This past Saturday evening, Hardy played a sold-out show at the Covelli Center in Youngstown and blew the roof off the place! The energy between the artist and audience was unlike anything I have witnessed before, and I can now say that I get Hardy. I've always loved his music, but I get it now. I don't know if that makes sense, but I'm not sure how else to describe it. Lainey Wilson compared his performance to a WWE event and at first I was confused, but not now. 

Hardy's fans seem to be as intense as he is, in the best way. Every song was a jam, and his setlist impressed me in that he was able to sample his diverse catalog seemlessly. To play tunes like Radio Song and One Beer within the same act and have an equally warm reception from the audience is a feat. I still can't get Unapologetically Country As Hell out of my head, which was probably my favorite from his performance. 

Of course I can't talk about this concert without mentioning my favorite female country artist, Lainey Wilson. (Megan Moroney might be tied with her, but I digress.) I've been a huge fan of Lainey since she first hit the limelight, and fondly remember meeting her for the first time at our Bossom Buddies Benefit Conert 2022. She was just gaining traction in the charts at that point, and soon after exploded in popularity (rightfully so). She's just amazing, and her story of perservearance is inspirational to all. I love her Bell Bottom Country style and attire, and on Saturday she wore this super-cool hat with a feather coming out; it was a certified 'fit.

My favorite song of hers is a little ditty called Those Boots, off her latest album. She unfortunately did not play it, but I can understand why as it is one of her less popluar tunes and may not have fit in so well with the rest of the show. She did play all my other favorites however, and she even did a striking solo version of Never Say Never. It was so good. 

To see Lainey Wilson glow up from where she began to selling out huge venues touring with Hardy makes me so happy. I was content to see she has mantained the same band she toured with on the smaller stages. Her producer/guitarist dude with the bowler hat is a whole vibe; he and the rest of the band are quite talented. Just like Hardy, Lainey Wilson did not miss a beat and put on a stellar performance. 

I unfortunately did not catch the opener Dylan Marlowe, but it was a sort-of funny story why. I never drive out to the Youngstown area, and I'm not sure if I've even been there once. With that, I was unfamilar with the map and ended up going about fifteen minutes in the wrong direction once getting off the highway. Let me tell you, it was weird. There was a single road with no outlets for miles, with woods and industry on either side. Traveling down it I thought, "there's no way the tour busses went down this road: something's off," yet I proceeded still. 

I should have trusted my gut, as I ended up in this weird little town that seemed like the setting for a horror movie. There were a ton of houses, streets, and cars; and aside from a resturant/bar we passed on the outskirts of town, there was literally no activity. It was uncanny, and I could smell bonfires but saw none and nobody. I joked that the whole village must be at the Hardy concert, but seriously it was strange. I'm still a little creeped out from it. 

I did hear Dylan Marlowe perform a Jon Pardi tune he wrote, and Hardy sang a Morgan Wallen tune that he penned. Scott Wynn once told me that Hardy is an incredible songwriter who has had a hand in many a hit song, but I had no idea just how much he has written. He wrote every one of my favorite Wallen songs and so much more, and I bet you'd be shocked as well to discover the depth of his discography. I'd venture to claim that Hardy is the best country music songwriter of this era. I'd love to hear a rebuttal for that, but personally I can't think of anyone comparable. 

To wrap this long blog up, I just want to express how thankful I am to have my job here at WQMX and for all the experiences it has afforded me. It's not always glamorous, but there's no where else I'd rather be in my professional life right now than at the best dang radio staion in the whole wide world, Your Country 94.9 WQMX! Attending events we put on and interacting with listeners is one of the best parts about what I do, and if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, Rubber City Radio Group is looking for enthustiatic individuals to work part-time on our Street Team in promotions. I'll drop a link for more info on that below, and thanks for reading!

https://rcrg.net/street-team/

I love all things fall, and one of my favorite things to do during the season is to have a big fire under the stars at night. The heat from the flames mixed with the cooler air is just blissful. Whether it's at my place or elsewhere, aside from attending concerts there's hardly anything I would rather do on a Friday night with friends. 

There are at least three fire spots on my property, with two of them being in the yard and one in the woods. When we're having a decent sized get-together at the house, we tend to use the closest one which lies in the middle of the backyard. It's an awesome spot to watch the sunset and the stars at night, but I prefer my pit in the woods. It is as close as can safely be to my treehouse, and there is just a cool vibe back there. We'll ride tractors and four-wheelers back there and do some ripping if we're feeling the need to get up and move around. 

