Blair County Musicians
A History Rich in Talent
Blair County’s musical community has consistently stood as a pillar for anyone looking to find a creative outlet or a way to be entertained. Whether it is the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, local musicians who have grown into nationally known entities or those who are currently performing on stages here in the area, the quality of our local musicianship remains an example of excellence that we can all celebrate.
Here is an ever expanding summary of the musicians who either live in Blair County or were raised here. This is not even close to complete, and we intend to continue adding information as we are able.
Todd McKeone – Singer/Songwriter/Creator
Todd is a local singer, songwriter, performer, event planner and entrepreneur who engages in a wide variety of creative endeavors. He currently sings for several local bands. He created the Activate Altoona Festival and directs the Route 22 Rock and Blues Festival. He is the owner of ActiveAltoona LLC, and is hoping the culmination of all his activities will lead to the creation of a music center in Altoona that will serve anyone interested in learning something new about music. He and his wife, Betsy, are lifelong residents of Blair County who greatly enjoy the many ways to get active in the area. They have two daughters, two dogs, two cats, and a grandson.
Creative Mind, Graphic Design, Editing, Writing
Todd is also the creator of the Blair County Business, Art and Music Association
Chet Denny – Singer/Songwriter/Creator
Chet Denny sings for the local band “The PennSOULvanians,” which is a piece of PennSOULvania Inc., the company he founded nearly 20 years ago with his friend and songwriting partner, Michael Thomas. The link below will take you to the PennSOULvania Inc website.
Anna Bidoli – Musician/Songwriter
Anna is the bass guitarist at Lucid Yooth and the Cubensis Lenses
Matt Cain – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Matt plays in the band Crazed Visions with his brother, John.
Ron Dalansky – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist/Teacher
Ron is the guitarist for Half Tempted and Jack Squat. He also teaches music theory.
Brian Elliott – Singer/Songwriter
Brian sings for the band Juju Bone and in the past has been the vocalist for both The Hawks and The Blacksnakes Blues Band.
Jason Feathers – Guitarist/Songwriter/Creator
Jason plays guitar for the bands Juju Bone and Black Sun.
Brett Finelli – Singer/Songwriter/Multi-instrumentalist
Brett is the keyboard player for the PennSOULvanians.
Sascha Damon Frost- Keyboardist/Vocalist/Creator
Sascha is the creator and director of the Mass N Tha Grass Festival as well as a singer/songwriter and keyboardist.
Josh Gallagher – Singer/Songwriter
Josh has been featured as a singer on “The Voice” and is now recording in Nashville.
Shawn Gioiosa – Percussionist/Writer
Shawn plays the drums for the bands Hair Force One and Autum Rising. He is also a writer, having been a senior writer for TV Land.
Todd Harshbarger – Percussionist
Todd plays drums for Shallow 9. He also owns the sound company Bubba Go Boom!
Rich Johnson – Guitarist/Audio Engineer
Richie runs the PA system for many of the events in the area, but he is also in The Bomb Cyclones and has played in several other bands including I-Enemy, Hate Grenade and Buckshot Tea Party.
Hunter Karns – Bassist/Songwriter
Hunter plays bass for the bands The Jaded Lips and Juju Bone.
Dan Klock – Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Dan is a local musician. He plays with the band, Mysterytrain.
Felix Kos – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Felix has been in the eye of the Altoona music scene for decades as the leader of Felix and the Hurricanes.
Erika Machiel – Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter
Erika is the leader singer for the band Shallow 9.
Guy Mauro – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Guy is a member of the band Lucid Yooth and the Cubensis Lenses.
Dave Mollica – Bassist/Percussionist/Songwriter
Dave has performed with various bands including The Rhythm Sharks and Black Sun. He is also the founder of Kid Careers, a non-profit designed to help kids begin to find what careers they may be most inspired by.
Thom Mooney – Percussionist
Thom is a professional drummer who performed with the Nazz. He is considered the first drummer in the US to use a double bass drum.
Jimmy Mowery – Singer/Songwriter
Jimmy has been featured as a singer on “The Voice” and has been the lead vocalist for a number of bands, including Drop Out High and Like a Movie.
Derek Mrdjenovich – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist/Creator
Derek has gone from The Big Time to being a national recording artist as the main man in Walkney.
Frank Musaraca – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Frank sings and plays guitar for The Roof, who are currently living in Pittsburgh
Nate Nagle – Guitarist/Bassist/Songwriter
Nate is the lead guitarist for the PennSOULvanians and is a guitarist for both Maul and Walkney. He also plays bass with Juju Bone from time to time.
