Arts Council of South Wood County – Yacht Rock Gold Experience

Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic.

For this July 14th, 2025, have your host James with you.

We're joined right now by a couple of other favorite people.

We have Sally Kisner with us and Eric Brittnocker.

Good to see you too.

Good to see you.

We're talking with our Arts Council of Southwood County right now.

We're walking in on the phone lines here.

The members of the Yacht Rock Gold Experience.

We've got Joe and I'm Adeo with us.

I will let you guys introduce yourselves so the audience can put a voice to the name.

Joe, you can start.

This is Joe Burek.

I'm the leader and drummer of the Yacht Rock Gold Experience.

And this is Amadeo Semineci and I'm the basis for Yacht Rock Gold Experience.

See everybody in radio, if you're not confident to see somebody's name, that's one of the

ways you handle it.

It doesn't not know.

No, seriously.

We love the audience to be able to put a voice to the name and everything.

Joe, I'm Adeo.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Eric and Sally, I'll get to you guys in just a moment, but I'm really excited to talk

with these guys.

If you don't mind before we get going too deep into the band and what the experience

will be, can you guys tell us a little bit about yourselves, Joe?

Where are you from?

I originally born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in New Jersey right next door.

Alumni of the Berkeley College of Music in Boston and now touring the United States

with the Yacht Rock Gold Experience.

Right on.

Right on.

That's awesome, Joe.

Thank you.

The accent.

It did show a little bit.

It does show a little bit.

I'm Adeo.

How about you?

Yeah.

I was raised in Rutherford, New Jersey and I reside in Dudley, New Jersey and went to

college at that time.

It was called Montclair State College, now Montclair State University for Music Education.

I taught in the New Jersey public schools for 37 years recently retired, but I've been

playing all that time and had the great opportunity to meet up with Joe.

It was kind of a happenstance thing and we've been connected for what, 10 years, Joe.

Oh, probably longer, but don't forget to mention that you toured with Southside Johnny

and he has very Duke as well as many other groups.

Of course.

Yeah.

I mean, as a freelancer, just always working that way and I did play with Southside Johnny

for a little while for sure.

That was a lot of fun.

Guys, I imagine like a lot of the musicians we get a chance to talk to, you have plenty

of music tastes and things that you like to listen to and play.

What was it about Yacht Rock that made you want to play this specific type of rock and roll?

You know, I think the entire band kind of grew up on that music and a lot of the guys

in the group are full-time musicians that play a lot of R&B, Soul and Jazz music for

many events through a group that we all belong to as well called Epic Soul.

And as we saw the Yacht Rock music start to really swell up and become the big thing,

we attended a few concerts, you know, of other groups and we just saw the swell of people

coming with their captains hats on and this whole new kind of groovy thing that was starting

to grow with this music that we all grew up on in the 70s, the Eagles, the Fleetwood

Mac, the Steely Band and Dubie Brothers, all that kind of stuff and we all said to ourselves,

hey, you know, we could do this thing, you know, and I have, you know, all these incredible

musicians that are music majors, music teachers and everything that play, you know, you know,

on the side of their regular job and we started to, you know, slowly put this thing together

and we added like four amazing vocalists that we knew and before we knew it, there was

just bookings like Crazy for Us all over the place and the next thing we knew, we were

touring nationally, it just kind of blew up really, you know, they put a documentary

out and everything just kind of blew up and they got these guys now, we just got back

from three dates in Florida and we're getting ready to hit the road again, you know, after

this interview, it's just been a whirlwind of the excitement for us.

Can't get you on the road fast enough.

When it comes to like the terminology of Yacht Rock, I think, and Sally and Eric and I

were talking a little bit about this in the pregame, I grew up on a lot of this music

too, the Dubie Brothers, Steely Dan and those are two of them, I love Steely Dan.

I know every single song by them, I could go on a tangent on Steely Dan right now, but

I never thought about them as a kid as Yacht Rock.

I never thought, I never knew there wasn't a terminology Yacht Rock, this is something

that has kind of almost come up through a more of a pop culture thing.

And it's kind of cool to see when these things happen and we have all seen trends come

back, fashions come back, different things, for this particular style of music to make

this kind of push forward again, it's really unique and a lot of fun.

I think it's great for younger audiences to rediscover, to discover some of this music

while some of us are kind of getting to relive some of it.

Yeah, lots of times we see in the audience some very young members and it's really kind

of cool to see that gap being bridged because it's musicians.

We know that this music that is loosely defied Yacht Rock, right, is more complex in nature

than it would appear to be.

