This page is for discussing the contents of Lost Rochester Bands.
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From an edit on the main page of Lost Rochester Bands by AdrienneDahler (2007-05-13 23:30:24) on the topic of Nerve Circus: I don't know anything about them except that I remember seeing a sticker or something advertising a show of theirs way back around 1990 when I was walking down Monroe Ave with my dad. I was only 8 so the name struck me as funny; I don't even know if they were local or not.
Kit Nelson and others have sort of just commented on the main page. I am going to probably wikify the contents there and move their commentary over here. If some other eager wiki person wants to beat me to it, by all means. —EugeneCain
How should all this be sorted? Genre? Decade? If they started in one and ended in another, you could just do a "see above". —EugeneCain Yep. Per Alex Gartley's suggestion in edit 56, will be doing it by decade. —EugeneCain
2009-10-22 20:01:29 Does anyone remember if Old Salt Band that played at Red Creek in 1970's have any records/cd'd? Where did they move too, I thought N. Carolina.
I heard of "Old Salt" that played at the Red Creek. Did they ever cut a record, if so where can I go? — peterporter
2009-12-26 15:01:03 Old Salt did at least one 7" single - "I'm Drunk Again" (not sure of the B side).
Other late '60s/early '70s bands I'd love to see more about: Portable People, Typical Blimp, Orange, Fat Zak, and (my favorite) the great Red White & Blues Band. — KevinYatarola
2010-06-01 14:26:02 I remember Old Salt playing the Red Creek when I lived in Rochester (late 70's). Found this page looking for tapes of live performances, if there are any out there. I Don't know of any official recordings. They were still together when I moved away and I always thought they were a great band and would reach a larger audience. I also remember Tullamore Dew, actually sat in with them on keyboards for a Lilac Festival show in (I think) '79. They were good, I was in over my head and spending more time trying to not make them sound bad. It was fun, though. —JMichaelBergstrom
2010-08-16 15:29:00 Who can help me remember details about a great cover band that played in Rochester during the early 70s. Originally called Freedom Tree, they were regulars at the motel at the corner or Elmwood and Mt. Hope (Now part of UofR). The band changed their name subsequently and played a lot at Ramada Inn and also what I believe was called the Peppermint Lounge on West Henrietta.
The keyboardist was the heart and soul of the band. He played the Hammond B-3—in the early days (before they added a bass player) laying down the bass line with either his feet or left hand, chords with left or right hand and often solos or chords with his right hand. And he sang too! They had a female singer and also a male singer who played sax and was constantly cracking off-color jokes. The drummer had a great tenor voice and sang all the high falsetto parts when they did their medley of Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons hits. I do not clearly recall the other members of the band. Who can fill in some more details? —JackPrewitt The band changed there name to Illusion. The Male Vocalist was Louie Fusilli,Lady vocalists were Andrea Contestible and Nancy Hamberger. Terry Lasponara on Drums,Jim Gombatto on Guitar Danny Labate on Sax and James Kulp on the Hammond. They were Great!!! Info courtesy of Don Ferrara
2010-12-02 12:05:48 Rain brings back memories of the Rochester NY music scene in the late 1960s. Rain was a great band with a premier guitar player, Helmut Getto. Brad was the singer. The fist time I saw them was at a Spencer Ripley church dance, They were playing there under the name Rainbow. I remember that they were playing a lot of head music like Hendrix's foxy lady among others. I remember some frat boys yelling at them and calling them faggots, Which caused Brad and the band to jump off stage and get in a fight. Ahh the good old days, nobody pulled a weapon. :)) —Rickeyamead
2011-04-04 02:00:40 hereby proposing moving the Unknown section here. Probably a bulletted list saying "see talk page" or somesuch (here's where I try to recall if I need to sig a comment... —EugeneCain
2011-08-27 08:31:17 Lets not forget about a band from the 70's called Prodigy. They were a hard rock band with members Paul Volta from west Rochester, Gary Miller, Dave Drum and Ron Murray from Henrietta. Played at all the usual haunts... Penny Arcade, Orange Monkey, Elliot's Nest etc... —PaulVolta
2011-09-05 14:01:34 does anyone remember a band, maybe from Buffalo, but played in Rochester alot-sang a song "Free again, lucky me I'm free again..." may have been sung by the trumpet player ?Benny. may have had others in the band called Phil-lead singer and John -played the guitar? mmccann —marciamccann
2011-09-16 21:44:48 THE INSIDERS! We had a pretty good 5 year run from 1979-1983 and In my book Walt O'Brian is one of the best Rock-n- roll singers Rochester ever had! (has) Robert Janneck —bobjanneck
2011-09-22 23:30:03 to bobjannek, were you answering my question about the band with the trumpet player who sang "Free again, lucky me I'm free again". If so do you know if any of the band members are in another band and do you know any of their names? marciamccann —marciamccann
2011-10-23 10:21:55 who wer the members of the infirmary. —tommaier
2011-11-25 14:16:37 Does anyone remember The Groop Ltd?? —Linfields
2012-02-22 20:56:16 Abby's Cafe based upon jamming off of each other and letting it control where you went and the next thing you know you just heard 15 songs played through a medley style 45minutes long with no breaks, that became different every time. These songs never rehearsed but played perfectly with a sound to guide them with in a versatile influence to keep the jamming boundaries from drifting a bit too far from catching the audience ear. Stellar musicianship with wild lyrics and analog sound. —Cafewonder
2012-03-29 11:22:00 This is Ned Nisson, the original bass player with North. Kit Nelson mentioned that there was a live recording of the band. I would love to find that. Any info? Also, does Kit or anyone have any info on the whereabouts of the rest of the band? Thanks. —JoelNisson
2012-04-20 22:06:54 I met a kid while working at kodak back in 2000/2001 who was in a hardcore band....the colonials maybe.....they had a track called whites of their eyes.....anyone recall? —bjm
2012-07-24 21:30:13 Black Sheep was mentioned, but I didn't see Rooster, the band that preceded Black Sheep. Rooster included the horns of Ron Stackman and Chuck Frieda. They eventually went to Bahama Mama (I think I have that right. Someone also asked about No Camuoflage. That band was fronted by Matt Ferris. —JimFerris
2012-10-24 21:07:02 I remember the band out of Utica NY the Frogs at the Monkey in the 80"sgreat Music and the fastest Bartenders in the world back then
2013-03-10 20:53:25 How about Casper and the Ghosts or John Sterling Jr. And the Shades from the early 60's?
2013-09-15 11:40:24 How about The Infants —DennisJones
2013-10-29 19:21:34 Marcia "Free Again" was by the Rustix on the Rare Earth label. —RonKline
2013-12-11 20:54:09 To:kevinB - Start a dropbox account and upload your music files. I'd love to hear those bands. I haven't heard the R&B bands The Untouchables and The Enerjets (from the 80's) mentioned. I know that The Enerjets put out at least 1 lp in '86.How about The Tempests? They put out a 45 called "Rockin' Rochester". In the 80's, Scorgies was the place to be. New Math and The Presstones were a couple of my favorites. —MartinCocca
2014-01-25 23:25:34 I had an album that Old Salt cut in about 1976. It had the songs "South of the Border" and "One Less Key on My Chain." One of the band was Dick Lesher, who went to Penfield High School in the 60's. I think my older brother, who graduated in 1965, knew him. I probably still have the album, but it's in storage. —glremington
