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"It is like riding a bike," he said, about performing, in conversation with Ë®¹ûÅÉAV on Wednesday.

"I've done it since 1964, so I know what I gotta do. But it's gotta be tough for younger musicians who don't have the catalogue and the many years of doing it that I do."

Whiting will take the next step in his return to live music Wednesday, June 23, when the city of Auburn hosts the first concert in its new series on the roof of the downtown parking garage, Rock the Top. The series, which features food and beverages by Next Chapter Brewpub for sale, will continue with concerts on Wednesday, July 21, Aug. 18 and Sept. 15. Performers are TBA.

The concert will be one of a handful Whiting and his band have played since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Since August, it will be only the third.

It will definitely be the first concert the Syracuse Music Hall of Fame rocker has played on top of a parking garage, he said with a laugh.

"It should be fun," he said. "Every time I say I've done just about everything I'm proven wrong."

Whiting spent much of his downtime from music working on his Skaneateles home. Once a carpenter by day, he picked up his tools again last summer just to give himself a creative outlet. He said the pandemic affirmed for him that people have to continue to create, and if the way they do is taken from them, they have to find another way. Otherwise, they lose something.

But Whiting didn't stay away from music entirely. He and longtime collaborator Mark Doyle recorded a new album of original material, "Down in the Dirt," that will be released later this summer. Aside from Doyle handing Whiting a computer loaded with music software for the project, the two made the album strictly by phone and email, sending files back and forth.

Whiting, bassist Brian Barrigar, drummer Rick Basha and guitarist Terry Quill prepared to return to the stage in a similar way. Reluctant to rehearse together in a small space, Whiting instead sent his bandmates files and footage of their August concert as "homework." The biggest change won't be the layoff, he said, but the switch to four players from the band's previous five.

"It really forces everyone to get to the meat of the music," he said. "You gotta figure out what the song absolutely has to have, and if what you're playing is contributing to that."

Whiting added that he's looking forward to performing in Auburn again. Even though it won't be his first concert since the pandemic, it will be his first time seeing many local faces.

"The Auburn area has always been very good to me," he said, "and I've always had a soft spot for Auburn because of that."