Happy Birthday Greg, WEXT Plans Morning Celebration

Today, Tuesday, March 3rd, would have been Nippertown founder, Greg Haymes’ 69th birthday. We all miss Greg dearly, and there is no better way to honor him than with music.

Turn your radio over to WEXT (97.7FM or 106.1FM) today from 9am until noon. Michael Eck, Bowtie Blotto and Mike Kelley are going to play songs featuring Greg, songs he loved, and tell some fun stories to remember him in a way that will surely leave us all smiling and maybe shedding a tear or two.

Greg Haymes died on Wednesday, April 10, at the age of 68.

In his passing there was a gaping hole left behind in the arts community. Haymes wrote reviews for Albany’s alternative weekly under his stage name, Sarge Blotto. For years, he’d cover a full array of events, from punk rock to opera. Nothing was out of his wheelhouse. He would later earn bylines with the Albany Times Union before starting out with his own online blog Nippertown in 2009. He was ever present, from concert events to open mic nights.

“Sarge was a champion of creativity in all of its forms,” said Paul Rapp, Blotto bandmate, and fellow Metroland columnist, “and his entire life was spent in pursuit of art and beauty. I’ll miss him every day.”

Here, at Nippertown, we work hard every day to continue his legacy. We don’t try to fill his shoes, or emulate him. Instead we celebrate his vision by carrying it on. Today, we all celebrate Greg… Happy Birthday, Sarge.