Inside what was once an industrial building in downtown Warren, Mariano Longo has created something rare in the region: a dedicated space for serious musical development.

The Downbeat Musical Arts Center functions less like a traditional studio and more like a training ground for artists looking to go beyond the local gig circuit.

The lobby greets visitors like a living archive of the Mahoning Valley’s musical legacy. Walls lined with photos of past and present acts — some who stayed local and others whose stars reached national stages alongside faded concert fliers form a visual love letter to the area’s rich history. 

Longo, a veteran musician and musical director with decades of experience including work in Las Vegas said he sees the facility as a laboratory for talent. It houses two rehearsal spaces equipped for everything from small ensembles to larger productions, with a second larger room under expansion capable of accommodating big bands or small orchestras.

As a nonprofit, Downbeat offers resources and mentorship for artists ready to compete professionally.

“Our role is to serve the artists so that they can do whatever it is that they are capable of doing,” he said. Part of the goal is to help young talent move past open-mic nights and cover gigs toward sustainable careers.

Three emerging artists illustrate the studio’s focus: a versatile singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist, a dedicated guitarist expanding his horizons, and others in the collaborative circle benefiting from the space.

Aaron “Aairo” Parker

At 26, Aaron Parker, who performs as Aairo (pronounced “I-ro”), arrived at Downbeat after a winding path that included self-taught production in his bedroom, time in Atlanta engineering at Blue Room Studios before making a return to the Mahoning Valley. 

Growing up with his father, a DJ, along with his mother who Parker described used to sing around the house and an aunt who played bass. He started guitar young, played saxophone through school band and decided in his late teens to pursue music seriously after a gap year of travel through Europe and Central America.

Parker described his earlier production as eclectic, a blend of contemporary hip-hop elements with strings which he says drew from some of his music influences Kanye West and Pharrell. He has since gravitated toward a soulful, 70s-flavored sound. When he first connected with Longo in 2024 after he had moved back and performed locally, he submitted original music and auditioned for the studio. 

Longo challenged him with songs that took him out of his comfort zone including high-range material like Eddie Holman’s “Hey There Lonely Girl.” “He was like, ‘I know you can do it,’” Parker recalled. 

Working at Downbeat he said had pushed him to explore his upper register comfortably for the first time in a supportive setting. Longo and the team have provided feedback on songwriting to help refine ideas by “tearing through them to shreds” to strengthen them, alongside stagecraft training, mock setups with cones to rehearse movement and positioning to simulate the feel of a large venue.

Parker, who also plays saxophone and guitar, views his current phase as a workshop period to master his crafts of singing, horns, strings and performance so they integrate naturally on stage. He performed with a 32-piece symphony and rock section at the Packard Music Hall and has an upcoming show with the group at Howland Park on Aug. 30 as part of a summer concert series. “Downbeat has given me so much direction,” he said, helping unscramble ideas into a focused vision.

Garrett Fry

Garrett Fry, a guitarist from nearby Greenville, Pennsylvania first picked up the instrument at age six after falling under the spell of Pink Floyd while listening to records with his parents. His gateway song was “Wish You Were Here,” which he learned by ear alongside his carpenter father on matching acoustics — a three-quarter-size guitar from his mother for him and a full-size for his dad. That early, ear-trained connection to classic rock would shape a self-taught path that eventually led him through years of bar-band gigs and more recently, into the world of chart reading and symphonic performance at Downbeat.

Largely self-taught, Fry gigged in bar bands from age 13 relying on a strong ear and stage instincts honed in rock, blues and original projects like the Terry Day Band.

About a year ago, he joined the Chicago-style tribute band Brass Express (covering Tower of Power and Blood, Sweat & Tears) and reconnected with Longo. Initially hesitant, Fry committed when opportunities arose. 

Reading music was a major hurdle as Fry said he knew basic note locations on the staff but lacked formal theory. Longo and Rebekah Mancino provided charts, workbooks from the Royal Schools of Music, and hands-on guidance. “I always tell them yes before my brain says anything,” Fry said of taking on projects. The transition proved mentally taxing, but repetition and support paid off. 

In May, he performed with a symphony orchestra at Packard Music Hall reading charts alongside a 32-piece ensemble and rhythm section while Longo conducted nearby for cues. He also took on other professional gigs. 

Fry still works as a carpenter but dedicates days to practice — books, playing along to music, and noodling ideas. 

He values the collaborative environment the studio offers where experienced mentors can give immediate advice, like tone suggestions or adjustments to his playing. No ego, just artists learning, teaching, and growing together through practice and repetition.

His dream remains straightforward: make a living with guitar, support a future family, and being able to handle any chart thrown his way. “Downbeat is such an incredible organization,” Fry said. “There’s nothing like it” in the broader area.

Rebekah Mancino 

Rebekah Mancino, born and raised in London, England, to American parents, said she had instruments placed in front of her from the age of three by her musically self-taught mother. 

By seven or eight she could already play enough of them “to be dangerous,” performing early on piano and organ in the church where her parents served in Christian ministry.

A major breakthrough came when she was accepted into the prestigious Purcell School, a specialist music high school. There she focused on trumpet as her primary instrument, studying under David Mason — the session legend famous for the iconic piccolo trumpet solo on The Beatles’ “Penny Lane.” 

The training was intense and traditionalist, a world where “everything was either right or wrong.”

Life eventually led Mancino and her husband to Warren in the mid-2000s. 

A chance connection through a carpenter renovating Downbeat Musical Arts Center brought her to Mariano Longo where she now performs with a five-piece band, Bekah’s Groove. 

The raw studio space became the perfect setting for her to break free from classical rigidity and explore her creativity freely.

Now she contributes keyboards, background vocals, trumpet, and flute while mentoring younger artists. 

She has performed in Downbeat’s benefit concert and the Packard Music Hall symphonic show, with a BB King tribute tour and dates with Frankie Scinta on the horizon. 

At Downbeat, she has found the freedom to use every skill and chase meaningful musical experiences. “Life just has this wonderful way of planning things without you even knowing,” she said.