Not only am I the overnight host for WQMX, but I am also a huge fan of the station and all the music we play. You already know I'm cranking my speaker up as loud as it goes, streaming the station from my phone whenever I'm having a bonfire. You too can stream live any time anywhere here on WQMX.com, on our app, or with your Amazon smart speaker-just say, "Alexa, play 94.9 WQMX." 

This weekend, I hope you have a lot of fun and enjoy this pleasant weather while it lasts. There's fun stuff going on at the Dusty Armadillo with Sarah Kay, both Friday night and Sunday. Three big concerts are happening Saturday with sold-out Hardy/Lainey Wilson at the Covelli Center, Chris Cagle at the Dusty Armadillo, and Brandi Carlile at Blossom. Jason Aldean will also be hitting the stage at Blossom on Sunday evening, back again after his last show was rained out a few months past. Whatever it is you're getting into, live it up!

Last week, I listed my top ten favorite candies, and it was a lot of fun! I got some great input from readers and learned that many of you enjoy Reese's. In retrospect, I should have mentioned alongside my chocolate anecdote, that I do love their white chocolate cups, when I'm in the right mood. There're endless options for stuff that can be ranked, from movies to fast food chains and beyond, and I'm excited to keep these coming. 

Anyhow, I am basically an AriZona Tea connoisseur...dare I say sommelier? Ha! Truthfully, I have tried just about every beverage that the company makes aside from their Hard drinks; I cannot stand any of that malt liquor/seltzery stuff, or else I would. I've even tried their nachos and cheese, which I bet you've probably never heard of. They are pretty bad, as you might expect. 

The key to trying as many varieties as possible is all in the search. A lot of chain gas stations will have the same options on their shelves, so you want to look for those indepent service stations or bodegas. There's a select few I know of in my area that I hit up when I get the hankering for something more rare, but most places have at least a few types I like. I do want to mention that I am disappointed that most every AriZona is no longer just $1, but I give them credit for how long they held off on inflation, and for their evasion of shrinkflation. Let's get into this list!

10. Blueberry White Tea

9. Red Apple Green Tea

8. Lemonade

7. Sweet Apple

6. RX Energy

5. Arnold Palmer Strawberry

4. Arnold Palmer Southern Style (Pink Lemonade)

3. Lemon Tea

2. Raspberry Tea

1. Grapeade

Do you do the Dew? I do the Dew, and I'm stoked that Mountain Dew has revealed their 2023 MTN Dew Voodew. It's the fifth annual year the company has produced a special Halloween themed edition beverage, and I have made a point to try every rendition thus far. 

Rumor has it that the product hit the shelves just yesterday, on September 12th, though I would not expect to see widespread distribution for another week or so. It's exciting to try to hunt down a special product as such, if you ask me. I will begin my search for that new spooky elixer today, and if you see it around these next few days feel free to let me know where you encountered it via the WQMX studio text line at 330-370-2000. 

There're a few theories circulating online about what the flavor of 2023's Voodew actually is. Years past have had flavors such as Sour Patch Kids and candy corn,  and if I remember correctly the original had an uncanny resemblance to Skittles. In my opinion, none have been as good as that first one, but based on the internet taste tests and forum posts about this new one, my expectations are high! I'll purposefully exclude any hints on here so you can go into it without any preconcieved notions. It's spooky season, but I'll pass on the pumkin spiced drinks; just let me get some of that Voodew! 

I love skateboarding. I got my first board in middle school and have been hooked on it ever since. I really wish that I had gotten my start at a younger age though, as I feel like I would have been more comfortable with falling and scraping myself up. I'm not great at it, but I have a lot of fun and am better than most people. It's definitely a fun activitity, but let me tell you, I've had some gnarly spills through the years. 

My elbows and knees are certainly permantly scarred from all of the wipeouts, but the worst injury I've incurred was spraining my ankle. I have actually done it several times to the same ankle, and it's always from attempting flat ground tricks like a shove-it. Sometimes I'll  be walking and will take a step in the wrong way and will just crumble to the ground. That's why I prefer high top shoes with some support, these days. 

