohawk.

SPEAKER_10 20:23

Spring is here, and it's time to leave the snow behind and spring into a new Chevy from Steep Ponti Chevrolet in Herkimer. Save right now on a 2026 Chevy Equinox LT All-Wheel Drive, just $3.19 a month. Or if you need more muscle, get into a 2026 Chevy Colorado Crew Cab, four-wheel drive with a towing package for only $2.99 a month. Or go big with a 2026 Chevy Simulado LT Crew Cab, four-wheel drive for just $3.99 a month. Warm up to a better ride today at Steep Ponti Chevrolet, your hometown Chevy dealer. Chevrolet, let's drive. See why it's always easy to do business at Steep Ponti Chevrolet.

SPEAKER_05 21:00

Lease offers for qualified customers 36 months, 10,000 miles per year. Tax title tags and fees extra. Must qualify for top credit tier through GM Financial. Must have qualifying lease in household where applicable. Must enroll in GM Rewards Card and spend $1,000, $3,000 due at signing, cash, or trade equity, MSRP shown. See dealer for details.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

You work hard for a living here in the Mohawk Valley. You make a difference. You leave your mark. You deserve a financial advisor who works hard for you.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

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SPEAKER_02 21:44

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SPEAKER_01 21:58

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SPEAKER_16 22:07

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SPEAKER_18 22:19

For 18 years, Primo Pizza, Route 5 and Clinton, has been making fresh dough daily for the best pizza around: New York style, upside-down, and cauliflower gluten-free pizza. If you live in their delivery area like Kirkland and Hamilton College residents, lucky you, you can have it delivered to your door. If not, stop by and pick up some hot, delicious pizza and crispy wings from Primo Pizza. Call 315-381-3231 or order online at enjoypremopizza.com.

SPEAKER_10 22:46

Steet Ponty Chevrolet in Herkimer, your local Chevy dealer, presents Annie and the Loomis Gang.

SPEAKER_13 22:52

Last week on Annie and the Loomis Gang, Annie's journey is shadowed by danger. Her carriage halted in the road by two armed men. Her path to a new life in Waterville, anything but certain. After a brief stop in Clinton, she now stands at the threshold of her late uncle's farm. But the promise of home offers little comfort as the carriage draws near. The horses are suddenly startled. Two men are waiting by the gate. Episode 5. Loomis's at the gate.

SPEAKER_19 23:24

Uh, I don't like the looks of those men over by your gate. You might better stay inside.

SPEAKER_09 23:29

This is my farm, and I have the right to know who's come calling.

SPEAKER_19 23:33

You've got more nerve than sense. Well, my job's done. Here's your luggage.

SPEAKER_10 23:38

The driver throws her trunk on the ground, snaps the reins, and is gone. So long.

SPEAKER_19 23:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 23:44

Wait, I uh Shadow! Oh, I'm glad to see you. From the swamp, a man approaches Annie.

SPEAKER_07 23:53

Evening, Miss Ann.

SPEAKER_09 23:55

Ganya, I'm so glad to see you. Do you know who those men are over there?

SPEAKER_07 24:00

Yes. I will deal with them. You settle in the house. I will bring your trunk.

SPEAKER_10 24:05

Thank you, Ganya. Good night. The man at the gate is George Washington Loomis.

SPEAKER_06 24:11

Well now, Jedediah, loyal as ever. You're early, Wash. Early is better than late. The mark of a man who knows what he wants. Come back tomorrow.

SPEAKER_10 24:21

Knowing there is no point arguing with Jedediah Marsh, he turns to leave. The other man mounts his horse and follows him into the night. Annie twists the brass valve and a lamp leaps to life. Her uncle's clever invention. Gas piped from the swamp itself. In the glow, memories return. Her uncle, her aunt glowing with the promise of their first child. In the corner, an empty cradle rests.

SPEAKER_09 24:48

Some tea before bed, like we used to. But where's Aunt Kelly's fine kettle? Lost, like she and the baron. Poor Uncle Shay. The table's still set for two after all this time.

SPEAKER_10 25:00

No kettle to be found. Annie resigns herself to sleep. Beneath the sounds of the night swamp, a steady pulse rises through the house. Uncle Shay's rampump, still working, tireless. A heartbeat in the night.

