Dave Yeager started out in Forty Fort. He went to all those West Side schools like Dana St. and Valley West. He recalls fondly a truly care-free childhood involving bikes and street lights and pizza on Friday nights. And soon, that great big world called him forth. First, to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, then on to a brief career as DJ Yeager, as he was famously known in the beach side haunts of OCMD.

It was a love of music that drove him then to Full Sail University in Florida and onto Nashville for a few years and finally (via minivan/temporary house) to Los Angeles. And what else can you do from there but work your way up? Dave plowed through gigs as an extra, TV and commercial work and reporting for Entertainment Tonight. But it was the digital music boom of the early 2000s that propelled him into the stratosphere. First with Universal Music Group, then Apple Music, then Beats by Dre.

Throw in an MBA and a move from the technical side to the business side and you have a grizzled, music industry veteran with a dream to create something new, something big, something right here in NEPA. Dave returned home in 2020 and, along with his husband, Auric, their twin daughters and two dogs, bought an old dairy farm in Falls. He also launched Showcase, a streaming, music discovery platform focused on new and emerging independent artists.

We stopped by Showcase’s office in the Scranton Enterprise Center for a quick chat, a laundry list of awesome music industry adventures and a few very important answers to a few very important questions, like Why NEPA?

How long have you lived in NEPA?

I was born and raised in Forty Fort until I was 18 years old — I left for college after graduation. I recently made my way back to the area in 2020 where I now reside in Falls with my husband and my girls. And I have my office in Downtown Scranton.

What do you love about your town?

I have to say, first of all, I absolutely loved my childhood. And I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue music. And I knew that I was going to have to leave the area. But I also knew that I wanted to come back and build something here because of my deep appreciation for how I was raised, the people, the authenticity – all of that. The biggest thing that I love is the overall kindness of everybody. I’ve lived all over the country, and there’s just something special about the people in this area – the kindness, the generosity, the authenticity… And it’s the place that we chose to raise our girls. We couldn’t have chosen a better place to do so.

What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?

This is tough, but I’m going to make it easy and go with just one. I’ve struggled with this, to be honest (laughs), but I’m actually going to say The Dough Company. And that answer is twofold. Number one, I really love their pizza. And number two, it’s all about nostalgia. It’s a place that I just kind of grew up going to. It looks the same as it did then. Prices are almost the same (laughs). We went there a lot as a family when I was a kid. And I even worked there for one day when I was 16 years-old. But honestly, it’s just that combination of nostalgia and pizza. It’s my go-to. And my daughters absolutely love it as well.

What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?

Aside from being very active on the farm with the girls and the dogs and letting them roam free, one of my favorite things is fall. I absolutely love the fall in this area. September and October are my two favorite months. I love the change of seasons. I love all the fall activities that are taking place at Roba’s and Lakeland Orchard and the hayrides. We love everything leading up to Halloween. Really, I just love watching the change of seasons happen right before our eyes and taking long drives and listening to music and maybe just getting lost. That’s my favorite thing to do.

What’s next for you?

It’s nice to have finally planted roots back in this area now. There’s been a lot of transition that’s taken place for us over the last seven years. Our girls just got into the Howard Gardner School here, so we’re really excited for them to be in kindergarten in the fall.

Professionally, Showcase is really starting to plant its own roots and headquarters here in Scranton. We’re actually going to be moving into a bigger office here within the next month or two. I’ve been able to employ several local people. We’re entering that stage now where we are about to enter the next chapter and make this a full-fledged company with roots planted right here in the area. And our goal is to continue to expand the business and really tap more into the arts and entertainment that’s happening in this area. We want to do a lot more live showcases where we can kind of unveil and support a lot more local talent. And, basically continue to push this dream forward.

Of course, I’m also excited to reconnect with this area. I have a lot of friends that still live here. It’s great to run into people that I haven’t seen in twenty years at local restaurants and events. But it’s mostly about how much we’re looking forward to raising our girls in this area.

Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?

I feel like I have this front row seat to NEPA’s future being here in the Scranton Enterprise Center and in Downtown. The progressiveness that’s happening. All of the start-ups that are surging right now. The influx of new restaurants and the expanding food scene outside of pizza and chicken wings and cheesesteaks (laughs). Overall, we’re seeing a lot more diversity – especially as a gay man with a husband. We were just at the Pride Festival in Wilkes-Barre this past weekend. It was amazing to see so many people there and so much support. I can’t help but feel that the area is starting to embrace change.

And also, with NEPA being in such close proximity to so many major metropolitan areas, it positions us, especially as a business owner, to take great advantage of that. I’m excited for the growth. I’m excited to see new buildings going up and new companies coming to this area. You know, Showcase is backed by Ben Franklin Technology Partners, so I really get to see what’s coming through in their portfolio. It’s just so exciting to see overall. There’s definitely a lot of good energy moving through the region with people moving here, houses and neighborhoods being redeveloped. And again, that diversity – I just want to be a part of it all.

Why NEPA?

Number one, we want to raise our kids here. So, we chose to be here. And I consider myself blessed. You know, back in the day, for my type of work, you had to be in one of the major cities. Now, you can make it work with a decentralized work force. Most of our team is actually still on the west coast. But NEPA really kind of puts me in a place that helps me see my mission through. I was in such a bubble in L.A. and I didn’t know anything else outside of that city and this puts me into an area where it does somewhat feel underserved.

When we moved Showcase, I think we already had five or six artists from this community, and there are so many more that we want to support. I have the network in place. I can hold their hand and help navigate through that process. And from a music fan perspective, I get to kind of see what our potential user base looks like. Tapping into that more and seeing what people are looking for in a music discovery service like Showcase, is what’s really going to help us build something special for them. We’re spotlighting a lot more local talent from local communities, and being in Scranton, which is a very bustling city going through a lot of positive change right now, allows me to be at the forefront and help lead that change in any way possible.