I was thinking today about Denver, for some reason, which according to this page has a population of over 2 million in the metro area. I can’t think of one famous band from Denver, or at least that I would associate with Denver.
There are lots of cities with famous music “scenes” or bands that associate with them - Seattle’s “grunge” scene in the early 90’s, the punk bands from Minneapolis in the 80’s, the DC hardcore scene from the 80’s, New York’s various incarnations, LA punk and gangster rap are both very distinctive, the indie rock-ish bands from early 90’s Chapel Hill, etc.
Also, since I’m from Michigan, I’m most familiar with Detroit’s various bands - Motown, techno, the MC5/Stooges, Funkadelic, Bob Seger, Eminem, Kid Rock, the White Stripes, etc.
There are also other cities that have at least one band associated with them - Built to Spill from Boise, Violent Femmes from Milwaukee, Sleater-Kinney from Portland, Rocket From The Crypt from San Diego.
What’s the biggest city without some sort of disctinctive “sound” or a band you associate with that city?
Well I grew up in New Orleans and discovered from musician friends that, although N.O. has a reputation for good music, the reputation is for good Jazz, Blues, and Zydeco music. Nobody comes to New Orleans to sign rock bands. So if you have a rock act in New Orleans and want attention, best advice is to leave. I think that’s kind of ironic.
Yeah, and what about Zebra? They were from NO, right. And the Red Rockers?
Here’s some big cities with nobody famous off the top of my head(Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong):
Columbus
Trenton
Providence
Indianapolis
St. Louis
Oklahoma City (Garth’s from somewhere else in OK, right?)
San Antonio
El Paso
Albuquerque (except Strawberry Zots, maybe?)
Honolulu
Norfolk
Tampa
Hartford
Little Rock
Jackson
Of course, there have probably famous rockers that have come from these places, but AFAIK, aren’t still based there.
In 40 years of rock, Rochester doesn’t even have one whole band to call its own. All we’ve produced are individuals who leave town to get famous elsewhere. First there was Gene Cornish of the Young Rascals, then Joe English of Wings, then the only guy you’ve actually herd of - Lou Gramm of Foreigner.
There is no Rochester “sound” - unless you want to count that of Chuck and Gap Mangione.
Note I didn’t say (or didn’t mean to imply) there were zero rock bands coming out of New Orleans. It’s just way harder for them to break. Compare the number of bands from there you can name off the top of your head with the number from other places.
We have (had?) Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, who found posthumous fame for his “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” song, which was featured at the end of Dr. Green’s death episode on ER, in an eToys commercial, and in the film soundtrack for Meet Joe Black.
Other than that, yeah, we’ve had little. Jack Johnson’s from the North Shore, but he’s hardly famous. Honolulu has a modest music scene, but no one really famous has come from it.
Hatebreed is from CT, but not a “big name” outside the metal scene. A member of Hatebreed in an interview once indicated that there was a big hardcore scene in CT.
Ex: I’d be hardpressed to name any bands from my homestead of upstate NY at all, save for the Goo Goo Dolls out of Buff. But as a former resident of Roch, it is disappointing considering the cultural aptitude of Rochester how little of a scene there is there. Seen some great shows at Water St. tho…
Lego: This doesn’t really help, but the five guys that made up the original version of Down are all from Nawlin’s, hence the title of their first CD - NOLA. I think they all became famous after leaving however…
I was thinking that, but the All Music Guide says he’s from Roswell, NM and adopted the surname because he loved the area. He was appointed poet laureate of Colorado, though.
Buffalo: Ani DiFranco and the aforementioned Goo Goo Dolls
New Orleans: The horrific Cash Money and No Limit rap collectives are both from New Orleans, but I can’t think of many rock bands.
St. Louis - Nelly seems to be quite proud of being from St. Louis.
El Paso - I know At The Drive-In were from El Paso, but they didn’t like it very much.
Portland - Sleater-Kinney is the only band I can think.
As for my area, Built to Spill is probably the biggest act to ever come out of Boise. We have plenty of local bands as well, but most of them aren’t recognized outside of the region.
San Antonio had Fates Warning. They were a pretty decent heavy metal combo.
DC currently doesn’t have a great music scene. In the past it was known for its jazz (Duke Ellington notably) and hardcore/punk scene (Bad Brains). I have heard a few local bands and they are alright but not quite label quality.
We have a pretty decent music scene here and had a minor big band wit John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band (“slide a cheek for Beaver Brown!”) who did the music for the soundtrack of “Eddie and the Cruisers.” 15 minutes of fame.
I suppose we could also claim the Talking Heads since they met at the Rhode Island School of Design, but since they actually started at CBGB’s in NYC, they’re considered more of a New York band.