2014-03-07 17:51:38 For my money,one of the top bands in rochester,was a band called THE TRACKERS.Four piece kind of young rascals clone in the mid to late sixties.Awesome b3 player,guitarist, lead singer and drummer!!!!!!!No bass player!!!!! Pat cupo the b3 player nailed that w/ his feet!! —kevinknapp
2014-04-16 23:52:22 1966-1969 The Blues Bus - Although young kids, the Blues Bus play with many top name bands as an opening act. If you recall Vince's 50 Acres show place, or the bear blasts at the Fair grounds front door or nearly every school in the Rochester Area, you probably caught one of the shows. The musicians of the Blues Bus were; Ron Palermo-(Lead vocals), Tony DePasquale- (Lead Vocals) David Nicholson - (Lead guitar), Jeff Ray - (Guitar), Kathy Clark - (keyboard), Jim Nicholson - (Bass guitar) and Bob Nicholson -Drums. —RNicholson
2014-04-25 17:08:32 I am surprised that I dont see a very popular band,Center Stage, which I believe started in the very late 70's. The base player Chris Defazio, from Vegas, John Cianciola on the keys, Tommy Bianchi on the lead Jimmy Bononno lead vocalist and a sax player who i think was named Lou. HE kinda reminded you of a bigger little Richie. Fantastic band with a standing room only crowd every time. Chris Defazio, Tommy Bianchi, John Cianciola, lex buyers and George Demot later formed the Coup DeVilles.. I may not have all the info exactly correct. —JimBuscemi
2014-05-23 19:37:10 I'm looking for an obscure local record called "I Won't Be Home Tonight" from '67 or '68, I think. It was a really fast-paced psych tune with the lyrics: "Did I tell you pretty baby that I wouldn't be home tonight, yeah?" It had a swooshing quick drum break and fast guitars and vocals; kind of minimal and primitive. The only name I can recall is "The Casinos" but that might not be their name. It was on the radio for a little while; I tried to buy the record at a few shops, but nobody had it. Does this ring any bells for anyone? They were popular when The Invictas were big. —NeilBachers
2014-10-08 12:49:27 Late 70's band Quintasia .. Fred Vine and Dan Schmidt on guitar, Kevin Springer on bass (may he RIP), Joey Zee on sax and Dean Miller (may he RIP as well) on drums. After Kevin passed away, he was replaced by Terry Whipple on vocals and Harry Ford on bass. They played around upstate NY but could be seen quite often at the Glass Onion. Great band! I have a CD collection that was digitally remastered of them.
2014-10-22 15:38:22 I use to go and see the band "The Trackers" back in the late 60's. They were a fun band to watch and dance to. There were four members. They ended up changing their name. They ended up doing a CD. Would love to get a copy of it if anyone has it. Marlene —MarleneRittler
2014-12-01 09:31:22 Does anyone remember the band Bullet that played the Varsity Inn in the early 70's? They played the song White Lies Little Blue Eyes. The whole place would be jumping and sometimes they played the song twice in a row. —DanGinther
2015-03-26 11:49:06 Hello, Does anyone remember the prog rock band East of Eden from 2006? The drummer was named John, lived in Greece (northwest ROC), highly motivated, worked out on elliptical for a couple hours every morning followed by 8-10 hours of drumming every day. What is his last name? I'm trying to find out what success he's found in the music world. —CHughes
2015-06-07 21:08:52 One of the most sadly unknown and underrated bands of the 1980s was Obvious. Obvious was a new wave/synth-pop band from Rochester featuring Dwight Marcus Glodell on vocals, keyboards/synths, and drum machine programming, Kevin Vicalvi (credited as Kel Vidal) on vocals, acoustic guitars, bass, and keyboards, and Ethan Porter (credited as Ethan Green) on vocals and electric guitars. They only released a self-titled LP in 1985 on Amherst Records. Their music covered a variety of styles, moods, and tempos, and was full of heavy synths, remarkable electric guitars, and plenty of horns and sax. Lead vocals were shared between Dwight and Kevin, I'm guessing because of their vocal ranges.
