About the band

Meet the sexy dudes behind Lake Effect.

Lake Effect performs around the NY/NJ metro area, bringing serious chops, loose humor, and a lot of character to the room.

Their sound pulls from traditional bluegrass, fiddle tunes, country, blues, and rock, with the kind of relaxed humor that makes a room feel like everybody already knows each other.

Each member brings a different path into the music, from longtime NYC players to jam-scene regulars, and that mix is what gives Lake Effect its easygoing, high-spirited sound.

Banjo Guitar Mandolin Fiddle Bass Dobro Vocals

The players

Meet the band

Banjo

John Vitale

John Vitale spends his days crafting heartbreak into melodies on his trusty banjo, channeling the spirit of bluegrass with every mournful pull-off and hammer-on. Raised on the sweet sounds of sorrow, John has perfected the art of making people feel nostalgic for places they’ve never been and heartaches they’ve never had.

When he’s not singing sad songs, he’s probably contemplating life’s greatest mysteries, like why the banjo has that high string in the wrong spot, and why all his songs sound better in the rain. Known to bring a tear to the eye with just a few notes, John assures us that he’s only happy when he’s sad.

Mandolin

Vinny Presha

Vinny's journey to bluegrass began in 2012 when he heard his buddy Mark playing Blackberry Blossom on guitar and his interest was instantly piqued. Starting with fiddle tunes on guitar, he quickly transitioned to mandolin, mostly because it made his hands look bigger.

Since then, he has become a regular in the NYC jam scene and attended multiple festivals in the surrounding area. He can often be heard laying down tremulous double stops, leading a frenzied fiddle tune, or belting out a bluegrass number on his mando.

Guitar

Dan Robbins

Dan's journey in music started with folk guitar lessons at the tender age of 12. His first G-run was at summer camp, where a buddy introduced him to "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms." His first fiddle tune was "Salt Creek," copped from one of his parents' Doc Watson albums.

Fast forward several decades, and his first bluegrass jams were in and around NYC in 2016. A fascination with the bluegrass ensemble quickly took hold, and now, as Dan would say, there is no turning back.

Fiddle

Jesse Markowitz

Jesse Markowitz is a lifelong instrumentalist specializing in violin. Classically trained, he enjoys chamber, orchestral, and cover work, but these days plays mostly folk and bluegrass at jams and gigs around the NYC area.

Jesse also freelances as an audio engineer and has recorded performances, interviews, auditions, and other projects. After teaching middle school science for about a decade, he now works as a data scientist and engineer.

Photo coming soon

Bass / all things with strings

Leo Cohen

Bio coming soon. For now, Leo is holding down bass duties and apparently anything else with strings that looks like it might start trouble.

Photo coming soon

Dobro

Luke Kelly

Bio coming soon. Luke brings the dobro, which is basically how bluegrass lets a guitar become a weather event.