The O-town Scene

The Singing Barber By Cassandra Miller Horseshoe Lounge Playboys front man Randy Miritello tries his guitar-picking hands at barbering. His Crystal Palace Barber Shop is a throw-back to traditional manly establishments. It has also become a hang out for musicians, with its weekly Thursday night open mics and occasional weekend shows. A barber's pole with helical red, white and blue stripes behind a glass window signifies the relatively new Crystal Palace Barber Shop on Dietz Street in Oneonta. Inside, the Sirius "Outlaw" radio station of alternative county and Americana music plays. Hung on a wall with several framed "old-time" photographs is one of a Jack Dempsey-looking boxer. 16 O-Town Scene Jan. 12, 2012 "It's my grandfather," Randy Miritello says. "He was a golden gloves boxer who cut hair in the city." The boxing barber, Miritello's father's father, was an influence when he was looking to change careers a couple of years ago. After practicing his father's trade as a plumber for 20 years, Miritello is taking up his grandfather's trade. "He also spent seven and a half years in Sing Sing. He was the driver of a car in an armed robbery. I wasn't going to go down that path," he says with a laugh. Miritello opened the Crystal Palace Barber Shop last spring after going to barber school in 2009 at an area Boards of Cooperative Educational Services center. "It just came as one of those eureka moments," he said between haircuts. "I thought 'I need a change; I Photo by Benjamin Patton Randy Miritello at his barber shop in Oneonta. need to do something different.' I thought I would try this, and ended up really enjoying it." Shave and a Song Like his grandfather – not the criminal part – Miri- tello is a bit of a Renaissance man. He is also known as the front man of area Americana group the Horseshoe Lounge Playboys, which has recent- ly opened for Levon Helm, Arlo Guthrie and Steve Earle. Every Wednesday night, the group practices at the barber shop, where there are microphone stands and a drum set arranged near a formica table topped with a chess set. The barber shop is a way for Miritello to marry some of his interests. "I wanted to create an atmosphere where I wanted to

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