So it's musicians, it's one of the things that attracted us to it because we didn't

get a chance to play much of it growing up.

We were playing the typical rock and roll stuff that everybody was listening to.

So we jumped at the chance to do this because it allowed us to really think our teeth in.

And watching the younger audience members groove on this music is great.

That's a really good point.

I hadn't thought about that until talking with you guys about this, but the bands that

we're talking about, throw in Fleetwood Mac in that group, Christopher Cross, Fleetwood

Mac, Dolly Dan, all these bands, these are not simple bands with like simple band members

with one pop hit or something like that.

These are eclectic musicians that really know their stuff we're talking about here and

all these songs, you guys are doing the best of their stuff, the hits of their things.

So by proxy, you guys are darn good.

And I've looked up your stuff, I've seen a bunch of it and everything.

You do amazing jobs with these.

Is there an honor along with a challenge to doing this doing artists like that?

Yeah, we've been working with Elliott Laurie from Looking Glass, who is as they coined

the phrase, Yacht Rock Royalty.

And I think what he said to us was that what he loved about us was that we keep true to

the music.

And I think what he meant by that was that we really work hard on trying to give the audience

that version that everyone is used to hearing on the radio for that particular hit song.

And there's all these iconic little lines in there that you have to get.

These people that come to the shows, every word to every song, every little saxophone lick

and every synthesizer string and every little thing that's supposed to be there.

So when you really break it down, these very overproduced, you know, stealing dance stuff

and all the eagle stuff, the harmonies and all this stuff, when you really break it down

and you get it right and then you give it to them like it was on the hit record.

Oh my God, they come over and they're just like, oh my God, you guys sound exactly like the record.

You know, and that's what we're trying to do.

Yeah, I would piggyback on that and say, you know, we're not trying to do a parody of this.

We're trying to really pay homage to the original artist.

And so we try to give the audience a really authentic experience.

We don't dress up in goofy outfits.

We try to give them an authentic seventies experience, you know.

Like as if they were coming to see a band from the seventies doing that music

and doing it at a very high level.

Well said, that's really interesting, you guys appreciate that.

You mentioned working with Ella Lurie, lead singer of Looking Glass and of course to hit Brandy.

What has it been like working with him?

Just a fantastic experience for us.

He's been wonderful, you know, traveling with him, performing with him.

I mean, the first time he got on the stage with us and he just that voice, you know, that deep

baritone, Sarah Lurie said, Brand, you know, like as soon as we heard, it was just like,

you know, the chills went right down the body, you know, it was very exciting.

Very, very, very accomplished, the guy's done a lot of stuff and we have a lot of dates

coming up with him.

We're very excited.

We established a good relationship with him and yeah, he's using us as his backup band

for a couple of shows coming up in Springfield Mass at the Big E event.

So yeah, we've learned quite a few of his songs and looking glass of songs and we looked

forward to a, you know, a long lasting relationship with him.

That's really cool to hear.

I could not be happier for you guys and your success and I really, really appreciate you

joining us.

We've been hanging out and talking about this great show that's coming to our neck of

the woods right here, the performing arts center.

One begins at four on Sunday, August 10th.

We're going to talk more about that with Sally and Eric, but guys, thanks so much for joining

us.

Really, really appreciate the time.

Thanks for having us.

Yep.

Hey, Seth, safe travels out there.

We'll see you at the show, okay?

Take care.

Thank you.

Thank you guys.

What a fun time.

That was awesome.

I can talk to those guys all day.

Something about talking to good musicians and got in people that really talk, you can

hear it in their voice, Eric.

You can hear that they love this stuff, that they care about this stuff.

I'm sure that notoriety, money, all those things can help them make things, but when

we get to talk to artists like that, you really do get an idea that they love what they

do.

Yeah, I think it's awesome.

They're being authentic and having 10 members in the band, they're really able to bring

out a lot of those nuances like they said in the music that you don't often hear, whether

it's the Kongas or Amarimba or something just off beat that oftentimes you don't hear

in just plain old rock and roll.

What's those layers of the music that I think is really cool too?

This band, Sally, is going to be playing hits like we mentioned all those bands.

Oh, I meant to mention a little river band.

I meant to mention that one.

That's another one, reminiscing.

So they'll be playing stuff like that and all these.

So they, for one, to your point, Eric, they need that many people out there to be able

to cover all these different types of songs and stuff and bringing all this.

And I know we talked about this a little bit when we were with us the last time and everything,

but how did you come across these guys again?

