Hello Everyone,
Here is the recap of the August 31 edition of “The Homegrown Rocker,” which airs every Sunday night from 8 to 10 PM on Q94 Classic Rock (www.q94classicrock.com), and from 10 PM to midnight on 107.1 and 101.3 Jack FM (www.1071jack.fm)!
For Labor Day Weekend, we presented the 2025 installment of the “Local Music Live in Concert” Special! During this special, every song we played was a live concert or performance track from a local or regional band or artist! Among the live tracks we featured were numbers from The Clarks, members of the Badlees, Rusted Root, the Hooters, Jeffrey Gaines and many more! Along the way, we updated “Local Music News,” and pulled out a 1978 concert track by Pittsburgh’s Diamond Reo from the archive for this week’s “Local Music Flashback!” (For those who missed the program, a four-part podcast of this show is available for listening or download from Q94’s website, www.q94classicrock.com. Click on “The Professor’s Classroom,” and then scroll down to “Homegrown Rocker Podcast” and look for the four show segments marked with the date, 083125.)
Here is this week’s playlist:
HOUR ONE:
SWEET DESIRE – “Feelin’ Alright” (live in Millersville on Jan. 3, 2025)
THE SEMI-SUPERVILLAINS – “Bad Transmission” (live)
THE NICK MILLER PROJECT – “Keep Movin'” (live)
MELLOW HONEY – “Kimura Castle” (performed live at Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza in downtown State College on July 1, 2022)
THE EXTRA MILES – “Galaxy” (live at LaunchPad, Philipsburg on January 7, 2023)
PURE CANE SUGAR – “Give Me Some of That Good Stuff” (live at the State Theatre in State College in April, 2013)
BRET ALEXANDER & NYK VAN WYK – “Fear of Falling” (live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House in Jim Thorpe, PA in 2016)
DAVID UOSIKKINEN’S IN THE POCKET – “And We Danced” (CD: Live at the Keswick Theatre, 2019)
JEFFREY GAINES – “In Your Eyes” (live, April 2001)
HOUR TWO:
JIM DONOVAN & THE SUN KING WARRIORS – “Revival Drums” (live at the Great Rhythm Revival in Sherman, New York in August, 2022)
MICHAEL GLABICKI – “Send Me on My Way” (performed at Rex Theater, Pittsburgh on November 11, 2017)
THE CLARKS – “Born Too Late” (performed live at Mr. Small’s Theatre in Millvale [Pittsburgh])
FELIX & THE HURRICANES – “Beale Street” (live at the R Bar, Pittsburgh in 2020)
EMILY’S TOYBOX – “Back of the Bus” (live)
DIAMOND REO – “Rock N’Roll City” (live at the Tri-County Event Center in Celina, Ohio on November 21, 1978)
MR. POCKET – “A Certain Girl” (live at LaunchPad, Philipsburg on April 1, 2023)
NOWHERE WOLVES – “Charisma” (live at the Poetry Lounge, Pittsburgh on July 23, 2024)
TAKE THE HIT – “Smell the Glove” (live at McGarvey’s in Altoona on February 27, 2024)
ANTHROPHOBIA – “Running Out of Time” (live at the Nitro Bar in West Reading in March, 2022)
MYSTERYTRAIN – “Medicine Show” (live at Share Fest 5/18/24)
For our next program, we bring back our most frequent-flyer guest since the “Homegrown Rocker” first aired in 1998 – eastern PA musician and performer Sterling Koch! Since the early 1980s, Sterling has fearlessly performed and created music in multiple genres. In the past few years, he has been exploring the frontiers of jazz music, and we will hear some of his latest musical creations – including his latest single, an update of a popular mid-1980s hit by Toto! We’ll also update “Local Music News,” dig a “Local Music Flashback” song from the archive and more! Listen to the “Homegrown Rocker” this Sunday night (September 7) on Q94 Classic Rock – 94.3 FM and online at www.q94classicrock.com, and on 107.1 and 101.3 Jack FM, online at www.1071jack.fm!
SEPT. 14 – Almost Honest
SEPT. 21 – Dan Stonerook
SEPT. 28 – Dream the Heavy
OCT. 5 – Alex Shumaker
OCT. 12 – Gonto
OCT. 26 – Halloween Special
NOV. 23 – All-Request Special
NOV. 30 – Local Music on Vinyl Special
DEC. 14 – Dr. Barry Atticks (Lilla Jul Rockeband)
DEC. 21 – Christmas Special
DEC. 28 – 2025 Year in Review
(All dates are subject to changes as circumstances warrant.)
Bands and artists wanting to submit news items for “Local Music News” may email their news to homegrownrocker@gmail.com. Indicate “MUSIC NEWS” in the subject heading!
Bands and artists interested in having music aired on the show are invited to send their broadcast-quality recordings to: The Homegrown Rocker, 2513 6th Avenue, Altoona, PA 16602 (ATTN: Jim Price). You can also email digital song files or inquiries about the show to homegrownrocker@gmail.com; and submit digital song files through the link on “The Professor’s Classroom” page. And bands and musicians interested in being guests on the program can email their interest to homegrownrocker@gmail.com as well!
Jim Price
In Local Music News…
Two area band personnel moves top our look at “Local Music News…First, Altoona hard blues rockers Sweet Desire announced that drummer Trey Boore is leaving their ranks. Trey was a founding and pivotal member of the band through its formation and over the past 4 years. Sweet Desire is seeking a new drummer; preferably somebody inspired by 1960s-70s hard rock and blues.
Meanwhile, area outlaw country favorites Stephanie & the Wild Hearts have announced that lead guitarist Chad Morral will be leaving their ranks at year’s end after a six year run. The group is seeking a new lead guitarist who might be interested in playing classic rock, classic country, and modern country music.
We extend speedy and complete recovery wishes to singer Molly Countermine, who will be stepping away from full-time singing to heal her voice after dealing with vocal nodule issues since January. Molly announced this past week that she will discontinue her weekly singing with Ted McCloskey & the H-Fi’s on Fridays at the Phyrst in State College, as well as her regular Sunday night duo performance with Ted at State College’s All American Ale House. Once her voice heals, she plans to limit her singing work to one or two times per week. She will continue to play non-singing gigs with acoustic trio Honey Pie.
And the Altoona area music scene and Penn State Altoona community were saddened this past week by news of the passing of Joe Petrulionis last Sunday (August 24) after a battle with cancer. He was 65. Joe was a musician who played classical and folk guitar; he operated the Mystic Music Jam music store in Altoona’s Juniata section for a few years in the late 1990s, and would host old time music jams there on weekends with local fiddlers, banjo pickers and aspiring musicians. He was also an instructor at Penn State Altoona, where he taught classes in philosophy, ethics and history. According to his obituary in the Altoona Mirror newspaper, “Joe discovered his driving purpose and natural talent as he inspired young adults to develop a capacity for critical thinking and to establish their own well-informed basis for empathy, tolerance and justice.”
