Local sound engineer Tom Cesario passes away

The local music scene received a hard blow over the holidays with the sudden and unexpected passing of sound engineer Tom Cesario, who worked on and off at First Avenue before touring with bands like Yo La Tengo and, most recently, Dosh. "Tom was one of my oldest friends," said Martin Dosh in an email. "When I moved back to the Twin Cities in late '97, Tom returned shortly thereafter, our rock 'n' roll dreams unfulfilled. He was a great friend to me at this time, and essentially the only person I knew that knew anybody on the music scene.

"It was his encouragement that really helped me to get things going," Dosh continued. "He was the person that I would play my earliest recordings to get his opinions. He engineered my very first session at Third Ear in 1998 (Tom Herbers's old studio). He continued to find freelance work, for Yo La Tengo, ABC, and eventually went on the first-ever Dosh headlining tour in the fall of 2006. I was delighted to be able to finally hire my friend, and he was invaluable on the road. Tom loved being on the road, fixing things. He loved to tell stories. He loved food, and knew the coolest restaurants in every city."

A memorial service was held for Cesario last week at the Cedar Cultural Center, and his family requests that all memorials in Cesario's name be directed toward either the Cedar or grassroots radio station KFAI.