On a skateboard, there's a variety of different styles in which you can ride. There's vert where you skate big ramps at skateparks, street/flat ground where you do tricks, and cruising where you just push around and travel. I've never been great at tricks; the best I can reliably do is an ollie. I would love nothing more than to be able to grind a handrail. In terms of vert, I'm not half bad at it. I can drop in, do rock n' rolls, etc. What I've spent the most time doing is cruising, especially when I was in college. I would ride every day and everywhere, through the rain and even snow, but the university's rough sidewalks often did a good job of throwing me off my board. 

A big part of crusing is finding big hills to ride down, and I've had some scary times doing so. The absolute worst feeling I've experienced is known as the "speed wobbles," where you lose control of your board at high speeds. There's just about nothing you can do aside from hanging on and sending up a quick prayer, and thankfully I've never been launched off my board from them but I have come way too close. Speed wobbles are awful, but that's not what led me to quit hill bombing. 

My friend and I used to go around the neighorhoods looking for the biggest and steepest hills to test ourselves on, and one time we were somewhere unfamiliar. We asked a passing car about a decline we were approaching, and the driver assured us it was relatively chill. Boy was she wrong! It started out fine but got progressively steeper, and I missed my opportunity to bail before I realized what we were coming up on. Going just about as fast as I ever have on a skateboard, I flew through a stop sign into a 45mph road without a stop. Cars swerved and slammed on their brakes, and thank goodness they did or else I may not be here writing this today. So yeah, that was enough of that for me. Never again will I go down a hill that I can't see the bottom of, at least. 

I could write ten blogs about skateboarding and still have more to say. There's all the parks I have been to in the area and my thoughts on them, there's different types of skate gear like shoes and decks I could discuss, there's skate culture/history, etc. I'll save those topics for another time, and for now what I would like to leave you with is this: encourage kids to skateboard! It's a great way to get them moving and having fun, there's many places to do so (though never enough), and it brings people together. Start 'em young too. There's a rising problem with children getting too much screen time and not being outside and active enough, and I believe skateboarding is one solution to this issue. Thanks for reading!

This past weekend was another good one for me, and I am happy to have gotten to do most everything I had wanted to. On Friday my friend Ryan came over to hang, and we did some mountain biking in my woods, among other stuff. It was great to get some physical activity in whilst having fun, and as the weather cools off I intend to get back into biking more often. I felt uncomfortable on some of the really steep hills and on the jumps, but that's pretty much a constant for me regardless of how long it has been. 

Anyways, Friday night, I went over to my girlfriend's place. The evening prior, we attended the Jake Owen concert, and we were both whooped resultingly. It was nice to just get some Netflix-and-Chill time in, and I'd be surprised if I was up past 9pm. That early night helped me to recharge for Saturday, and on that day I did quite a bit. 

My Saturday began on a good note, as we decided to get some breakfast at the local joint, Molly Brown's Country Cafe. I tore up a coffee, some scrambled eggs, a big ol' slab of ham, some hash potatoes, and some toast. It was delicious, and I think I have been sleeping on this place for sure. There are a few options on breakfast places in my area, but I'm thinking Molly Brown's might have won me over. 

After breakfast, I headed back towards my place to ready my boat. The big plan for the day was to be out on the lake, and alongside three of my friends, I spent the afternoon putting around having a good time. Something about being out there on the water beneath the sun makes me so tired, and with my sleep deficit from the week before, I was ready to drop by mid-afternoon. We ended up making a stop at a lakeside bar to get some lunch, and soon thereafter returned to the boat launch to call it a day. 

After boating, I needed a nap. I got a good two hours in and jumped right back into a weekend of fun. My friends returned to my place to join me in a bonfire, and the weather that night was practically perfect.  I could not have asked for a better time, and as the night progressed, my buddy Jesse asked me if I would like to come back over to his place. I obliged, and we ended up staying up for hours playing video games, before crashing around 4 or 5am. 

In the morning, I went back home and had some more delicious coffee. Sundays tend to be the day I do chores and rest for the upcoming week, so I really did nothing noteworthy aside from watching a little week one NFL football. Let's go Brownies! I'm so proud. I love my hometeam and will root for them up until the point it conflicts with the interests of my favorite team. I'm a Dolfan, and have rooted for the 'Phins my whole life. Truthfully, I have mostly just rooted against the Patriots forever. Of course, as soon as Brady left and they fell from the top, the Bills had to become a powerhouse, but this may be a topic for another blog. 

