Billy Sheehan
Billy Sheehan was born on March 19, 1953, in Buffalo, New York, where he grew up, learned bass, and built the foundation for a career that would establish him as one of rock’s most technically accomplished and influential players. Talas and the Buffalo Years Sheehan’s first full-time band was Talas, a power trio with guitarist […]
Orleans
Orleans is the band that gave America “Still the One” and “Dance with Me” — two of the most enduring soft-rock anthems of the 1970s — and their story begins in the creative community of Woodstock, New York. Formed in February 1972 by guitarist-songwriter John Hall, keyboardist-vocalist Larry Hoppen, and drummer Wells Kelly, with bassist […]
Tony Levin
Tony Levin has played bass on more landmark recordings than almost any musician alive. Born June 6, 1946, and educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, he has been a resident of the Woodstock, New York area for decades — anchoring one of rock and progressive music’s most extraordinary careers from the Hudson […]
Foreigner (Lou Gramm)
No band has sold more records with a frontman from Upstate New York than Foreigner. With over 80 million albums sold worldwide, Lou Gramm’s voice — forged in the clubs and rehearsal spaces of Rochester — became one of the most recognizable in rock history. Born Louis Andrew Grammatico on May 2, 1950, in Rochester, […]
The Band
The Band did not come from Woodstock — they came to it, and in doing so, they made the town a creative landmark. The group — Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm — began as the Hawks, the backing band for rockabilly wild man Ronnie Hawkins, touring the Canadian bar […]
Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio is the most powerful voice ever to emerge from Upstate New York, and his journey from Cortland teenager to heavy metal deity is one of the great origin stories in rock. Born Ronald James Padavona on July 10, 1942, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Dio moved to Cortland, New York, as a child […]
Steve Gadd
Steve Gadd is widely regarded as the most influential studio drummer of the twentieth century, and his story begins in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, New York. Born on April 9, 1945, Gadd was playing drums by age three, taught by his uncle Eddie. Formal lessons followed at age seven under instructors Bill and Stanley […]
Mick Guzauski
If you have heard a number-one hit single in the past four decades, there is a reasonable chance Mick Guzauski mixed it. Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Guzauski has mixed over 27 number-one singles, won nine Grammy Awards, and worked with a client list that spans the entire spectrum of popular music — […]
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, when guitarist-vocalist Johnny Rzeznik, bassist-vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska started playing together as a cover band originally called the Sex Maggots. The name change to Goo Goo Dolls — pulled from an ad in True Detective magazine — was the first of […]
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant was born on October 26, 1963, in Jamestown, New York — a small city in the southwestern corner of the state, closer to Erie, Pennsylvania, than to any major New York metropolitan area. At 16, she dropped out of high school to work at a grocery store. At 17, she joined 10,000 Maniacs. […]