Tony Callisto is a Horn Dog.

By day, he’s the chief of Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety. But he moonlights as a saxophone and trumpet player in a 12-person band called the Horn Dogs. His is a life of constant responsibility at SU, where student safety is always on his mind. So it’s no surprise helikes to let loose with his music. It’s not the lifestyle of your typical musician – but hey, a guy can dream.

The story begins more than 30 years ago, with four kids playing in a Solvay (N.Y.) High School band. All four played horn instruments – Tony on the trumpet and sax, John on the trumpet, Dave on the trumpet and Pete on the trombone. They grew up joking around and playing their instruments in each other’s basements, and thousands of jam sessions later, they’re still doing the same thing. A few minor additions, though: careers, wives, children and eight more band members.

The expansion began five and a half years ago, with the seamless merger of two bands. From there, more musicians blended into the mix, and all 12 played together for the first time a year and a half ago. The Horn Dogs now have three singers, five horn players, a guitarist, a bassist, a drummer and a pianist. The band plays at local bars and nonprofit events, like Relay for Life, with a repertoire of more than 50 ’70s, ’80s and ’90s pop hits.

‘We really wanted to make our own decisions, with regard to the music we were going to play,’ Callisto said. ‘We wanted to be able to book events and different things, and having our own rhythm section and horn section made it so we weren’t competing with ourselves when we were playing with the other band. This kind of solidified us as our own group.’

The expansion provided more musical opportunities, but came with its own set of logistical problems. The group has played at Dinosaur Bar-B-Q four times now, and the stage is about half the size of Callisto’s Sims Hall office. (An office that shows no signs that its tenant plays tenor and soprano saxophone, trumpet, piano, guitar, trombone and tuba – and sings.)

Scott Sterling, house booking agent and chief sound engineer for Dinosaur Bar-B-Q, said he enjoys booking big bands, especially the Horn Dogs.

‘Every band is different, but with this band, everyone is there because they want to be there,’ Sterling said. ‘It’s more fun to work with that, and it adds more fun for the folks coming to see the show. They’re there to provide a good time, and they always jam the place.’

Being a part of the Horn Dogs is no one’s full-time job. It’s a ‘professional band, but not for a profession,’ Callisto points out. The trombone player is a computer technician, the bassist is a bus driver for the city schools, the drummer is a regional manager for PetSmart, and one of the singers drives an 18-wheeler for UPS.

And for Callisto, it’s something different from what he does every day. There aren’t other opportunities for hobbies, but somehow, this holds his hectic life together.

He works more than 70 hours a week as chief of DPS and is an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Columbia College, a Missouri school with an extension program at the Air Force base in Syracuse.

‘I’m trying to be a father and a husband and a son, and all the things that everybody else is trying to do,’ Callisto said. ‘But life is busy. And the band is what helps balance everything else. It’s just a great escape, and a really great release. I have a lot of fun doing it.’

Even his daughter, Cate, recognizes how important music is to her father.

‘I think it’s awesome, and I like going to watch him,’ said Cate, a sophomore biology and political science major at SU. ‘I think it’s good for him, too. He’s so busy, but it’s something he can do for himself.’

His dancing is a different story though, she joked. Callisto calls it his ‘old man dance.’ Despite the generation difference, Cate said her father taught her to make time for what she enjoys doing. That may not be playing an instrument – Cate only played the trumpet through seventh grade – but the lessons transcend music notes.

For Callisto, what he’s learned through music applies to more than the band’s Tuesday evening practices. He’s worked in law enforcement for 29 years, but has been playing music a decade longer. It’s taught him leadership; he was the first chair trumpet player every year in high school, and he served as the concert master senior year. It’s taught him to pay attention to detail, and it’s taught him about commitment. His job at DPS requires all of that.

‘I don’t think the staff are surprised that I (play music) too. I’m just a regular person here,’ Callisto said. ‘A lot of people that don’t know law enforcement officers, they just see the officer in the uniform. They don’t necessarily realize we have regular lives, just like they do. And its just not 24/7 always being a law enforcement officer.’

Callisto said he hopes the band will be able to put together a benefit concert for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He’s one of the contestants in a ‘Man and Woman of the Year’ fundraising campaign that lasts until May. His wife is a 10-year survivor of lymphoma.

The group performs at a number of other nonprofit events as well. The Horn Dogs will headline at two Relay for Life events in June and July at local high schools. They also made time to record a demo CD four weeks ago. It took the band six hours and four sound studio rooms to record five songs, including ‘Vehicle,’ ‘Respect’ and ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered.’

Callisto said that marked a milestone for the Horn Dogs – the group’s first-ever studio session. It brings him back to all the work they’ve put in over the years. He remembers playing a 400-person conference from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., never sitting down for a break because people never left the dance floor. He remembers playing an acoustic set at the New York State Fair last summer – musically, the best show the band has ever played. He remembers looking out over a crowd of 500 people at the Village Festival in Solvay, a three-hour outdoor set that reminded him why he still does this.

Pete Reynolds still remembers. He’s the band’s trombone expert, and he and Callisto are the oldest members of the Horn Dogs. They’re the hot heads of the group, but both are just as quick to come back to their senses. Reynolds, now an information technology specialist for the state’s Department of Transportation, calls Callisto ‘the perfect Italian’ – he’s funny, he’s intense, and he talks with his hands.

Reynolds said not much has changed since their days of playing Frisbee in the high school auditorium, except now his and Callisto’s afros are gone. Yes, finding time to play with the band has become more difficult. Yes, there are days when everyone wishes they could jump ship. And maybe when they perform, they’re not in the same physical shape they were in during high school. But 30-year friendships don’t die like that.

They’ve been in each other’s weddings, Reynolds said, and every week, he packs up his equipment to play in a band with his three best friends. It doesn’t get any better than that.

We’re actually what it’s all about,’ Reynolds said. ‘We all have the back story of growing up all together, and it’s just one of those stories you see in movies. It’s just really wild. It’s like ‘The Sandlot,’ but with musicians. And we’ll keep doing it until we can’t. I know that.’

[email protected]

Published on April 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm