October needs a fest

Welcoming. Our friend Georgia texted an invitation to dear wife Karen to join her on a short drive west to neighboring Central New York city Auburn for a visit to Oktoberfest. We’d never been to the host site, Prison City Brewing. Karen and Georgia approve. A bunch of Georgia’s relatives had already claimed a big…

The legend of baseball thrives with the Auburn Doubledays

When you were a baseball-loving kid growing up in New York during the belly of the 20th century, the name Abner Doubleday carried weight. The old soldier dude invented the game we loved, said the Lords of Baseball. Of course now the myth-busters say it ain’t so. None of that matters to the folks that…

Now’s the time to put in that tree, dig it?

This is the time of year when Robert Hoadley’s business barks at him seven days a week. Hoadley owns Lakeview Nursery and Hoadley’s Wholesale Nursery on 140-plus acres of land in Auburn, N.Y., some 30 miles west of Syracuse. It’s a tree farm, the 34-year-old’s baby, really. He bought the business from his parents some…

Mark it Up brings Doyle to WAER for my podcast debut

There’s a new wrinkle to my work for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org. Add a Mark It Up in Syracuse podcast to my weekly community blog column. For the debut edition, I interviewed veteran Syracuse guitarist, arranger, band leader and more Mark Doyle in the WAER-FM 88.3 studios. He’s bringing his quite cool Guitar Noir…

Travelin’ man Kohlton Pascal lights up my ‘American Idol’ season

The guy walking the railroad tracks as I watched “American Idol” tonight looked familiar. The long hair, the acoustic guitar, the face. It hit me before I heard the distinctive singing voice or saw the name flash on the screen. This season of the singing competition on FOX has just gotten way more interesting. To…

A trip home from Nashville feels right for Jason Teska

Back in the day, Jason Teska was one of the hardest working guys in the Central New York music scene. The guitarist and singer for country-rockers The Back Alley Boys was always putting in the effort to be the best he could be. I admired, respected and liked him a lot in those years when…