The Buffalo Music Hall of Fame announced its class of 2018 at the Buffalo History Museum Wednesday. The 10 inductees are a diverse group of musicians, artists and producers from Western New York. Gary Baker, a 1970 graduate of Lewiston-Porter High School, is among the honorees for co-writing the song “I Swear.” It was a #1 Billboard hit for both the pop group All-4-One and country singer John Michael Montgomery.
Also honored are Stevie Wonder collaborator Imhotep Gary Bird, Rolling Stone magazine painter Philip Burke, southern rock band Fare Trade, drummer Ray Hangen, blues musician Willie May, Americana rock band The Steam Donkeys, Push Stars band vocalist/guitarist Chris Trapper and the 100-plus-member Buffalo Choral Arts Society.
Pioneer Award inductee Dwane Hall, a producer and the owner of Sportsmens Tavern, said many talented Buffalonians have made a mark in the music world.
“It’s kind of neat that Buffalo has such a cool history of local musicians that are really talented. You can’t find another city in the country that has as much talent per square inch as Buffalo does, so music hall of fames are probably really scarce in other cities,” said Dwane Hall.
Hall of Fame President Anthony Casuccio said this class is especially unique.
“What strikes me that makes this class so amazing is the diversity. We’ve got a blues player, we’ve got an artist who captures the essence of musicians through his work, we’ve got a group that has done so much for charity and the group fair trade [and] we’ve got an Americana group. It’s really the diversity that, I feel, shows the breadth of music talent in Buffalo.” Anthony Casuccio
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held October 11. The event will take place at Cardinal O’Hara High School and will benefit the school's music department.
