Who’s that one band or artist that’s pretty much a household name in your town or city, but you’re pretty sure anyone not from there will never have heard of them?

32 comments

  1. I would say Sevendust. They are known outside Atlanta for sure, but they never got the mainstream success as similar bands of the era but are definitely more well known in the Atlanta rock scene.

  4. Among college aged people in Colorado: Griz, Big Gigantic, Illenium.

    Illenium did a show at Mile High Stadium in Denver and had over 70k people in attendance (biggest EDM show in the state’s history).

  8. Do a lot of people outside Oregon know Pink Martini? I know they have some kind of following….

  10. Not that he’s an unknown, but I still see Paul Wall pop up about once a month, and I think everywhere else has long since stopped caring about him. Dude has just built up a crazy amount of goodwill in Texas.

  11. I always kind of wonder how popular Dropkick Murphys are to people not in the northeast or not into Irish punk rock music.

    I’m sure people know of them, but probably not too the level of popularity as Aerosmith or Boston

  12. Al Hurricane. Never met anyone who has heard of him outside of New Mexico, but at least when I was growing up there, he was very well known in the state. You’d probably know his name even if you weren’t familiar with his music.

  13. Widespread Panic, though they are quite well known among a certain demographic all over the country.

  14. All my examples are a little dated. Southern Culture on the Skids, The Connells and Flat Duo Jets come to mind for me.

    ETA: I love this question – I wish we had more questions like this.

  15. The Nixons maybe although they had a nice nice song or two.

    Edgar Cruz or the Mike Hosty Trio

  17. I’ll try to answer for my SoCal SO, Oingo Boingo?

    For NorCal it would probably be Mac Dre, or–if I’m pushing it–E40.

  18. Well, I recently found out most people who didn’t get into that particular scene during its time here don’t know who Sparklehorse is.

    And as a twist, most metal fans know GWAR, but apparently not everyone knew about Dave Brockie Experience.

  23. For a smaller jamband moe. is pretty ubiquitous in upstate NY, especially Utica (where they were born) and Buffalo (where they formed). They are only known in the jam band subculture the further from NY you get.

  24. Tech N9ne is pretty popular in the Kansas City area, and even non-rap fans will probably at least know the name.

  26. It’s hard to say nowadays because music spreads so quickly and through so many channels that an artist/band can develop a following outside of their region just by ending up on the right Spotify playlist.

    That being said, I do remember Philly having some prominent local acts that have since grown into nationwide, and in some cases worldwide, prominence.

    Back in the 90s and early 2000s I’d say it was The Roots and G.Love & Special Sauce.

    More recently, in the indie scene, Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs, and Japanese Breakfast evolved from being local acts known in the local music scene to headliners at festivals and appearances on the late night shows.

    I’d say some local pop-punk bands fit the bill too. Modern Baseball, The Menzingers, The Wonder Years. It’s expanding a bit beyond Philly but Tiger’s Jaw and The Front Bottoms could also apply.

  29. I’d have to go with a Brooklyn’s very own TV On The Radio. They’re not exactly unknown, especially if you listen to 2000s indie rock. Nonetheless I thought for sure they were gonna blow up like their NY counterparts LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend and Interpol, and to a certain extent they did. I wouldn’t say they’re as famous outside the indie scene.

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