Do you remember these guys? Did they ever perform live in 1985? —PoodleWaver
2015-06-15 01:57:57 Does anyone remember a band in the mid 70s called Windjammer? Also Mokey Coal ? —Bgrills
2015-06-18 19:12:46 Does anybody have anymore information on Dry Rain? Patsy Sciortino, the drummer was my dad. —AlexSciortino
2015-08-17 07:06:22 Thanks for putting together this site. Great Memories - Went to Charlotte High from 68-73 (minus our Marshall reorganization in 72)Played teen dances with my own band, "Fox" and got to see many of the late 60's and 70's bands mentioned here at CTC (Charlotte Teen Council)dances at St. Georges and Holy Cross churches in Charlotte, Charlotte High, Church of the Master... Seen Lou Graham when he was Lou Gramattico playing drums in Black Sheep - Wow lots of great music and fun. Still writing and playing and recording CD's. You can hear them at www.cdbaby.com Thanks for the memories everyone!!! :) —LenSquires
2016-05-20 16:10:03 Does anyone remember the band "SCARECROW" that played at Braddocks Bay and a Bar on RT 33 by Elmgrove? —JaneChad
2016-12-05 19:41:28 I see that there are questions regarding Portable People. I don't know much as i would like. But my uncle wws in the band. So here is what i know. Portable People was a band that originated in the 60's and continued into the 70's. They were considered a hard driving R&B group and played a large amount of original material. Although there were many members throughout the groups history this is who i know. The below did not necessarily play at the same time Members prior to 1970
Founder John DiTondo aka Johnny D. He was a soulful singer and played guitar, Hammond B-3
Roger Rotoli - drums
John Di Ponzio 2nd drummer
Jerrey Gervasi aka The Beak - vocals
Artie Del Judico - guitar and vocals
Louis Poggi - guitar and vocals
Charles Hageman - Warlitzer and vocals
Additional members in 70s
Edwin Stanton aka Thor, - hammond B-3
Carl Friedman aka catfish - harp, violin, sax, vocals
Bill Gillen aka Bone, - trombone
Bob Brown aka Bob the horn - tenor saxaphone
Jerrey the beak was my uncle. He died in 1978 and never got to continue his music
Carl created a wonderful FB page in honor of the group and you can find one of the studio recordings on reverb nation
Johnny D retired quietly and moved out of the country
Many of the members have since passed on or have just lost touch.
I hope this helps
https://www.facebook.com/Portable-People-174143195997063/
https://www.reverbnation.com/portablepeople
2016-12-12 15:05:59 Just happened upon this site after doing a search on the Brass Buttons. I didn't live in Rochester until 1976 but these guys played the Syracuse
area as well. Jay Capozzi came from Showstoppers, early starting point for Bat and Don. Gene Cornish went on to national fame with the great N.Y. group the Rascals. The 1968 Cotillion (an Atlantic Records owned label) 45 "My Song" b/w "Hell Will Take Care of Her" was produced by the renowned Arif Mardin (Wilson Pickett, Aretha, too many others to list here).
2016-12-17 21:08:44 I lived in Rochester from 1976 to 1984 and saw many of the bands mentioned, can provide following info:
Old Salt - someone called them a southern rock band, version I saw was more of a bluegrass band, and included my ex-brother-in-law Pete Pierce, who now lives in Mountain View Ca and is married to Karen Ferguson, cousin of comedian/talk-show host Craig Ferguson. At one point Jim Kraut (Putz brothers, Bahama Mama) was also in the band.
Bahama Mama - One of my favorite all-time bands, they'd play Fri/Sat/Sun at the Red Creek, then same at Scorgies, Mason Jar etc. and I would catch almost all of the shows. Ron Stackman (![[WWW]](https://rocwiki.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
http://www.ronstackman.com/ron_bio.html) on keyboards/vocals, Jim Kraut on guitar, Lou LaVilla drums, Jim Schwartz bass, forgot the horn player names (I see someone mentioned Charlie Freida below so that's one of them but to correct that comment, Ron wasn't a horn player, he was the keyboard player, specifically a Hohner Clavinette). Ron, Lou, and Jim Schwartz continued as the Majestics when Jim Kraut left the band, then Majestics became Scratch Perry's backup band. Jim Kraut also did some recording under the name James London.
Voices - no real info but drummer Lanny Aucter was a housemate of mine on Morningside Park and Vic Park A.
805 - so technically from Syracuse but they played tons of shows at the Penny Arcade, guitarist/singer used to come out with a boa constrictor around his neck, once saw him break a string mid-song, by the end of the song he had re-strung his guitar and never missed a lyric. Great Genesis covers as well as Beatles (awesome Penny Lane, Walrus), Bowie, etc.