Jeremy Nelson – Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Jeremy is a local musician. He plays with the bluegrass band, Mama Corn.
Scott Pappal – Instrumentalist/Songwriter/Teacher
Scott teaches music with the Altoona School District. He also plays with both the Altoona Brass Collective and the Altoona Symphony Orchestra.
John Peacefire – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Jae performs as a solo acoustic act and plays in the band Crazed Visions with his brother, Matt.
Jim Price – Percussionist/Writer/Artist
“The Professor” has been the eyes and ears of the music scene in Central PA for over 30 years. He is the percussionist for the Backyard Rockers, and his weekly radio program on Q94, The Homegrown Rocker, is dedicated to local original music
Mike Reid – Singer/Songwriter/Pianist
Mike is a Grammy award winning musician from Altoona who now lives in Nashville.
Lyndsay Reilly – Saxophonist/Vocalist/Creator
Lynday plays sax for The PennSOULvanians.
Randy Rutherford – Songwriter/Instrumentalist
Randy has been an integral part of the area’s music scene for years.
Randy Servello – Percussionist
Randy plays drums for a number of artists and bands including: Matt Pletcher, Kenton Sitch and The Red Eye
Jae Smith – Singer/Songwriter/Instrumentalist
Jae performs as a solo acoustic act and plays keyboards for Black Sun.
Michael Stanley – Singer/Songwriter/Musician/Creator
Mike has been a part of many of the area’s most popular bands, including Shallow 9, Agent Smith, Chris Vipond and the Stanley Street band and Neo Gumbo.
Michael Thomas – Singer/Songwriter/Creator
Michael Thomas sings for the local band “The PennSOULvanians,” which is a piece of PennSOULvania Inc., the company he founded nearly 20 years ago with his friend and songwriting partner, Chet Denny. The link below will take you to the PennSOULvania Inc website.
Kent Tonkin – Bassist/Songwriter/Creator
Kent plays bass for Matt Otis and the Sound and Jim Donovan and the Sun King Warriors. He has previously played with Lies Inc and The Grimm.
Dave Villani – Pianist/Vocalist/Sound Engineer
Dave teaches music at PSU Altoona and owns Data Music Services recording studio. He also plays piano and keyboards for various bands including XM and Uptown Jazz.
Mary Naperkoski Villani – Pianist/Vocalist
Mary is currently the keyboard player for the band XM.
Chris Vipond – Singer/Songwriter/Musician/Creator
Chris is the founder and leader of Chris Vipond and the Stanley Street Band.
Phil Wagner – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist
Phil has played guitar with Agent Smith, This Albatross and a few others over the years.
Matt Watson – Singer/Songwriter
Matt has performed in numerous bands including Naildriver and most recently A Starlite Gray.
Mike Wertz – Singer/Songwriter/Creator/Musician
Mike sings and plays guitar for the band Jaded Lips. He also owns Terrafirma79 Designs, which creates reclaimed, eco-friendly, rustic, custom designed reclaimed wood clocks and signs.
Rick Wertz – Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter
Rick has played in numerous bands including Silver Linings, R2B2, Xeno and Wild Cherry.
Randall Williams – Singer/Songwriter/Musician
“Cheeze” is a local musician. He plays with the acoustic group Toxic and Tired. He is also an owner at Railroad City Tattoo.
Zupe – Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Zupe is a local musician who plays a wide variety of instruments.
In Memoriam
Steve Aungst – Singer/Songwriter
The Vicksburg Quartet was a gospel quartet founded by Steve Aungst in 1963 with Melvin Van Orman, Jim White, Bob Walls, and J. T. Miller making up the vocal quartet. In 1966 they released their first album, “Songtime At The Old Country Church”. The group went through many changes in membership over the years, and released many more records. The Vicksburg Quartet was also responsible for holding the Pennsylvania State Singing Convention(s) from 1976 to 2015. Members Steve Aungst and Jake Snyder (Active 1969-1993) had been present for all 40 years of conventions. The group was disbanded by Steve Aungst in December of 1996, the name only being used for the Singing Conventions that they hosted for so many years before.
Rich Edmundson – Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Rich was an extremely talented musician who left us too soon. RIP Rich.
Glenn Roub – Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Glenn was a talented musician who passed away recently. RIP Glenn.
Jeff Wallack – Guitarist/Songwriter
Jeff is a local guitar legend who left too soon. RIP Jeff.