Fran Cosmo
Francis Cosmo Migliaccio was born on October 17, 1956, in Utica, New York — a factory town in the Mohawk Valley that would seem an unlikely incubator for one of arena rock’s most powerful voices. But Fran Cosmo, as he became known, possessed a sky-high tenor that would eventually fill stadiums alongside one of the […]
Wendy O. Williams
Wendy Orlean Williams was born on May 28, 1949, in Webster, a suburb of Rochester, New York. The daughter of a chemist at Eastman Kodak, Williams grew up in the kind of quiet Rochester suburb that could not have been further from the explosive, confrontational career that awaited her. Rochester Roots At age six, Williams […]
The Figgs
For more than 35 years, The Figgs have been Saratoga Springs’ most durable rock and roll institution — a power pop trio whose output, consistency, and sheer refusal to quit have earned them a reputation as one of the most respected underground bands in the Northeast. They are Saratoga’s answer to a simple question: what […]
Daryl Hall
Daryl Franklin Hohl was born on October 11, 1946, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, but his Upstate New York connection runs deep. As Daryl Hall — one half of Hall & Oates, the best-selling musical duo in American history — he chose the Hudson Valley hamlet of Pawling, New York, as the home for both his celebrated […]
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev emerged from the University at Buffalo in 1989 as something between a student film project and a sonic experiment. Co-founded by Jonathan Donahue, Sean “Grasshopper” Mackowiak, David Baker, Dave Fridmann, Suzanne Thorpe, and Jimy Chambers, the band drew inspiration from drone-music pioneer Tony Conrad, who was teaching at UB at the time. What […]
Blotto
Before there was MTV, before there was alternative rock, before Albany had any claim to a national music identity, there was Blotto. The new wave comedy-rock band that emerged from the University at Albany in the late 1970s became one of the Capital Region’s most unlikely success stories — and one of the first music […]
Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot emerged from Syracuse University in 2006 as one of the most distinctive indie rock bands of their generation — a group that fused soaring strings, urgent vocals, and infectious melodies into a sound that put Syracuse on the national indie map. Their story is one of creative ambition, devastating loss, and a […]
Joywave
Joywave is Rochester’s most successful musical export of the 2010s — a synth-rock band that turned the Flower City’s post-industrial grit into a launching pad for a sound that splits the difference between new wave, electropop, and art-rock. Led by vocalist Daniel Armbruster, the band has spent over a decade proving that a world-class act […]
Robby Takac
Robby Takac is best known as the co-founder and bassist of the Goo Goo Dolls, one of the most successful rock bands to emerge from any American city in the 1990s. But in Buffalo, his legacy extends far beyond “Iris” and multi-platinum album sales. Takac has spent decades reinvesting in the city that raised him […]
Levon Helm
Levon Helm was the heartbeat of The Band and, in his final years, the soul of Woodstock itself. Born Mark Lavon Helm on May 26, 1940, in Elaine, Arkansas, he grew up in the cotton country of the Mississippi Delta — a landscape that imprinted itself on every beat he ever played. He graduated from […]