Who are the Members of Herding Cats?
Suzanne Roscoe
Lead Vocals
Suzanne grew up in Endicott, NY. She has always been a big music buff, influenced very young by her teenage siblings blasting Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Moody Blues, Eagles, Linda Rhonstadt, and Fleetwood Mac throughout the house. She learned to play several instruments, including violin and clarinet, but lost interest in middle school due to a nasty band teacher.
From then on, she made use of her vocal chords and sang in plays, choirs and in the shower. She went on to College to become an engineer and moved to the Rochester area and sang in a band for a bit. Life got in the way as she got married and raised two kids with her husband in Fairport, but after the nest was empty, music was calling her back. She invested vocal lesson for a year, and joined Herding Cats in September of 2019.
Suzanne sings lead vocals and is quite proficient at singing back up harmonies. Her music influences are too numerous to mention, but her biggest female vocal influences are Linda Rhonstadt, Stevie Nicks, Natalie Merchant and Brandi Carlile.
Mat Sulyma
Rhythm/Lead Guitar
Mat was Born in Rochester, New Hampshire. He and his family lived in Scotland for several years before finally settling down in the Rochester, New York area. As a teen, Mat enjoyed fiddling with his dad’s acoustic guitar. He received his first electric guitar for his 16th birthday and his obsession took off from there.
In high school, Mat (and fellow cat herder Scott) played together in a band called Whiskers on The Moon. He attended college in Plattsburgh where he studied music theory and audio engineering, and participated in several musical projects. Upon his return to Rochester, Whiskers on The Moon reformed (with a slight lineup change) as Hazy. In the next several years, Mat was involved in some side production work as well as playing in several other bands including Begins in the Dark, and The Steering Committee. As life happened, Mat put the guitars away for over a decade. When a business acquaintance asked Mat to join his band in 2019, He dusted off the old guitars and started playing again. It was there that he met Herding Cats lead singer, Suzanne. That project folded after just a couple months and Mat and Suzanne moved on to co-found Chasing Thunder. In late 2021, There was a lineup change and the band became Herding Cats which Mat believes is “the lineup we always should have had".
Mat’s Influences are quite varied but include Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia, Neil Young, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Tommy Emmanuel.
Dave Elsbree
Bass, Vocals
Dave started playing guitar when he was 8 years old and started taking lessons at a music store in East Rochester. The guitar teachers at the store were students from the Eastman School of Music. Dave started playing in bands when he was 13 years old, but the bands could not find decent bass players, so he decided to learn how to play the bass guitar.
In high school, Dave was in a band called Teaser. The band played blues and pop rock including Dave Bowie, CCR, Kiss and Styx. After high school Dave joined a band that played Southern Rock called the Cole Younger Band. The band toured all over Upstate NY, playing the music of the Allman Brothers, .38 Special, ZZ Top, Wet Willie and Huey Lewis and the News.
After a 5-year hiatus to raise a family, Dave joined a classic and blues band called Mr. Dingo. The band played together for a few decades, sometimes as a full band or as a power trio. Dave has collected enough sound equipment through the years to play small bars or large outdoor events.
Dave joined Herding Cats in February 2020, about 3 months after the band started.
Stewart Atkin
Drums
Stewart is from Herne Bay, England and was taught to play drums by his older cousin, David Atkin.
Early role models were Ian Paice, Eric Carr, Philthy Animal Taylor, Nicko McBrain, Ian Moseley, Clem Burke, Phil Collins, Neil Peart, Barriemore Barlow, Stewart Copeland, Dave Mattacks, Levon Helm and of course, David Atkin.
As an adolescent in the mother country, Stewart played in a number of bands such as Neil Washing Machine & the Baby Killers, Merlin Cheeseplant, James Overton-Fox & the Magic Toe, Another Fairy Dies, and Paul & Pasha Rise Again.
Suddenly, after a shotgun wedding at an undisclosed Michigan location, Stewart joined a band named The Circus from DeKalb, Illinois. With them, he recorded two albums and played the bars and clubs of the American Midwest.
Drifting in the direction of his homeland, he’s taken up residence in Rochester and from the Herding Cats drum stool, he looks out with bemusement at the lack of a National Health Service and the American obsession with the British Royal Family.
Scott "Mr. Brown"Seyfried
Guitar, Vocals
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