Duke Jupiter - original guitarist Don Miracal was awesome but left the band during recording of their first album (Sweet Cheeks) and is heard on only one song on the album ("When can I see you"?), had a couple of minor hits off that album (Saxophone, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE3llqGiN3Q , Trouble in Paradise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG6R38dApbY), recorded a couple of more albums, Taste the Night, Band In Blue, not sure after that. They used to play all the big local festivals, Red Creek, etc. —JimG
Holy (Holey?) Smoke - Dead cover band. Keyboardist Rob Silfvast lives in Belmont, Ca. Guitarist Mark Snavely lives in Webster. Guitarist Kevin DeHond is still playing in Rochester as a duo with Michael Catalano.
Don't know that' they qualify as a "lost" Rochester band, but Spiro Gyra was still playing in the area when I first arrived in 1976 prior to their national/worldwide success, remember seeing them play in one of the U of R cafeterias. And of course longtime Steely Dan drummer Steve Gadd is a Rochester native (saw him playing last year with James Taylor), as well as the Mangione brothers.
2016-12-25 06:06:10 Thanks for your posting —IKone152
2017-03-27 15:16:23 80's: Surprised no one mentioned Slaphappy. They were one of the first bands on WCMF's "Homegrown" show and did specials on WOKR-TV (13). They were incredible, they had tasty originals and played everything from Asia to Zappa and did them justice. Their gigs were mostly in Rochester and Canandaigua, they were the house band at Boyle's for a while. As I recall they were Tom Sawyer (lead guitar), Vince Lenzi (sax & synthesizer), Brian Maslin (percussion), Eddie Upchurch (bass) and Dan Feligno (rhythm). Sawyer was a virtuoso, his playing reached out and touched people, but he was in good company, they were all terrific musicians — and what a sound they had. Sure miss those guys.
2018-02-23 14:59:12 Old Salt also used to play the Cottage Inn, in Mendon (along with the Swamproot String Band). I'm also recalling groups like Boyd McCoy and the Sidewinders, who played Duffy's North; The Salisbury Stompers (who later became Under Milkwood) who played the College Inn in Brockport, The Farm in Macedon and the Chili Grange; The Jurrells (sp) and both The Herd and The Heard who played Guys and Dolls, on Buffalo Road in Ogden. And Trillium, with Jack Bearce who played at Maiden Lanes. —MichaelDeLorme
2018-03-31 20:14:03 Trying to find the name of a 1970’s band, and the album name, that recorded a song in the late 60s or early 70s with the words ‘White horse” in it. —GeoffGrinnell
2018-07-18 10:34:41 I certainly remember Old Salt, especially at the Red Creek, during my days at RIT. I was going through some plastic bins i had last year after moving and found an Old Salt 45 rpm, LOL. dont have a player so maybe i will give it to Brother Wease ! —WADAMS
2019-03-20 13:26:00 The Trackers were a great cover band. Rascals, Beatles, Motown groups. John Ippolito: lead singer, rhythm guitar, Lou Poggi: vocals, lead guitar, Marty Hallinean: bass guitar, backing vocals, Pat Cupo: Hammond B3 Jim Cardella/Dean Miller, drums Dean.
2019-05-06 21:29:06 Thinking of busting this page up into a handful of smaller pages, probably by decade. Seems like the "unknown" section could stay parked where it is and the links at the top could link to the respective pages. —eugenecain
2019-05-07 15:03:42 yeah, gonna go for it. seems like if we know what their name was, and a bit of more-than-sparse info about them, and what decade they performed in: they aren't particularly lost.
