Kevin McCarthy
Singer/Songwriter
Professional Musician & Entertainer
With over 20 years of living his dream of being a full-time, professional musician & being inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 2009, Kevin feels very blessed to be doing what he loves as his career.
Kevin’s family will tell you he was singing before he could talk and began entertaining at the tender age of 3! Armed with a broom for a guitar and his fist as a microphone, he would sing his favorite Irish Rover songs to the delight of friends and family. His mom then won tickets to see and meet the Irish Rovers. Their lead singer, Will Millar, lifted him up on a table and drew a shamrock on his hand and from that moment on, music would be his path and his passion.
He began writing songs in middle school and his first band in 1985 was called “Outlet”. As the lead singer, Kevin and his band rocked his talent show playing to over 1000 enthusiastic friends and peers. That show made a HUGE impression on him. He began realizing he loved singing and performing. His goal was to someday make it his living. Soon after, performed his first professional solo set at only 15 years old. He was asked to fill in for a headlining Irish act as the singer lost his voice due to laryngitis on St. Patrick’s Day. As a senior in high school, Kevin’s new band “Hollywood” played bigger parties and events, and Kevin began putting his studio together and increased his songwriting.
Kevin co-founded McCarthyizm with his brother Joe in college and they quickly became one of the top bands in Western New York. Known for tight harmonies & high energy shows, they shared the stage with a variety of music acts and were part of the scene that made a huge impact on alternative rock in the late 80’s and 90’s, including WNY bands – Goo Goo Dolls, 10,000 Maniacs. They played with major acts including the Crash Test Dummies, The Proclaimers, Lowest of the Low, and countless others as well as headlining major shows themselves in Western New York and all over the northeast.
He left the group after 10 years. It was a difficult decision, but it finally allowed him to reach his goal of becoming a successful full-time musician. (They reunited for the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame induction Ceremony in 2009 & again in 2010).
Since then, he has developed into one of northeast’s top singer-songwriters and is one of the most sought-after entertainers in WNY. A 4-Time winner at the Buffalo Music Awards, he was twice voted Top Solo Artist (’00 & ’01), his former band was also twice voted Top Original Group (’95 & ’96).
He has performed throughout WNY, U.S., and Canada (and soon Ireland!). For four 4 years,he was selected to play on the Labatt Blue Outfitters Tour (’02, ’03, ’04, ’05) which traveled to many cities, festivals, and venues throughout the U.S. and with the tour (on the Outfitter Stage) played before Dave Mason – Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, Lynyrd Skynyrd – Michigan 500, Coldplay – Darien Lake, New York, and other major event including the Cleveland Air Show in Ohio, Taste of Buffalo in New York, etc… among many others hughes air co. Some highlight shows included stops in Greenwich, CT, The Bahamas, Windmill Pt, CA, the Chicago Convention Center, & also he performed solo at Thursday at the Square one the largest outdoor venues in Western New York!
Playing energy-driven live solo shows at festivals, colleges, companies, schools, and at the top clubs in WNY, he played bi-weekly for over 11 years at one of the top venues in WNY, Mr. Goodbar. He regular show in WNY, Batavia, & Rochester at included places and currently places Hofbrauhaus, The New York Beer Project, The Banshee, Local Grille and Local Kitchen & Beer Bar among others.
In the past few years, Kevin has performed through the eastern USA – Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. He also opened for Rick Springfield at University at Buffalo Stadium.
In 2018, Kevin played in Ireland for the first time for a 5 show tour!
In 2019, Kevin played a sold out show with the High Kings at the Tralf in Buffalo.
In 2020, Kevin was hired by the Buffalo Bills of the NFL to write and record 2 originals songs for their Play60 kickoff. The video for the Play60 Song is on the front page of this website.
He’s is an active songwriter – he released numerous CDs with McCarthyizm and received high marks with his first solo CD “High On You” with singles “Love to Love”, “High On You”, “Take Them Back”, & “Bellyring”. He is currently working on his next release and working on his goal of having songs placed in TV shows & movies.
Kevin’s Major Sponsors – NAB – Labatt Blue – he’s also been sponsored by House of Cotton, Rainbow Air, Scanlon, & The Advantage Companyпорно