Age: 32 (33 on Aug. 16) Hometown: Webster Current residence: Rochester Occupation: Software engineer at Applied Materials; station manager at WAYO 104.3 FM Long before Max Kelley helped establish one of Rochester’s most beloved community institutions, he was sitting beside his Italian grandfather, listening to voices travel across an ocean through an old Grundig shortwave […]
Jon Heath
Posted inMusic
After 15 years, The Demos press play again at Rochester Lilac Festival
When The Demos step on stage, the sound is tighter, the edges cleaner, the connection sharper than ever. After a four-year hiatus, the band’s return has been shaped by time, perspective and a city that never quite stopped listening. Led by Jay Milton on vocals and guitar alongside Callan Saunders, Jeremiah O’Reilly and Caela Moore, […]
Posted inNightlife
Queer nightclub Flora takes root as a gathering place
On a gray afternoon in Rochester, light filters through the tall windows of Flora on Monroe Avenue, catching blue-tinted glass and clay-toned walls. The room feels warm, almost unexpectedly so. In one corner, someone reads quietly with a drink. At the bar, a small group chats with the bartender. Later, the music will get louder […]
Posted inLiterature
Fanning the flames of romantasy in Rochester
As a young girl, Myla Rose kept a life-sized cardboard cutout of Legolas from ”The Lord of the Rings” in her bedroom. She spent hours reading fantasy novels or playing “RuneScape” on dial-up internet under his watchful gaze. These early obsessions grew into “Skyrim” marathons and Renaissance festival outings, cosplay and even fantasy “fae” balls. Threaded through […]
Posted inCulture
The search for truth among America’s trees
In his new book, Trent Preszler remembers cutting down a Christmas tree with his father on a snow-drifted South Dakotan prairie. He’s seven or eight years old, yet the memory remains vivid. He recalls that “the young pines stood motionless, waiting to learn which of them would die.” That moment, quiet and severe, opens “Evergreen: […]
Posted inCulture
Quiet legacy
Middlesex Music Festival — a small fest with a big history — returns to the eastern shore of Canandaigua Lake August 23.
Posted inCulture
ROCHESTER TEN | CHRIS FANNING
Meet the 2024 cohort of CITY neighbors making art – and a difference.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
From comic strips to the big screen
Finger Lakes screenwriter David Ebeltoft is having a banner year.
Posted inCulture
Exploring Rochester
A local Instagram account marks 10 years of (almost) weekly contributors.
Posted inCulture
Pipe dreams
As cannabis laws change, glass pipe artists are experiencing a reputation revolution.