Probably gonna wikify what we have and make those new pages. Suggestions for title formatting? "Rochester Bands of the 30's" is the format I'm thinking. —eugenecain
2019-05-26 10:53:54 So many memories. Why can't I find any info. on The Stage Door? I watched many bands there in the early '70s. Thanks. —ChristineBasile
2019-05-26 14:36:37 So many memories. Why can't I find any info. on The Stage Door? I watched many bands there in the early '70s. Thanks. —ChristineBasile
2019-08-10 09:54:41 Old Salt was a great band that played all around the Finger Lakes region - Mendon, Honeoye, Canandaigua etc. as well as Rochester. The Band, Little Feat, etc. Actually met my current wife at an Old Salt gig. —DanRice
2019-11-26 10:18:34 Hello, A friend of mine sent me an e mail telling me about this sight. I am Jim Kelley and I was a funding member of the band from the late sixties early 70's Called LINCOLN ZEPHYR. The band originated as ORANGE and we were initially a three guitar band with Bass and Drums. I was kind of thinking Buffalo Springfield, and Moby Grape for a target sound. Things went along smoothly until one day I went to a Battle of the Bands to check out a new guitar player I was interested in hiring. The guitar player I went to see was not very good but during the performances I saw a very talented Keyboard singer named Marshall Styler. The guy was quite special. I got his phone number and called him the next day and we instantly recognized that we were on the same page musically. Also we both shared the vision of playing original material. Everybody said we were nuts for wanting to go all original (it was 1967) and we stuck to our guns and practiced constantly. The original line up for LZ was Clare Delong (a great lead player), Lenny Dolan on drums. Bob Huber on guitars and vocals Marsh and me.We soon found out that playing originals was something that required total dedication and many rehearsals. We practiced so much that we had not even picked out a name. The night of our first gig Marsh's mom suggested Lincoln Zephyr and we went with it. We ended up playing a lot and our music evolved into something we were proud of (still am). As time went by we changed drummers (Added Dean MIller) and guitar we added Mike Nichols who also sang and wrote. All of a sudden the band got really really tight.Whwn we played or jammed the feeling was almost magical. As time went by we went our different ways for various reasons and the status today is Dean and Clare have passed away. Mike is in Nashville and I go up and sit with him a couple of times a year. We still remember the old songs and enjoy playing the hell out of them. Marsh as you all know went on to the Duke Jupiter days and had quite a lot of success. For a number of years now Marsh has been a new age musician with many successful and beautifully composed albums. I live in Miami since 1978 and have a great wife and five remarkable children. My youngest son is a pretty good bass player and even my 13 year old grand son plays the bass as well. I still play a lot especially considering my age and the fingers still fly and the bass still brings me huge amounts of joy on a daily basis. I will never forget the LINCOLN ZEPHYR days. It was tough but when we were in the groove and playing our asses off it was the best feeling in the world. Hope this makes it through I am a computer idiot. Peace Jim Kelley —kickbass47@aol.com
2020-03-30 20:11:42 How about the Showstoppers, South Street Mission Band, Bat McGrath & Don Potter, The New Breed, Ricky Howe Band, Union... —bgraz51@gmail.com
2020-03-30 21:27:53 The Little Trolls became The Trolls and today are called Trolls 2.0 with the original group leader Calvin David Nichols. Today Calvin has two of his sons in the band, continuing the Legend of The Trolls. Nathan Nichols on vocals and Josh Secondo on bass. We recently played The California Brew Haus and 585 burger bar. In the early days back in the 1970's and early 1980's The Little Trolls played The Orange Monkey every Wednesday night, and other nights at Greg Sullivan's Penny Arcade, The Mason Jar, E.R. Junction, The California Brew Haus, Art Stock's Playpen, Alexanders, Fast Eddies, T.C. Rockers in Webster and a lot more I can't remember right now. We where also on WCMF's homegrown album. —TheLittleTrollsthenTheTrolls
2020-12-20 09:44:09 Also: fieldfresh - an early grungy sort of thing, played a lot of clubs in the early 90s. Guitarist Chris went on to form Hector, and then Nora. Joe, the bassist and singer went to form, along with many other bands and solo projects, Rochester's Carbon Records. —cLosinger
