(December 11, 2005) — In the basement of Gordy Carlson's Avonmore Road home in Penfield, musical dreams do come true.

"I've been interested in music since the dawn of mankind," says Carlson, 46, who started out in the fourth grade playing violin, then moved to the guitar in high school. "At a point, I had to make a choice between going on the road with music and working. So I decided to do music as my sideline, for fun."

For Carlson, a sales representative with Freescale Semiconductor Inc., fun has meant devoting much of the past five years to building a professional-quality recording studio in a back corner of his basement.

He used his carpentry skills to build the foot-thick walls, his electrical engineering skills to run the wiring.

And he uses his musical skills to play, record and mix songs, including some for local teens he's mentoring through the music biz.

"I can change the volume of individual words, or patch in a chorus to cover a flub," says Carlson as he types at a laptop computer to manipulate a recording by local teen band Hartigan. Carlson is preparing the band's upcoming single release "Losing Control."

"I spent four hours last night going over the vocal tracks. I do this for free. For me, this is artistic," he says.

"They play all the music; I just add all the sweetening around it. I add in the little stuff you don't hear as much as feel."

Carlson's interest in mentoring musical youth came about five years or so, when he was in charge of booking bands for Penfield's Country Fair Days.

"I wanted to showcase young musicians," says Carlson, who grew up in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, and counts as friends members of 10,000 Maniacs. "I wanted to give them some exposure to being on a large stage with a sound crew."

Gabe Condon of Penfield was just 11 years old when Carlson took him under his wing. Carlson said Condon, who's now 14, is an up-and-coming guitar prodigy.

"Someday, I will be backstage at the Grammys because of him," Carlson says, grinning along with a sample of Gabe playing Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady." "I tell you, he's better than Hendrix."

But, says Carlson, one of his main goals is to impart this wisdom to the youngsters he works with: "It's my day job that pays for all of this. If you want to play music, you've got to have a realistic plan. Music as a career is like a lottery ticket, and most people just don't get the numbers."

Gabe, who started playing guitar when he was four, says Carlson has been a big help in booking him for shows and making him a better guitarist. He's also been an inspiration.

"He showed me a lot," he said. "How to use the recording stuff and equipment and how it all goes together to make a good record."

He also says he's taken Carlson's advice to heart.

"I'd always love to make it big, but the chances are one in a million," he says.

"So I think I'd like to go into teaching music or go to college for something musical or not."

On this Tuesday, Carlson is jamming with fellow musician and co-worker Phil Campbell of the internationally known gospel group the Campbell Brothers.

Both men work for Freescale Semiconductor Inc., a worldwide company with U.S. headquarters in Texas. Campbell is here to convince Carlson that a digital guitar might be a good investment.

"I'm a skeptic," says Carlson with a grin, shifting the red Takamine acoustic in his lap as Campbell tunes up his guitar.

MCDERMOT@DemocratandChronicle.com