Musical States, Vol. III

Tennessee:
1. Aretha Franklin
2. WC Handy
3. Bessie Smith
4. Duane Allman
5. Tennessee Ernie Ford

Texas:
1. Buddy Holly
2. Blind Lemon Jefferson
3. Lightin’ Hopkins
4. Janis Joplin
5. Phil Ochs

Utah:
1. The Osmonds

Vermont:
1. Phish

Virginia:
1. Dave Matthews Band
2. Ralph Stanley
3. Bruce Hornsby
4. The Neptunes
5. Patsy Cline

Washington:
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Nirvana
3. Pearl Jam
4. Bing Crosby
5. Neko Case

Washington DC
1. Duke Ellington
2. Marvin Gaye
3. Bad Brains
4. John Philip Sousa
5. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

West Virginia:
1. Charlie McCoy
2. Bill Withers
3. Frankie Yankovic

Wisconsin:
1. Les Paul
2. Violent Femmes
3. Woody Herman

Wyoming:
1. Sadly, I can’t actually find anyone from Wyoming. Suggestions?

Musical States, Vol. III

Mississippi:
1. Muddy Waters
2. Chester “Howlin’ Wolf” Burnett
3. Bo Diddley
4. Robert Johnson
5. John Lee Hooker

Missouri:
1. Chuck Berry
2. Charlie Parker
3. Sheryl Crow
4. Daddy Hotcakes Montgomery

Montana:
1. Colin Meloy

Nebraska:
1. Elliot Smith
2. Bright Eyes

Nevada:
1. The Killers

New Hampshire:
1. Ronnie James Dio
2. Mandy Moore

New Jersey:
1. Frank Sinatra
2. Bruce Springsteen
3. Count Basie
4. Bill Evans
5. Paul Simon

New Mexico:
1. The Shins

New York:
1. The Velvet Underground
2. The Ramones
3. Talking Heads
4. New York Dolls
5. Richard Hell and the Voidoids

North Carolina:
1. John Coltrane
2. Doc Watson
3. George Clinton
4. Ryan Adams
5. Tori Amos

North Dakota:
1. Lawrence Welk
2. Bobby Vee

Ohio:
1. The Dead Boys
2. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
3. Pere Ubu
4. The Cramps
5. Chrissie Hynde

Oklahoma:
1. Woody Guthrie
2. Leon Russell
3. The Flaming Lips
4. Hoyt Axton
5. JJ Cale

Oregon:
1. The Decemberists
2. The Kingsmen
3. The Dandy Warhols

Pennsylvania:
1. Philly Joe Jones
2. Sun Ra
3. Trent Reznor
4. Chubby Checkers
5. The Roots

Rhode Island:
1. The Cowsills

South Carolina:
1. Dizzy Gillespie
2. James Brown
3. Reverend Gary Davis
4. Hootie and the Blowfish

South Dakota:
1.Shawn Colvin

Musical States, Vol II

I'm leaving NYC to go back upstate today, so that's the reason only a few states are listed today. I'll attempt to finish the list for tomorrow's posting:

Louisiana:
1. Louis Armstrong
2. Leadbelly
3. “King” Joe Oliver
4. Jelly Roll Morton
5. Dr. John

Maine:
1. Ray LaMontagne

Maryland:
1. Frank Zappa
2. Billie Holiday
3. Adam Duritz
4. John Fahey
5. Ric Ocasek

Massachusetts:
1. Pixies
2. Modern Lovers
3. The Lemonheads
4. James Taylor
5. Harry and the Potters

Michigan:
1. The Stooges
2. Aretha Franklin
3. Stevie Wonder
4. MC5
5. Smokey Robinson
(and for Kayley, 6. Sufjan Stevens)

Minnesota:
1. Bob Dylan
2. Husker Du
3. Prince
4. The Replacements
5. The Hold Steady

Musical States, Vol. I

Nearly a week ago, my father and I were talking about Dylan, Prince and Husker Du all being from Minnesota and I began to think to myself, “I wonder what other great artists are from seemingly random states?” Well, through much investigation, I’ve come up with a list (which will be done over the next 3 days) of the best musicians and bands from each state.

Here’s the criteria: For an artist, they have to be born in the state (except for the person listed under Alaska because, frankly, there’s no one from Alaska) and for bands, it has to be the state they formed in. For instance, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys can be listed under both Colorado, his birth state, and California, the state where the Kennedys formed.

I only did a maximum of five artists/bands for states that apply because, among others, California and New York can go on forever while for others, it’s quite tough to come up with even two people/groups.

If there’s anyone I’m forgetting, please let me know. Heck, until my Dad mentioned him being from Arizona, I completely forgot about Mingus, so I’m sure that I am forgetting many great artists.

List away!:

Alabama:
1. Wilson Pickett
2. Hank Williams
3. Nat King Cole
4. The Temptations
5. Emmylou Harris

Alaska:
1. Jewel (although born in Utah, she spent her childhood in Alaska)

Arizona:
1. Charles Mingus
2. Alice Cooper (moved there at a young age, but really from Michigan)
3. Meat Puppets

Arkansas:
1. Johnny Cash
2. Louis Jordan
3. Al Green
4. Levon Helm

California
1. Tom Waits
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival
3. Dave Brubeck Quartet
4. The Grateful Dead
5. Dead Kennedys

Colorado:
1. Jello Biafra
2. Glenn Miller
3. Paul Whiteman

Connecticut:
1. John Mayer
2. Liz Phair
3. Karen and Richard Carpenter
4. Michael Bolton (I had to…)

Delaware:
1. George Thorogood
2. Clifford Brown

Florida:
1. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2. The Allman Brothers Band
3. Debbie Harry
4. Against Me!
5. matchbox twenty

Georgia:
1. REM
2. Otis Redding
3. Ray Charles
4. James Brown
5. Little Richard

Hawaii:
1. Don Ho
2. Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole
3. Jack Johnson

Idaho:
1. Paul Revere and the Raiders
2. Josh Ritter

Illinois:
1. Miles Davis
2. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
3. Benny Goodman
4. Patti Smith
5. Curtis Mayfield

Indiana:
1. The Jackson 5
2. JJ Johnson
3. Wes Montgomery
4. Cole Porter
5. John Mellencamp

Iowa:
1. Slipknot (ugh)

Kansas:
1. Joe Walsh
2. Kansas

Kentucky:
1. Bill Monroe
2. Don Everly
3. Loretta Lynn