Artists

Violet Mary is the latest incarnation of groovy, psychedelic, soulful rock from songwriter and guitarist Mike Muscarella (that’s me, in the third person of course) Javian Rafus of Lovin’ Cup’s The Choice called me “soulful and powerful”, so that’s a feather in the cap.   Sharing the mic is one of Western NY’s most renowned vocalists, Mel Muscarella.  Her voice razes buildings to the ground and parts the Genesee!  The remainder of the lineup is made up of a veteran guitar-slinger and genuine ‘cool cat’ and straight-up rookie in the lead-off position.  The threads that hold us together are our friendships which are like family, our DIY approach to music-making, and our desire to make authentic music that you can relate to. Along with our music, you’ll likely hear music from our heroes and mentors such as Big Wreck, Led Zeppelin, King’s X, The Black Crowes, Pink Floyd and Hendrix.

Violet Mary is proud to have five records under our belt of organic and authentic original music, with one on the way!  Additionally, and sometimes in spite of it, we’ve had the privilege of opening for moe., The Gin Blossoms, Dawes, Ric Emmet, The Adam Ezra Group, Carbon Leaf, The Campbell Bros, [takes a breath] Danielle Ponder and The Tomorrow People, and dozens more on stages great and small.  Whether an intimate gathering or a festival stage, Violet Mary creates a communal experience with the audience, one that is “hard to pinpoint, but impossible to ignore”

George

Adam

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Robert

Prog Gnostic is The World’s Foremost Maxi-Minimal Punk-Prog outfit. It’s a bit King Crimson, a bit The Buzzcocks, but neither. With four composers, the varied creative perspectives keep things constantly fresh. The first Prog Gnostic album is due out in late 2021.

Drummer Simon Bjarning blah blah. Keyboard player George Kastrinos is a voiceover artist and… Robert Kulik started pretending to play guitar on his seventh birthday and continues to pretend to this day. He studied and has worked as a conductor, composer, guitarist, vocalist, and renaissance lutenist, a now dabbles in composing for film and television. If you’ll excuse him, he has to go practice. Adam Wilcox has been wrestling with the bass since he was 9 years old and is willing to call it a draw. He plays in too many bands. Volume 1 of his solo project, Songs for My Friends to Sing, just released on Rags Records, and he’s also working on a musical, Wicked John and the Devil: An American Popera.

#FTA

Adam Wilcox is a poet and musician in Rochester, NY. His first gig was at the St. Thomas’s Church Ice Cream Social in Binghamton, NY in 1978. His last was playing three Pink Floyd albums at Anthology in Rochester, NY in 2020. In between, he’s been pretty busy. He currently plays in the original, prog band Prog Gnostic and the alt rock band Sub Sentry.

Kyle Williams draws on the sound and feel of rock and electronic music from the 1970s through today.  Collaborative work with other local Rochester musicians and writers is always inspiring, that is until he realizes his true dream:  Producing an album of cover songs that will get you fired from your next Barn Wedding gig. Kyle sings, plays, and writes for the alternative rock band, Sub Sentry and the album cover group, Nile Singers, in addition to making solo recordings. His solo album on Rags Records will be released in late 2020.

Babak Elahi is singer, guitarist, and songwriter in Flint, Michigan. Babak incorporates delta blues, Middle Eastern music, New Wave, and new acoustic  influences into something entirely his own. His voice, rich in overtones that almost call to mind throat singing, was described by one musician as having “something extra.” Indeed. Babak is the songwriter and singer in the band, Resonant Freqs.