Cheetah Whores wear their musical hearts on their sleeve while combining 70’s punk, 60’s R&B, psychedelic sounds and good old rock and roll. Cheetah Whores have been a staple in the Rochester music scene since early 2006. The newest lineup for the Whores include: Liz O’Brien on lead vocals, her sister Therese on the lap steel, Meg Austin on guitar, Gary Archer on bass and Jonelle Pitts on drums.
Frank DeBlase of City Newspaper said about the Whores: “I haven't seen a band maintain this level of drunken joy, sadness, soul, and swagger - in heels - in a long time. At the heart of the allure are the songs. The Cheetah Whores are writing nasty little r&b nuggets reminiscent of an era when Ike and Tina were still doing blow and exchanging blows.”
This band has gone through the trials and tribulations of the death of a band member, their former bassist Sholanda Simpson. They continue to forge on in her memory and are working on their first full length LP due out in late 2010. more ...

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Instead of celebrating a single artist, tribute band “The Heaviest Thing” pays homage to an entire genre of music: steal your soul, balls out metal. Covering everything from nu metal/family values era bands Korn and Limp Bizkit, Ozzfest favorites such as System of a Down and Godsmack, younger acts like Avenged Sevenfold and Linkin Park, and even a few old-school classics by Pantera and Megadeth, The Heaviest Thing delivers a high-energy, technically impressive show. The band features two lead vocalists Jed Seaver (Omniblank, Hate Machine) and Daniel Mayer (Catch 22), Uncle Plum drummer Joe Lana, bassist Steven Pellicia (The Grunge), and international recording artist/award-winning guitarist Tony Vinci. Natural musical chemistry paired with intense showmanship, makes every performance by The Heaviest Thing a must see for all fans of heavy music.  more ...

Rochester’s Greatest Fat Tuesday Party Ever started as a party to break up the winter doldrums and raise money to support the March of Dimes For Babies. March For Babies is the March of Dimes biggest fundraiser both locally and nationally. To generate momentum for this event, the revenue committee for the March of Dimes March For Babies created the Fat Tuesday Party eight years ago. Successful even in year one, the event is now bigger and better than we ever dreamed it could be. To make this Rochester’s Greatest Winter party, the best local bands are recruited each year to play at this Mardi Gras style event at the Water Street Music Hall, a venue with two large rooms and two stages, making for the maximum number of people attending and maximum number of bands. The room is decorated for Mardi Gras and beads are on sale for the attendees. Since its origin eight years ago, some 6,400 attendees have helped to raise a total of $165,000 to save babies!  more ...

One of the most visually stunning and musically talented bands in the rock scene today, I Am Ghost take their melodic mixture of punk and hardcore and combine it with infectious catchy and twisted pop that will stick in your head for weeks on end. With a huge loyal fan base spread across the world, I Am Ghost are set to embark on their biggest journey yet: a full USA headlining tour along with trecks back to Europe, Japan and Australia in 2010. The band currently has two full-length releases on indi power house label Epitaph Records.  more ...

A wild young band from Boston, Brooklyn, and Burlington, Vermont (i.e. Ver-brook-ston) that currently tours as an 8 piece. Their banging horn sounds and dance beats provide a backbone for the mesmerizing vocals of lead singer, Kalmia Traver. Rubblebucket's trip-rock sound has been compared to Talking Heads, Bjork, Fela Kuti and Portishead but what's in the bucket is completely their own. Rubblebucket won the 2009 Boston Music Award for Live Act of the Year and is featured in the December 2009 issue of Relix Magazine's "On The Verge: 5 Artists You Should Know." Additionally, they were named "Best New Band of 2008," by Seven Days Vermont. The title had previously been held by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (2005, 2006) and Phish (2003, 2004). Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth, formerly of the John Brown's Body horn section, have been a musical team for over 5 years. In June of 2007 they joined forces with eclectic percussionist Craig Myers (of Mike Gordon Band) at a milk plant in Burlington where the chemistry was undeniable. Inspired by that night Toth set out to create a one-of-a-kind imaginative dance-rock band and Rubblebucket was born.  more ...

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Extended Family was formed in 2004 when Andy “Stump” Rosenhack bought a guitar and wanted his childhood friend Geoff to play with him. Geoff and Stumpy recruited their friend, Todd, to come and play with them on bass. Stumpy then suckered his co-worker Rick to come be part of this happy experiment. A year after this group began playing, Geoff bumped into a guy named Mark on a “fans of Empty Nest” website. Mark said he played drums and would love to sit in with the guys sometime. He did in the Spring of 2005 and has never left. The idea behind the band has been to try and create original music where nothing is off-limits. This has helped the band attempt to create an eclectic morphing of styles while remaining true to their 70’s rock roots. more ...

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Going for the One--A Yes Tribute will take the Water Street stage on February 20 to perform a set of classic Yes music, featuring tracks drawn from The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge, plus the full-length version of "America." This exciting ensemble brings together five superb musicians who each have a rich history in performing progressive rock. Lead singer Jimmy Warlick possesses the high range necessary for Yes music and delivers the vocals with skill and confidence. The rest of the band is a combination of virtuoso players: John Covach on guitars, Chris Meeker on bass, Rich DellaPietra on keyboards, and Mario Encina on drums. Everybody in the band sings, allowing the group to accurately reproduce not only the demanding and powerful instrumental passages, but also the lush vocal harmonies found on the studio albums. Heroes for Ghosts, a Pink Floyd tribute, will open the show, performing Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety and featuring Bill Tiberio as guest saxophonist. The combination of Yes and Pink Floyd music will make for a fired-up night of epic 70s music at Water Street that will have you saying “groovy” like you really mean it.  more ...

Some bands insist on dragging listeners into their world, but Carbon Leaf works towards a more admirable and considerably more difficult goal – that of letting perfect strangers feel that the band understands their world. The band succeeds in doing just that -- and in creating a soundtrack suitable for multiple worlds -- on its third Vanguard release, Nothing Rhymes With Woman. “For me, this is an album that’s focused on growth and maturity, but it’s not deadly serious,” says front man Barry Privett. “I wanted to examine my life and the lives of my family and friends and do it with a little bit of a wink. The last thing I wanted to do was get all dark and overwrought.” Privett and his bandmates dodge that pitfall with aplomb on Nothing Rhymes With Woman, the much-anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed 2006 offering Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat. As ever, the quintet -- recently joined by drummer Jason Neal, a veteran of the southeast’s club circuit, and Seattle bassist Jon Markel -- challenge themselves and listeners by steadfastly refusing to retrace old steps, bringing in like-minded collaborators (like Toby Lightman, who brings a burnished tone to her vocal parts on the gritty “Meltdown”) and taking off in plenty of new directions of their own accord. more ...

Never a group to be pigeonholed, Lotus brings many musical weapons to the stage. From festival stages such as Rothbury, Wakarusa and Red Rocks to theaters across the country the band has left grinning crowds dripping with sweat. Equal parts dance and rock, Lotus has been crafting a unique brand of instrumental rock for the past decade. Their latest release Oil on Glass/Feather on Wood “proves that no words are needed to elicit any feelings, the instrumentals alone are enough to connote a myriad of emotions.” The dual EPs show the multiple sides of Lotus with Feather on Wood showcasing slow-building guitar driven compositions and Oil on Glass leaning toward harder beats and textures. Like a Lotus show, the two sides work together to form a cohesive whole. The big light show and pounding beats may be club inspired, but the band’s ability to connect with the audience through emotive composition and dynamic improvisation pushes performances past the elusive barrier dividing concert and experience.   more ...

"These 3 songs represent a few moods you'll hear on my new album, and I wanted to give you a little preview of what's to come. The EP features a mellow, string drenched acoustic song we recorded in my home studio entitled "40 Hours", a more up-tempo, fun rock track- "Be There", and a moody atmospheric wonder- (also one of my favorites) "Counting On Me". I wanted to have a little taste of everything as a prelude to the full album which comes out August 25th. See you on the road later this summer!" Several years after releasing his commercial breakthrough album Stop All The World Now, singer and songwriter Howie Day breaks his silence with his long-awaited third studio album Sound the Alarm. The album is a stunning collection of the kind of emotionally resonant, melody-minded pop-rock gems that have earned Day a legion of devoted fans over the past 10 years. Sound the Alarm comes after more than a decade of touring, during which the Bangor, Maine, native self-released his 2000 debut Australia and became a full-time traveling musician. He became known for his powerful one-man shows, connecting with audiences through his charm, humor, the strength of his songwriting, and a warm tenor voice that “soars into fluttering, high registers, but also grates with real, pleading grit,” as one critic put it.  more ...