I just wanted to share with you a little synopsis of my weekend, as it really was a good one. I even saw the Goodyear blimp over the lake whilst boating! My only complaint is that the time flew by so quickly, but I guess that's how it is when you're having fun. I hope you had a good weekend as well, and if you're looking for plans this upcoming weekend, WQMX has got some for you! Sarah Kay will be at the Dusty Armadillo Friday night from 9-11pm for their Friday Night Live, and she'll be back on Sunday from 3-5pm for another Sunday Funday, with prizes and Dusty tickets for both. 

There are also three seperate concerts happening Saturday. Brandi Carlile is playing Blossom, Hardy is performing alongside Lainey Wilson at the Covelli Centre, and Chris Cagle will be hitting the stage at the Dusty Armadillo as part of their concert series. You can snag tickets for that last one and see who's all playing there this fall on their website, DustyA.com. On top of all of this, Jason Aldean's makeup date for Blossom is also this weekend, on Sunday. It's bound to be another nice weekend, and I hope you have a great week until then!

I've been looking forward to the Jake Owen show in Cleveland for months now, and Thursday evening, it finally happened. Let me tell you, it was an awesome concert that was well worth the wait! He did not disappoint me one bit, and the crowd seemed to carry the same sentiment and excitement as I did. 

Doors were opened around 6pm, and we made it up to the Agora around 6:45 or so, and I am thankful that we did. The opening act was called Dave's Highway, and they were super cool. It was a trio of three siblings (two sisters and a brother) who sang beautiful melodies paired with a single acoustic guitar played very well by the brother. They sounded bigger than they looked on stage, if you know what I mean. I'll be looking into their music more, as I liked what I heard!

Next up was Tyler Booth, and he came in hitting hard with his song 87 Octane. Compared to the first band, this act was loud and had the energy cranked up. Tyler was dancing around the stage clearly having fun, and the crowd soon thereafter was also compelled by the music, just buzzing with excitement. I could see this band playing somewhere like The Dusty Armadillo and just blowing the roof off the place. They played for roughly the same amount of time as the first act, for about 30 minutes each. Tyler Booth was a perfect warmup for Jake Owen, and the audience was more than hyped for the headliner come the end of their performance. 

Jake Owen was as good as they get in concert. He played all the songs I wanted to hear, and the band sounded great. He did stop the show at one point to explain how he has been under the weather and almost had to cancel the event, but up until that point I didn't notice any issues with his vocals. Sick or not, Jake Owen was on point singing. My favorite one of the evening had to have been Down to the Honkytonk, but they really did not play a bad song. (Not that he even has any.)

The Agora was a super cool venue and it was my first time there. I'd say it is similar to the Goodyear Theatre here in Akron, if you're familiar. It was easy to get to, and the traffic in Cleveland was a breeze with it being a Thursday night without any other major events like a ball game going on. I'd definitely go back, and if you would like a chance to see a show there, you're in luck! WQMX is giving away tickets to see Warren Zeiders perform on September 21st with our Winner's Weekend. Keep it tuned through Sunday night for your chance to snag a pair of tickets, and be listening for your cue to call in to win! 

I enjoy writing my longer blogs, but for this one, I figure it would be cool to do a little ranking. If you like this, maybe I will do a top ten on a different topic each week. I think what inspired to make this list was an out-of-the-blue craving for Skittles on my way into work tonight, and thankfully there's some in the vending machine here.

For a little side note as you go down, if you are curious as to why there is no chocolate on this list, it is because I don't like it. Yeah, I know... how? Well, the best I can figure is that it was in response to something that happened when I was a small child. Allegedly, I stuck an M&M up my nose and sucked it in. The hospital told my mom to just let it melt down my throat, and looking back, I don't think that was a fun time. Anyways, here is the list!