SPEAKER_09 25:21

Morning already. I'll clean up and go gather some eggs for breakfast. Take Hunter for a short ride before the men come for the horses. Then it's to town to buy a kettle and visit the post office. But first, some tea. A tin pot will have to do. Uncle's ram pump.

SPEAKER_10 25:38

Clever as ever. After breakfast, Annie walks toward the barn. Jedediah is leading the hot pickers toward the field. It is the height of harvest. He sees Annie and approaches.

SPEAKER_09 25:49

Good morning, Ganya. I'm taking Hunter for a ride.

SPEAKER_07 25:52

Hunter hasn't run much. Take care.

SPEAKER_09 25:55

I will, Ganya. Thank you. I'm happy you're here. This was my second home. I hope Hunter remembers me.

SPEAKER_07 26:01

Hunter remembers.

SPEAKER_09 26:04

Let's take it slow now. Whoa. Whoa, Hunter, easy. Whoa. Whoa, Hunter! Whoa!

SPEAKER_10 26:12

Hunter gallops up the hill and plunges into the orchard, tearing apples from the trees. Ooh, I'll let that go this time. She lets Hunter enjoy his breakfast of apples. From the hill, Annie sees the small hop field below, pressed against the endless swamp. She sees a handful of hop pickers moving among the vines. Poor Uncle Shay.

SPEAKER_09 26:32

Father was right to worry. He warned him not to leave the family dairy for worthless swamplands and hops, what father called foolhardy scrub.

SPEAKER_10 26:41

She notices Jedediah's cabin at the edge of the swamp and remembers when her aunt and uncle first introduced her to him. She was just 14.

SPEAKER_16 26:49

This is my uncle's land. How do you live here?

SPEAKER_07 26:52

Your uncle calls this his land because he paid for it. But Skowani does not belong to anyone.

SPEAKER_09 26:58

Skawani?

SPEAKER_07 26:59

The Great Swamp. Many men have held the paper. They come, they go. We stay. Your uncle knows. He asked me to guide him, to help him understand it.

SPEAKER_10 27:14

Shadow's barking snaps Annie out of her memories. Shadow, what is it? Down below, the men are already waiting. Their early arrival feels bold, almost aggressive, yet Annie sees the edge it gives her to turn their eagerness into leverage. She grips the reins, then Hunter rears violently.

SPEAKER_09 27:32

Whoa, Hunter, what's wrong? Settle now. What's the matter? Whoa, Hunter, whoa!

SPEAKER_10 27:37

Whoa! Whoa! Annie is hurled into the oven and crashes to the ground, sprawling in the dirt, legs tangled. A laugh carries up the hillside, her advantage gone in an instant.

SPEAKER_13 27:52

Next week, chapter six. The Loomis Bargain.

SPEAKER_14 28:02

This is Mohawk Valley soundscape for late March. Perhaps downtown is the last place one expects to hear birds song, and yet it may be the most reliable place to hear one of the world's most iconic species, the peregrine falcon. The fastest animal on earth is also remarkably vocal. Peregrines possess a wide repertoire of calls, each tied to a specific moment in their lives. Territorial warnings, courtship, food exchanges, mating, and the raising of young. Their voices range from sharp, high-pitched calls and chattering notes to whistles and low insistent grunts. What you are hearing now are the sounds of a courtship ledge display, a vocal duet between male and female taking place at the nest fifteen floors above the street. These exchanges can last mere seconds or stretch on for several minutes, but they are always emphatic, cutting cleanly through the layered noise of a busy city. These calls did not evolve for urban life. They were shaped in the wild places, along ocean cliffs, in windswept canyons, across mountain faces, where sound must travel through surf, wind, and distance. Today those same voices carry effortlessly over traffic, sirens, and the constant mechanical hum of the urban canyon. Even the young join this acoustic landscape. Their begging calls, harsh, urgent, and unrelenting, rise above the city's noise, guiding their parents back with food from remarkable distances. So the next time you walk the streets of downtown Utica or any similar sized city, pause and listen. Above the engines and echoes, you may hear the ancient voice of the world's fastest bird, still perfectly at home in a world of brick and glass.