This is a list of notable people who are associated with the town of Woodstock, New York , United States. They may not have been born there or live there presently, or may be deceased.
Daevid Allen – Australian singer and guitarist of Soft Machine and Gong
John Ashton – English-born producer and guitarist for The Psychedelic Furs
The Band members: Rick Danko , Levon Helm , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson – the five shared a house together, where they recorded The Basement Tapes (with Bob Dylan) and wrote several songs for Music from Big Pink . The house, dubbed "Big Pink" is in neighboring Saugerties , though Danko, Manuel, Hudson and Helm all eventually moved to Woodstock. Danko and Helm are both buried in the Woodstock Cemetery on Rock City Road.
Cyro Baptista – Brazilian-born percussionist
Josh Ritter – singer, songwriter
Richard Bell – keyboardist
Karl Berger – jazz educator, vibraphonist, founder Creative Music Studio
Carla Bley – jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader[ W 1]
David Bowie – songwriter, musician, actor, fashion icon[ W 2]
Harvey Brooks – bassist, producer, songwriter, composer
Paul Butterfield – blues musician
Cindy Cashdollar – dobro, five-time Grammy Award winner
Jimmy Cobb – jazz drummer
Imani Coppola – singer, songwriter, musician (early 2000s)[ W 3]
Henry Cowell – composer [ W 4]
Marshall Crenshaw – musician, songwriter, resident from 1987–2004 [ W 5]
Marilyn Crispell – pianist
Karen Dalton – singer
Kal David – blues musician
Jack DeJohnette – jazz drummer [ W 6]
Alix Dobkin – singer-songwriter[ 1]
Robbie Dupree – singer-songwriter [ W 7]
Bob Dylan – singer-songwriter, lived in Woodstock 1965–1972; had his infamous motorcycle accident in Bearsville in 1966[ W 8]
Joey Eppard – Kingston, New York -born singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist; best known for his Kingston Rock band, 3 [ W 9]
Donald Fagen – co-founder Steely Dan [ W 10]
Jackson C. Frank – folk singer
Matt Flynn – drummer for band Maroon 5
Paul Green – founder of Paul Green School of Rock Music (now School of Rock)
John Hall – musician, co-founder of Orleans
Amy Helm – daughter of Levon Helm
Jimi Hendrix – guitarist, singer, songwriter [citation needed ]
John Herald – bluegrass singer, songwriter Greenbriar Boys [ W 11]
Darryl Jenifer – bassist for Bad Brains
Bill Keith – banjo player, composer; developed melodic or Keith style banjo picking[ W 12]
Dr. Know (guitarist) – punk rock guitarist, notably for Bad Brains .[ 2]
Steve Knight – keyboardist for Mountain
Kramer – musician/producer - Shockabilly, Bongwater, Butthole Surfers, The Fugs
Tony Levin – bassist
Donna Lewis - Singer, Songwriter
Frank Luther – bassist
Jennifer Maidman – musician and producer[ W 13]
John Martyn – singer-songwriter[ W 14]
John Medeski – keyboardist and composer for Medeski, Martin & Wood [citation needed ]
Pat Metheny – Grammy Award-winning guitarist [citation needed ]
Charles Mingus – bassist, bandleader
Elizabeth Mitchell – singer, composer, guitarist for indie band Ida [ W 15]
Thelonious Monk – jazz musician
Tim Moore – singer-songwriter
Van Morrison – singer-songwriter
Fred Neil – singer-songwriter
Carl Newman aka A.C. Newman – lead singer, guitarist, songwriter of The New Pornographers
David "Fathead" Newman – jazz musician
Pauline Oliveros – pioneering accordionist and composer
Amanda Palmer – American musician and performance artist (born 1976)
Graham Parker – singer-songwriter
David Peel – member of The Lower East Side Band
Kate Pierson – singer, songwriter, The B-52's
John Platania – guitarist Van Morrison
Vasant Rai – sarod player, composer
Bonnie Raitt – singer-songwriter
Tom Rapp – singer-songwriter, leader of band Pearls Before Swine
Billy Riker – guitarist, bassist and keyboard player, Kingston Rock band 3
Sonny Rollins – saxophonist[ 3]
Mick Ronson – guitarist, producer arranger with David Bowie
Todd Rundgren – singer-songwriter
David Sanborn – saxophonist
Ed Sanders – poet, founder of Fugs band[ 4]
Carlos Santana – guitarist
Peter Schickele – composer, best known for music he wrote as P.D.Q. Bach