 10. Skittles

9. Big League Chew 

8. Sour Patch Kids (Grape)

7. Bigfoot Blue Raspberry Chews 

6. Life Saver Big Ring Gummies

5. Airheads

4. Starburst GummiBursts

3. Hi-Chew

2. Chewy Spree

1. Welch's Fruit Snacks (Concord Grape)

For as long as I can remember, I've loved cars. Likewise, I have had a lifelong love for all sorts of video games. Naturally, I love a good car racing game, and I have recently been getting back into playing them during my down time. Lately I have been messing around with Forza Horizon 5 tuning cars and doing some races, and it is a lot of fun. The physics behind this game, in combination with the huge map, plethora of cars, sweet graphics, and extensive custimization options of the vehicles make for a fun time playing. It's surely an entertaining way to spend an afternoon, but my heart lies with older games- specifically those on the PlayStation 2 console.

My all time favorite racing game is Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, and I've easily spent thousands of hours of my life playing it. This may be a hot take, but there is no title from that era that even comes close to the perfection of this game, racing themed or otherwise. Gran Turismo's slogan is "The Real Driving Simulator," and it holds up to that. Unlike Forza Horizon, Gran Turismo is soley a track based game, without an open-world or offroad terrain. Additionally, GT3 lacks online competition, whereas Horizon 5 is a relatively current title which maintains that interactive element and promotes online features. Where GT3 wins out is in its splitscreen two-player compatability, and I love playing side-by-side with my friends. It's apples to oranges trying to compare these two games directly, but truly they are both great. 

I haven't played any of the newer Gran Turismos past 4 as I do not have a Playstation beyond the 2, but I'm sure they're awesome. Of course I have more advanced and visually appealing games than GT3, but they just don't hit the same. I would say it is the nostalgia factor, but I have consistently played this game for the last fifteen plus years, and it is unlike any other PS2 game I have. I just love it. 

I can't write a blog about racing games without mentioning Mario Kart. There are many iterations of the series, but the one that sticks with me was made for the DS. I vividly remember playing it on the bus with my classmates during long rides for fieldtrips and the like. I'm a Yoshi guy through and through. It's fun, but I consider it more of a party game, without much depth to it. A special shoutout has to go out to Crash Nitro Kart on the PS2. 

Apparently there is a new movie out called "Gran Turismo", and it seems pretty cool. If you remember the movie "Pixels," it involved translating video game skills into a real world setting, and this one seems to follow a similar general theme. The movie is based on the true story of a racecar driver, who beat the odds and rose from being just a sim racer to driving for a factory team professionally. Check out the link below if you would like to see the trailer for it, and game on! 

Gran Turismo: Official Trailer (2023) David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe - YouTube

I just can't wait to get on the boat again! Seriously, I am so excited to be back out on the water after too many days apart from it. Our pickup truck was down and out with a bad transmission line, but it is now back and better than ever, ready to pull the trailer wherever I need to launch. 

I'm very aware that my time on the boat the season is coming to an end, and I'm planning to make the most of it while I still can. There's a ton of stuff that still needs done in terms of restoring the vessel, but my philosophy this season has been to just run it. I put a ton of work into getting the boat water-ready at the beginning of the summer, and now, it is just time to enjoy it! I do need to readjust the controls, as it was running weirdly at anything above idle speed on my last adventure, but hey at least it runs. 

I consider this boat endeavor a complete success if I make it through the season without anything major breaking, such as the old Suzuki two-stroke motor we took a gamble upon. Additionally, my main priority is to avoid sinking the boat- or worse, the truck. I heard about both of these nighmare scenarios happening to locals this year with a Jeep apparently going in whilst launching, as well as a boat sinking to the bottom. I saw the recovery video of the boat, and as bad as this sounds thought, "Well at least I don't have the worst boat out there." Mine is rough around the edges, but it holds. 

The boat itself is a 1958 Magnolia, made from fiberglass. It's truly a classic, and even has fins reminiscent of a 1956 Bel Air, as well as other period stylstic touches  like the steering wheel. It is not set in stone, but I really enjoy the name "Sweetbay" for the boat, as sweetbay is a variety of the magnolia plant. It is a nice little play on words with the nautical nod in bay. Corny boat names always make me laugh, but I'm thinking Sweetbay is going to stick. 

Whatever you call it, I love my boat. I don't have a radio in it yet, so I make sure to always have my Bluetooth speaker charged and ready to crank the tunes. You already know I've got it locked on WQMX, and you too can listen any time and anywhere with ease. It's Your Country: on the radio tuned to 94.9 FM, here on our website under the listen live tab, on our mobile app, and even on your smart speaker at home!