“I feel like my brain is vibrating all day long,” says Reid Genauer, the singer/songwriter behind Assembly of Dust, discussing the band’s new album. “It’s hard to sleep, I’m so excited. I feel like Lex Luthor, or that Mike Myers character, Dr. Evil. I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs, dreaming up this demonic scheme, getting ready to release this germ on to the world.” While “demonic schemes” may not come to mind when you think of Assembly of Dust, Genauer’s post-Strangefolk crew since 2002, his band’s latest album does have the feeling of something remarkable being unleashed. The record, recorded over two years, showcases Genauer’s maturation as a songwriter, as evidenced both by the material and the all-star collaborations that dot all 13 tracks. It’s rare to hear something so massive in scope and ambition, and yet so intricate in the tiny details. “I wrote the songs, and a couple with [co-producer] Nate Wilson, and then had the idea to get guests,” says Genauer. “I had to think about who would make sense, who I aspired to play with, and who had similar musical aesthetics.” To that end, the band was able to rope in a who’s who of classic and contemporary artists, including Richie Havens, Phish’s Mike Gordon, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Martin Sexton, and Grace Potter, among others. Adds Genauer: “It ended up being a lot of time and energy and dealing with managers and explaining my vision and in a few cases even who I was. But it was worth it.”  more ...

"Celebrating Queen" is a full out 2 hour Vocal and Rock extravaganza billed as
"The World's Foremost Tribute To The World's Most Popular Music” is fronted by JJ Midnight, who is highly regarded as one of the few singers in the world who is capable of replicating the vocal range, tones and dynamics of the late Queen vocalist, Freddie Mercury. Celebrating Queen plays all Queen's top chart busting hits with studio precision, performed live with 12 voices, in addition to supreme musicianship.
The chorus actually performs the harmonies that even Queen does not reproduce live.Without Freddie Mercury, this is the best it gets to replicating the music of Queen.  more ...

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Though Manchester Orchestra has only been a proper band for a year and a half, this young quintet (with an average age of 19) has crafted an album that sounds more aware and traveled than many of its more aged peers. Led by singer / songwriter / guitarist Andy Hull, Manchester Orchestra's debut LP, I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child , is a statement cinematic in scope - a series of emotional vignettes that delicately unravel over the course of an elegantly conceived musical arc that recalls both murky southern mysticism and the id borne bombast of the Pacific Northwest. Driven by lyrics that are insightful, spiritual and impressionistic, I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child is a litany of intimate details presented in widescreen. Just as the pointillist paintings of Georges Pierre Seurat or the films of Robert Altman lead our attention to the fine details, Manchester Orchestra also find inspiration in the intimate; but it is when we are able to gain some distance we begin to see the bigger picture and wonder where our experience fits in. more ...

Consistent, honest and forthright about everything from life to music, Matthew Good is one of few Canadian musicians that requires no introduction. In 2007, that candidness revealed itself as Hospital Music, an album dedicated to the ordeal Good was thrust into when dealing with bipolarity. Using the creativity of music to work through the revelation and realism of that diagnosis, Good and his followers formed an unbreakable bond based on what proved to be one of his most impeccable albums. Hospital Music ventured beyond Canadian borders, finding lifelong, passionate fans across North America thanks to Good's genuine account of a personal journey battling mental illness to find balance and happiness. In 2009, Good's sincerity finds him in an enviable place:alive, feeling fine and more inspired than ever before. His personal anguish and frustrations dealt with, Good now tackles new territory: the outside world. He has dubbed this journey "Vancouver", a dedication to and examination of his experiences living in the world-renowned city for the better part of his life; the land responsible for forming many of his personal reflections and opinions on the world. Good broaches all spectrums of that home, delving into the individual, economic, and social impact Vancouver's many facets incite. From straightforward rock to the infusion of strings which offer a lushness and bold atmosphere to the album, "Vancouver" offers fans the familiarity of Good's inherent style yet accents and bolsters his need for diversity and advancement.   more ...

On the new Blue October album, Approaching Normal, Justin Furstenfeld, moves his band forward into confident new territory as a songwriter and as a storyteller. Steve Lillywhite, the producer synonymous with U2 and five-time Grammy Award winner guided the way and the result is an album that breaks the mold of
whatever anyone may think Blue October is. Lillywhite’s first attraction to Blue October was the voice. “For me, it’s always the voice that gets me first because my opinion on a voice never changes. There are
singers and there are expressionists and Justin is both,” says Steve, who quickly adds that just as important is the artistry, “Their music really touches people in a way that the music of great artists do. There is bond of passion and trust between artist and audience.” “Working with Steve has always been my dream and I learned so much from him…like less is more.” Justin comments, “I was like a painter that did not know how to paint. It’s quite a new step trusting someone with your vision…but hey it’s Steve Lillywhite and I trusted him completely.” Approaching Normal is the follow-up to the band’s platinum selling breakthrough album, Foiled. Released in 2006, the first single, “Hate Me,” a song that offers a stepping stone from regret to hope, became the surprise modern rock anthem of the year spending 16 weeks in the Top 10 with five weeks at #2. The crossover success of the follow-up single, “Into the Ocean,” propelled the album sales well into the million plus territory in North America alone.  more ...

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