2021-09-28 08:33:36 Blue Axis 1989-1993 Kevin DeFrance guitar, Marc DeSalvo drums, Bob Olson bass. The Mysterious Blues Band 1995?- 2012? Tony Cavagnaro guitar, Bob Olson guitar, Rob Cullivan harmonica vocals, Pete Mugnolo drums, Ken Kahler drums, Evan Stucklass keyboard accordion, Dan Lopata bass, Aaron Stopka bass
Turning Colors 1993 - 2020 Marc DeSalvo drums, Bob Olson guitar, Dan Brewer bass —BobOlson
2021-11-29 16:51:42 Re: Lincoln Zephyr. The rhythm guitar player was named Roger Williams. He and Clair DeLong used to teach guitar at Properzi's Music Store in East Rochester. I took lessons from Roger. My friend Reece took lessons from Clair. Clair's previous band was called "The Orange". I used to see them at the "Hullabaloo Club" in East Rochester. They played lots of Yardbirds songs. Clair was a big Jeff Beck fan. Lincoln Zephyr often played at the "Mystical Dreams Coffee House" on St Paul street in Rochester. I still have a promotional picture of the complete band from 1968. There was a Lincoln Zephyr concert right after Christmas in December 1968. It was downtown, and I think it was a college audience. My friend Reece and I were still in high school. I'll always remember that night. —mcstamper
2022-01-17 23:40:53 “I’m, swiminn’ in women!” —PatrickVernon
2022-03-28 11:21:59 I moved to Rochester in the summer of '68. My dad taught me violin when my family lived in Arkansas, but I scrapped it once the Beatles came out. Eventually, I bought a nice acoustic guitar and a Gibson SG. I used to attend rock concerts at U of R's Pallestra auditorium. The first time I went, I was 'presentable' (shirt and slacks). I felt so out of place because everyone else dressed down with torn shirts and jeans. I witnessed the band Lincoln Zephyr and was impressed with a tall, red-haired guitarist, Clair DeLong. I began taking guitar lessons from him at Properzzi Music on w. Commercial St. in E. Rochester. He was a great teacher. I hope he's still around and still jammin'.
2024-05-18 15:50:57 Needle in a haystack. I am searching for band members. I don't recall the name of the band, played in 1969. Guitar John, trumpet Benny, lead singer Phil. In particular I am searching for John to give him a 50 year update. —marciajmccann
2024-09-29 20:54:24 Re: Holy Smoke I’d like to elaborate on this a little more, seeing as Kevin DeHond is my grandfather :)
Sometime in the early 80s Kevin was part of both Holy Smoke and another band by the name of Passenger. While Holy Smoke was mostly a cover band Passenger focused more on original material, gigging frequently at places like Scorgie’s and even having a release on WCMF Homegrown Vol 3.
The lineup included:
- Kevin DeHond (Vocals, rhythm guitar)
- John Kralles (Lead Guitar)
- Vinny Sita (Bass)
- Jim Tota (Drums)
Later lineups added:
- Vicky Lee Crosta (Vocals)
- Damien Gruber (Bass, replaced Vinny)
- Lee Brovitz (Bass, replaced Damien)
- Frank Antonetti (Percussion)
- Don “Doc” “Raydar” Howcraft (Drums, replaced Jim)
- “Doug” (Organ)
After coexisting for several years, Holy Smoke and Passenger would merge to form Resurrection. This new group would push their original work even harder, managing to get spots on Homegrown Vols. 5 and 6 as well was an independently released 45. This group would continue gigging across Rochester, apparently playing Scorgie’s last music night.
The new lineup included (unsure of exact timeline):
- Kevin DeHond (Vocals, rhythm Guitar)
- Richard Iman (Vocals, lead guitar)
- Mark Snavely (Vocals, lead guitar, eventually replaced Richard)
- John Kralles (Lead guitar)
- Michael “Chico” Tomaselli (Bass)
- Don Howcroft (Drums)
- John Pascarella (Drums, replaced Don)
- Tony Rivera (Vocals, percussion)
- Robby Silvast (Keyboard, left to move to California)
Resurrection would eventually disband, however I don’t know when. They do seem to have performed at Party In The Park 2009, though this may have been a reunion. Kevin would go on to form a duo with Michael Catalano in the mid 2010s (under the name Eclectic Soft Electric if I recall correctly), though they have since parted ways. Kevin is still gigging in the Rochester area to this day.
Sorry if this was a bit long, I just wanted to be thorough. Most of this information comes from old forums and Facebook posts, so please correct me if I got anything wrong! —ElijahBrunelle