Max Schneider – Rags , Nickelodeon's How To Rock ; singer and songwriter
John Sebastian – singer, a founder of the Lovin' Spoonful [ 5]
Ravi Shankar – sitar player, composer
Andy Shernoff – musician, songwriter, producer, founding member of The Dictators
John Simon – musician, producer
Robert Starer – pianist and composer
Keith Strickland – composer, guitarist and founding member of The B-52s
Libby Titus – singer, songwriter
Michael Todd – bassist for Coheed and Cambria[ W 2]
Artie Traum – award-winning guitarist, producer and songwriter
Happy Traum – folk musician
David Van Tieghem – composer, percussionist, sound designer
Gene Ween – a founding member of band Ween [ 6]
Jim Weider – telecaster guitarist, member of The Band
Eric Weissberg – banjo player, best known for theme from movie Deliverance
Gary Windo – saxophonist
Yehudi Wyner – composer, musical director of The Turnau Opera
Rachael Yamagata – singer-songwriter; wrote album Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart during nine-month period in Woodstock
Marianne Appel - painter, puppet designer, and illustrator
Alexander Archipenko – sculptor
George Ault – painter
Milton Avery – painter
George Bellows – painter
Arnold Blanch – painter [ W 16]
Lucile Blanch – painter
James Brooks – painter
Edward Leigh Chase – painter
Frank Swift Chase – painter
Andrew Michael Dasburg – painter
Julio de Diego – painter, jeweler[ 7]
Richard Diebenkorn – painter
Anton Otto Fischer - painter
Harvey Fite – sculptor
Ramona Fradon - comic book artist
Mary Frank – painter
Milton Glaser – graphic designer (creator of the ‘I Love New York ’ logo)
Stephanie and Edward Godwin – English painters and illustrators
Marion Greenwood – painter, muralist[ 8]
Philip Guston – painter
Rosella Hartman – painter, etcher and lithographer
Sam Henderson – cartoonist
Robert Henri – painter
Eva Hesse – sculptor
Richard Humann – conceptual artist
Joel Iskowitz – Master Designer, United States Mint
Sy Kattelson – photographer
Yasuo Kuniyoshi – painter, sculptor
Jacques Kupfermann – painter [citation needed ]
Ronnie Landfield – painter
Elliot Landy – photographer
Doris Lee – painter
Laura Levine – photographer, painter, illustrator, filmmaker
Eugene Ludins – painter and art teacher
Ethel Magafan – painter
Norm Magnusson – painter, sculptor, photographer, political artist
Georges Malkine – painter
Fletcher Martin – painter
Paul Meltsner – painter
Amanda Palmer – American musician and performance artist (born 1976)
Anton Refregier – painter
Randall Schmit – painter
Eugene Speicher – painter
Bradley Walker Tomlin – painter
Actors and theater people [ edit ]
Gaston Bell (1877-1963) – stage and silent screen actor; retired to Woodstock; first director the Woodstock Community Players[ 10]
Chevy Chase (1943- ) - actor and comedian, grew up summering and weekending in Woodstock, where his father was born and raised
Jennifer Connelly (1970- ) – Oscar-winning actress, lived in Woodstock for several years during her childhood
Brad Dourif (1950- ) – Oscar-nominated actor, lived in Woodstock in the 1970s and 80s
Ethan Hawke (1970- ) – Oscar-nominated actor, lived just outside Woodstock with then-wife Uma Thurman[ 11]
Jan Hooks (1957–2014) - actress and comedienne, lived in Woodstock at the time of her death
Piper Laurie (1932-2023) – Oscar-nominated actress, lived in Woodstock in the 1970s
Lee Marvin (1924-1987) – Oscar-winning actor, lived in Woodstock periodically throughout his life
Sylvia Miles (1932-2019) – Oscar-nominated actress
Estelle Parsons (1927- ) – Oscar-winning actress, appeared in summer stock productions in Woodstock during the 1960s
Max Schneider (1992- ) – actor, singer, songwriter
Max Martini (1969- ) – actor, born in Woodstock
Uma Thurman (1970- ) – Oscar-nominated actress, lived in Woodstock during her childhood; daughter of resident Robert Thurman ;[ W 2] returned with former husband Ethan Hawke[ 11]
Betty Ballantine and Ian Ballantine - founders of Bantam Books and Ballantine Books; after the 1970s, were independent publishers; said to have started the paperback book industry in America.
George Bonanno - psychologist renowned for his work on grief and trauma.
