Many areas seem to have musicians or actors, who although unknown/forgotten/mocked outside their hometowns, are still big celebrities in their own hometowns. I’ll start it with Sir Mix-A-Lot. Outside of the Pacific Northwest, all he was ever known for was “Baby Got Back”. In the Seattle area though he had numerous well known songs that got radio airplay (Posse On Broadway, Beepers, My Hooptie) and still is a steady presence on local tv and radio. What’s your area’s local heroes.
Michael Stanley. He’s a mediocre rock musician who never left Cleveland and everyone loves him for it. He’s not just a rock musician, he’s of course also a DJ on one of our classic rock stations.
I don’t know if anyone’s ever heard of him outside of Cleveland but just yesterday I heard someone call in and request one of his songs. Barf.
St. Louis heard of him in the 70’s. “Rosewood Bitters” and “Show on the Road” got heavy rotation back then.
Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh also got its fill of the Michael Stanley Band back in the day.
Pittsburgh’s own hometown hero would be Donnie Iris, member of the Jaggerz (The Rapper) and Wild Cherry (though after Play That Funky Music), singer of “Ah! Leah!”
Here in Sacramento, we were quite fond of the Beer Dawgs for many years (every Thursday night at the Hogshead Brewpub!), 'til two of them up and moved to Texas a few years ago…
Hootie and the Blowfish are still rather inescapable here in South Carolina. They just put up a really ugly sculpture “honoring” them in Five Points. (The band members were, I think, a little weirded out by it.)
Technically, Wild Cherry was from Ohio. You get the Steelers, at least leave us Wild Cherry.
There’s a musician named Alex Bevan in Cleveland who was pretty well known some years ago but unknown everywhere else. I think he’s unknown in Cleveland now.
I don’t know of any music acts besides our local Pub Scouts (the Irish pub band). Until Aaron Rodgers hit the big time last year, we had nothing that I know of.
Local heros and good friends of mine…Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band…
I remember when they quit their day jobs to do music, and now they’re getting famous all over the world!
Last summer Donnie Iris and I think Michael Stanley played a concert at the Indians’ stadium. So every game for the first half of the summer I got to hear Donnie with his youn’s accent sounding quite drunk telling everyone to come out to his show. Couldn’t wait for that one to be over and done with 
The Godz. From Columbus, Ohio.
In southern Ontario, I’d say Ronnie Hawkins. If nothing else, his ‘band’ went on to become ‘The Band’.
Not quite forgotten, but Paul Revere [Paul Revere & the Raiders] hails from Boise ID, more or less my hometown. Still lives there, I believe, as do Mike “Doc” Holiday and Charlie Coe, two of the Raiders. Haven’t heard anything of Paul Revere recently, but he used to show up around town sometimes dressed in full regalia.
George Frayne [Commander Cody, of CC & the lost planet Airmen] is also from Boise, but rarely ever gets any mention.
SS
I went to school in the 'Burgh…do Joe Grushecky and the Iron City Houserockers still garner any respect? Much more listenable to me than MSB or Donnie Iris.
Down here in South Florida, the Groove Thangs still draw a decent crowd at their reunions, despite having called it “quits” nearly 20 years ago.
Reporting from St. Louis: He isn’t forgotten, unknown, or mocked, but you can still catch Chuck Berry in the basement of Blueberry Hill once a month or so.
Grushecky still gets much respect. Springsteen has been coming to town yearly to play 2 shows with him and the Houserockers.
I can’t believe I forgot about him. :smack: