Not only has renowned musician and educator Tim Herron returned to teach guitar at his alma mater of SUNY Oswego, but he recently contributed a tune to the Syracuse Acoustic Guitar Project that was dedicated to a faculty mentor, the late Stan Gosek.
Participants have a week with a traveling acoustic guitar to write and record a song, signing the guitar before passing it on. In a video related to the song, Herron explained the idea for “Stan the Man” came to him after Gosek’s passing earlier this year and Herron’s subsequent return to teach at Oswego. He recalled Gosek writing most of the songs the jazz ensembles would play, and the song expresses that admiration.
It starts with Herron pondering his mentor while walking through Tyler Hall: “There’s a picture I keep on walking past/Of a man, a man named Stan/And I keep on thinking of all the things that he taught me/Stan is the man.”
Earning his degree in music from SUNY Oswego in 1996, Herron has been a fixture on the local and regional music scene, solo and with combos including Tim Herron and the Great Blue, and the Tim Herron Corporation. He describes his style as blending folk, jazz, rock and blues into an eclectic mix of American roots music.
The Acoustic Guitar Project is a global music platform — and concert series — that inspires musicians to write an original song and record it live in one week. The Syracuse-area effort -- where one can hear Herron's song and others -- is coordinated by musician, journalist and educator Jeffrey Pepper Rogers, and Herron’s contribution to the 2025 edition helped launch its 12th season. Past seasons include many of Central New York’s most prominent and prolific songwriters.
Maintaining a musical legacy
Gosek taught at SUNY Oswego for decades as a professor and chair, directing the Solid State instrumental jazz and State Singers vocal ensembles. Gosek also made a large impact in the community performing in various ensembles and, most notably, leading Oswego’s Summer Stage Band for many years as director, pianist, composer and arranger.
“It's kind of hard to come up here and not have that on my mind,” Herron said of Gosek’s influence. “I had a lot of really great teachers, great mentors. Stan was one of many. People like Jerry Exline, Jim Soluri, Rick Balestra.”
Herron now plays a role similar to what Balestra did back then, teaching Guitar I and Guitar II classes, leading the Guitar Ensemble and giving lessons to many levels of guitarists.
For the Guitar Ensemble, Herron is having students play more in duos, planning for a performance toward the end of the semester.
“I’m really big into performing,” Herron said. “I really want the students to play as much as possible. I want them to learn how to jam, how to develop instrumentals, as this is the kind of thing that will get you work.”
In the tune, Herron aspires to carry on the legacy and what he’s learned at the roots of the SUNY Oswego teaching tree: “And now I’m here where he used to be/I hope I can be half of what he was to me. … Through these halls the music still plays/The hopes and dreams of future days/My job is to help them find/Their own voice that’s nothing like mine … Thank you, Stan the man.”
So far, he’s seeing a little bit of himself in these students, while noting that the audio production program provides a much wider range of options and attracts many guitarists for his classes and lessons. And, like his mentors, he enjoys cultivating students' musical skills and knowledge.
“To be around young adults and to see when they’re excited about is cool,” Herron said. “When you’re interacting with them, showing them things that make their eyes light up, that’s been my favorite part of the whole thing.”
Acoustic Guitar Project participants, including Herron, will take part in a showcase concert hosted by the Folkus Project at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7 at May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society in Syracuse. Visit its Eventbrite page for tickets and more information.