I don't even remember.

It's been a while, it crossed my path.

But when I heard them, I absolutely loved them.

And at that point, Elliot Lurie, I didn't even know he was an option to bring him in.

And when they told me about that and we looked at videos from that and everything, we're

like, you know, might as well do it up right.

Yeah, yeah.

It's been really, I think, again, as I am no journalistic integrity, I'm biased.

I like a lot of this style of music and everything.

I think it's kind of cool to see it brought back.

And so much of his been like a lot of things in culture, pop culture, we kind of did this.

It wasn't really marketed back.

It was kind of something that the yacht rock is not something that a bunch of studio executives

came up with.

It's something that was just kind of created and people talking about this music and giving

it a label.

And it's been kind of fun.

And it's really cool to see a band like this and great musicians like this getting rewarded

and the success of this show.

This is a very popular show.

I thought it was pretty big.

I look up online and I'm looking at their YouTube page, which I encourage you guys to check

out.

And I'll give you the website to go to in a minute.

They're a lot bigger than I realized.

And to the guy's points, when they, you can see the crowd, it's one thing to hear people

singing along with a song in one hit, you know, that ever band we've seen our whole lives

when we go on the shows.

It's every song they're singing along with.

It's every song.

I don't even know if I would actually, if I could talk to Elliot, he might be able to

rest his voice a little bit.

Just let the audience take over because they know the words.

They're going to be singing along with you.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

We want you to sing along with the band and enjoy.

Let's get into the details of the show a bit, Sally.

What can people expect?

You bet.

It's just a lot of fun.

A lot of fun for a summer show.

That was our goal.

Tickets are $43 for adults and 15 for students and you can get them through the Arts Council

website, saverthearts.com or give us a call, 715-424-2787 or stop by NCS 1048 Street

South, Sweet 101 and Wisconsin Rapids.

And then we're also having some fun after the show.

We're bringing in some food trucks in the parking lot and we've got three of them.

And we've got some kind of cool menus, chatterbox, who a lot of locals are familiar with.

Kathy put together a menu.

She's going to have wraps, shish kebabs, chicken wings, fish tacos, seafood po'boys, pasta

salad, fresh fruit, chips, dip, punch lemonade.

And then we have one.

We haven't tried before called Hello Doggy that we've heard some good things about.

This one is cash only.

They're from the Adams area and they have Chicago style hot dogs or fixed anyway.

We'd like it Polish sausage with crout, chili dog with cheese and then chips and soda

and water and things like that.

And our third vendor is Jamaican kitchens with their general menu, which is awesome.

Yeah, great.

A long time lover.

All those great ones out there.

Well, great idea too to bring this in over there.

It's going to be fun.

It's a show in a dinner.

Not dinner, I like that though.

It's a fun way to do it.

You're going to be hungry after this one.

So good.

Yeah.

Turning up all those calories.

Dancing in the aisles.

Yeah.

Yes, exactly.

Yes, yes.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

And we want you to be a part of it.

And this is, well, it's going to be a great time, really fun show.

And as you mentioned, Sally, something fun in summer, you know, and keeping in the minds

of everybody and stuff.

Keep in mind as well with this, everybody, that as you attend these events, you buy these

tickets, you go to this.

You are putting back into your community, you're supporting the arts here in Central Wisconsin.

And we cannot thank you enough for doing that.

So you're going to have a good time.

We're also knowing that you're helping out some great cause and with great people out

there because we love art around this country and it's in this area.

We have so many great artists.

So just think about the fun that you can have with this show and check it out.

If you want to check out more about Yacht Rock, get a little bit of a preview.

Encourage you to go to YachtRockGold.com, YachtRockGold.com.

That is a website for the band.

You can learn more about them.

They got some great videos up there that I was able to do my homework on and caught a

bunch of cool things from them.

And encourage you to check out their Facebook page.

It's another great way to interact with the band and find out more about them.

And Sally, we also want to encourage everybody to go to savorthearts.com.

Get your tickets.

So you already got this covered and you're not going to have to worry about it.

Yeah.

August 10th comes rolling around.

You're ready to go.

Cheers.

Come to the show.

Yep.

And bring your dance and juice.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

It's going to be a great time.

Thank you both for the time.

Appreciate you.

Thank you, James.

Thank you.

Again, encourage you to go to savorthearts.com and get those tickets everybody.

And thank you so much for joining us.

We will be back with more Rapids Report proudly brought to you by Crocodceptic here at WFHR.