John Burroughs - naturalist
Josephine McKim Chalmers - swimmer, medalist in 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics; actress; sister-in law of artist Philip Guston
John Dewey - educator, a founder of the philosophical school of Pragmatism
William King Gregory , zoologist
Albert Grossman - manager, producer and founder of Bearsville Records ; his studio has attracted hundreds of musicians to record in Woodstock[ W 2]
Steven Hager - chief editor , High Times magazine
Phil Jackson - NBA basketball coach and player, general manager of New York Knicks
Walter McCaw - U.S. Army surgeon who attained the rank of brigadier general in World War I [ 12]
Philippe Petit - funambulist , known for walking a tightrope between the World Trade Center twin towers
Kathleen de Vere Taylor - suffragist and stockbroker
Werner Vordtriede - professor of German and author
Steve Charney - songwriter for Jim Henson and Disney. Radio personality for the show [Knock On Wood] on [WAMC, WDST, WNYE] Children's Author [Scholastic, Sterling, Metacom, Ceres] Stage performer-Magician, Musician and Ventriloquist
[ 13]
Bob Dylan at the Azkena Rock Festival in 2010
References for notability
^ Maxwell, Carrie (May 19, 2021). "Passages: Lesbian-feminist musician, activist Alix Dobkin dies" . Windy City Times . Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved May 20, 2021 .
^ Bad Brains: A Band in DC . Documentary film, 2012. Directors: Mandy Stein, Benjamen Logan.
^ "Home, in the Key of E" . Wall Street Journal . April 26, 2013. ISSN 0099-9660 . Retrieved February 11, 2021 .
^ Smart, Paul (May 30, 2018). "Ed Sanders' investigative poetry takes on RFK's final years" . Hudson Valley One . Retrieved February 11, 2021 .
^ Besonen, Julie (August 9, 2018). "How 'Summer in the City' Became the Soundtrack for Every City Summer" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. ... [John Sebastian] has lived [in Woodstock] with his wife, Catherine, since 1976 ...
^ "Coming Clean With Gene Ween: Ween's Former Frontman Talks Sobriety and Miley Cyrus" . newsweek.com. May 14, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014 .
^ "Exhibition of modern hand made jewelry opens at museum of modern art". The Museum of Modern Art.
^ "Keith Sheridan Fine Prints – Marion Greenwood" . Retrieved February 3, 2012 .
^ Kakutani, Michiko (August 7, 1985). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES" . The New York Times .
^ Community Players Formed at Woodstock - Kingston Daily Freeman (Kingston, New York) Wednesday, November 06, 1935; pg. 7
^ a b "Press Stories." The Rural Connection
^ Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki . Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-57197-088-6 .
^ http://www.stevecharney.com
References establishing association with Woodstock
^ Michel, Karen. "A Traditional Jazz Christmas, An Unlikely Source" . NPR. Retrieved April 15, 2011 .
^ a b c d Lee, Denny (February 27, 2004). "HAVENS; Woodstock Rocks On, but the Beat Is Quieter" . New York Times . Retrieved April 15, 2011 .
^ "List of Famous Musicians maintained by the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce" . Woodstock Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011 .
^ "THE PHILHARMONIA TRIO" (PDF) . Retrieved April 15, 2011 .
^ Landers, Rick. "Marshall Crenshaw Interview: Hollywood Rock and Roller" . Guitar International. Retrieved April 15, 2011 .
^ Kohlhasse, Bill (June 15, 1990). "DeJohnette & Co. He's Outdone Himself by Teaming Up With Hancock, Metheny and Holland" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 17, 2011 . [dead link ]
^ Spears, Steve. " 'Steal Away' crooner Robbie Dupree performs in Largo Aug. 28" . St Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011 .
^ Heylin, Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited , pp. 267.
^ Barry, John W (September 9, 2005). "Secret's out 'bout 3" . The Poughkeepsie Journal. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2011 .
^ Noik, Sherry. "Welcome back to Woodstock" . Retrieved July 15, 2011 .
^ Rockwell, John (May 19, 1978). "Music: John Herald" . New York Times . Retrieved July 15, 2011 .
^ Revikn, Andrew C (July 16, 1995). "Dueling Banjos on a Grand Scale: Rival Festivals" . New York Times . Retrieved October 31, 2011 .
^ "Dreamland" . WoodstockArts .
^ "John's Diary 1960s and 1970s" . Retrieved October 31, 2011 .
^ Atikson, Brian T. "Making music is family affair for Elizabeth Mitchell" . Retrieved October 31, 2011 .
^ "Arnold Blanch at his Woodstock NY home, ca. 1950" . Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2019 .
^ "Woodstock resident Leon Gast wins Sundance award" . Daily Freeman (Kingston). Retrieved July 15, 2011 .