I get to follow a legend now — here’s what that means to me

I have been looking forward to this weekend for weeks.

For the past year, I was Judi Franco's midday co-host. Judi, Kyle and I had a blast together. When the station had the opportunity to bring the Dennis and Judi Show back together, I was offered something new — beyond continuing to write here, I get to be part of New Jersey 101.5's weekend programming. You know the drill. When the music comes out to play.

My last day on the air with Judi was July 9. Then I went off the grid, as they say, for more than a week. I have been back at work this week preparing for something I am genuinely proud to be part of: our weekend music programming. My job now is to program the weekend music. How lucky am I to have a job making playlists that air on a monster station like NJ 101.5?

Plus, I get to follow a legend on the air Saturdays and Sundays.

SEE ALSO: Big Joe Henry is going to the New Jersey Hall of Fame 

EJ & Big Joe in the NJ101.5 studio in 2012 | photo by EJ

Following Big Joe

Legend is a word that gets tossed around too easily for people who have simply been around a long time. In this case, it fully applies. Big Joe Henry has been a New Jersey weekend tradition since the 1990s, and now an inductee in the Class of 2026 of the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He is also someone I am honored to call a friend.

Here is what puts it into perspective for me. My kids were 8 and 6 when we started listening to Big Joe. They are 35 and 33 now. One of my best Christmas memories is driving down to my aunt and uncle's house in Hammonton on Christmas Eve, Big Joe's Christmas Eve Spectacular playing the whole way — the best Christmas music ever assembled, with Bob Williams checking in from the Santa Tracking Station. The tradition of driving to my aunt and uncle's has passed. So have they. But the Big Joe Christmas Eve show is still a tradition in our family. This past Christmas Eve, we listened driving to a friend's house, my 35-year-old son in the car, Joe on the radio, same as always.

I am sure a lot of you have your own version of that story — Big Joe on the radio during some memorable life event, or just a regular family gathering, a weekend at the Shore, running errands on a Saturday morning. Maybe you were at one of his charity events. He has raised tens of millions of dollars for countless causes, including the massive Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics New Jersey. And now I get to follow that true legend on the air every single weekend.

On weekends the music comes out to play

Our weekend format is built specifically for a New Jersey weekend. Always up, always fun, big hits with surprises, everything carrying that Jersey slant that runs through everything we do at 101.5. Recently I surveyed the most popular cover songs bands are playing in Shore bars from Sandy Hook down to Cape May, and we have worked those into the playlist. If you want a station that actually feels like Jersey, we have always been that station. Now more than ever. Plus fast traffic and instant weather, to get you to the beach and back.

I hope you get a chance to listen starting this Friday at 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday right after Big Joe. You will also hear Mike Brant, who brings pure joy and energy to weekend mornings, and Dan Alexander, our hardworking weekday news reporter who transforms into a fun, high-energy weekend DJ Saturday and Sunday nights.

On weekends, the music comes out to play, and you are always invited to the party.