Catching up with ‘The Voice,’ our tree and doggie spa day

Tessanne Chin had the ear of the prestigious panel just now on “Today.” Earlier this week, the performer from Jamaica experienced an audience with Celine Dion. On Tuesday night, Chin was announced as the winner of season five of “The Voice” on NBC because she was the top vote-getter after Monday’s finale. The viewing populace…

From the mailbag: Shows and CDs from Tish Oney, Waydown Wailers, Trent Park, Pamme Swan

More good stuff coming into the mailbox, thank you, thank you and thank you. Central New York musicians, producers, venue owners — old friends and newcomers who’d like to introduce yourself — please keep dropping me a line. Send an email to markbialczak@gmail.com. Direct message me on Facebook or Twitter, if you’d like. Alert me…

‘The Sing-Off’ returns for season four of a cappella sounds

NBC wheeled a show out after a year off last night. They slapped host Nick Lachey on the cheeks, opened up the studio door to let in some cold air and decided to make fans of the voice happy again. “The Sing-Off” is back for a season four. The vocal competition that truly showcases the…

Two big music events will spice up Syracuse’s Thanksgiving weekend; cool stuff where you live?

There’s Thanksgiving, when you hang with your loved ones, eat your favorite food until it makes you sleepy and watch football with one eye open until you recover. Oh, yeah, in our house, dear wife Karen and I also like to start off by watching the Thanksgiving Day parade, and perhaps a breed or three…

From the Mailbag: Music from Mick Fury, HoneySpoon, OurReality, Altared, Fritz’s Polka Band

When I wrote about organizers picking the dates for the next edition of the Syracuse Area Music Awards last week — that would be March 6 and 7, at Upstairs at the Dinosaur and the Palace Theatre, respectively — I bragged on how talented the musicians are around here. Lo and behold, that started a…

A street busker who makes his city feel at home

A familiar voice pleased my ears the other night. A quick dodge through a couple of book aisles brought me to the sight of Eli Harris, bouncing with his guitar, working the crowd inside the Syracuse University Book Store. I do believe it is the second time over the space of three decades that I’ve…

What do you call the event to honor the best musicians in your city?

Perhaps you have heard of the Gramophone. That’s the machine invented to listen to recorded music. Alexander Graham Bell was involved. Then Emile Berliner came up with a process in 1887 that used records. Records evolved to black vinyl, topped with grooves. The early record players were equipped with a horn-shaped speaker of sorts. That’s…

My list of favorite Christmas songs, ready already

Walking into the Destiny USA entrance yesterday to see “About Time” for my weekly Syracuse New Times blog movie review, I was pretty certain the song greeted me with the line, “It’s Christmas at the mall.” My dear wife Karen assured me it was “it’s Christmas after all.” I am sure that halfway up the…

Jonny Gray edges ‘Big Sexy’ Shawn Smith on ‘The Voice,’ but everybody should be proud

The Air Force guy beat the sergeant from Utica last night on “The Voice.” When coach CeeLo Green finished his judgment of the performance of Tom Petty’s classic rock song “Refugee,” he picked Jonny Gray of Arizona over Shawn Smith of Central New York. It was a fair and memorable fight. Green picked a good…

Get ready for ‘Big Sexy’ Shawn Smith’s second appearance on ‘The Voice’

Music lovers in Central New York have been waiting two weeks for Shawn Smith’s second appearance on “The Voice.” The singer and guitarist from Utica was the very last performer to make it past the blind audition round at the season five start of NBC’s popular singing show. His down-home take on the Zac Brown…