Biographies
Victoria Palagy
On the Upper East Side of New York City in the 90's....
Victoria landed a great gig, a spot in the Tom Tom Club, featuring members of the Talking Heads. They had some hit songs in the Eighties and here in the Nineties were still riding that wave and were now taking Victoria with them. Traveling as far as Brazil and Europe and touring the US numerous times, she would perform in opening slots for Nineties bands like the B52's and the Fine Young Cannibals. She toured alongside Debbie Harry and the Ramones. At a show in LA, she even shared the mic with Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. For some of their last ever live performances, she performed with all members of the Talking Heads. And she appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman"...all the while, honing her craft of songwriting and teaching herself guitar.
Her first self produced CD landed in the Top 30 on Indie College Radio charts across the nation, as well as placing a song on NBC's "Homicide". She has sung support vocals for other artists' records, such as Vitamin C, C&C Music Factory, and the Blue Man Group. Her joy of life became evident in the playful, poppy songs of her second self produced album, 'BlondeStreak'.
Now living in Connecticut, Victoria continues working with her long-time co-writer/drummer/producer, Ray Palagy.
In 2005, they were joined by NYC bassist Tom Evans.
Last year they got two songs on NHL and WNBA commercials for ESPN and ABC. Victoria was also called in to do voiceovers for ESPN/ABC.
* Two appearances on Late Night with Letterman
* Two music videos
* Seven albums
* Several worldwide tours
* Singing appearance on Daytime Soap
* Tom Tom Club, 1990- present
* Deborah Harry, 1995
* Talking Heads, 1990
* C+C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat" 1990, CBS
* "Loving" ABC TV 1995
* Eve's Plumb, Cherry Alive, 1995, Sony
* Kate Ceberano, Globe, 1996, Elektra
* Blue Man Group, NYC, 1997
* Vitamin C, 2001 Elektra
* Kasey Krowley, 2001, Atlantic
* Lead Vocalist with Tribute to the Shangri-Las 1990-2002
* Lead Vocalist for Blondestreak 2000-2005
* Venues include Madison Square Garden & Carnegie Hall
Victoria
has played at these places so far…
Passaic County Fair, NJ
Univ. of Maine, Orono, ME
Paul Smith’s College, NY
Elms College, MA
Stonybrook University, NY
Fairleigh Dickinson University, CT
Central Park Bandshell, NYC (sponsored by Summer in the Park Music Series)
Shennanigans, South Norwalk, CT
Black River Barn, NJ
Sidewalk Café, NYC
Pete’s Candy Store, Brooklyn, NY
An Beal Bocht, Riverdale, NY
38-9, Long Island City, NY
Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY (filmed for Astorax Productions)
Luna Lounge NYC
Tobacco Road, NYC
The Bitter End, NYC (sponsored by CSN concert series)
The Elbow Room, NYC
The Cutting Room, NYC (sponsored by “Women Who Rock” magazine)
CBGB’s, NYC
Continental, NYC (sponsored by Budweiser)
Downtime, NYC
CB’s Gallery, NYC
Arlene’s Grocery, NYC
DTUT, NYC
Acme Underground, NYC
Sidewalk Café, NYC
Amberjacks, South Norwalk, CT
59 Bank Street, New Milford, CT
Jitters, Southington, CT
Session 73, NYC
Sully’s, Hartford,CT
Black Eyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Crown and Hammer, Collinsville, CT
The Hungry Tiger, Manchester, CT
Snitch, NYC
Ray Palagy
Ray is from Astoria, NY. Starting on drums at 17 he began writing and producing songs on an old 4 track cassette deck and began to learn how to program drum machines to enhance his recordings. He started taking drum lessons with Rick Kravetz who performed on Broadway in "A Chorus Line". Drawn to all things "drum" in nature, Ray also began to build up his percussion collection.
When he met Victoria he began doing small cafe shows with her where he would play found percussion and small portable drums for a more intimate vibe.
Victoria and Ray met Liz Clayton and formed the group Saturn's Child and performed in NYC for several years until they switched lead guitarists and then formed BlondeStreak. The musical direction moved from alt - rock to a more power pop-punk sound.
While performing with BlondeStreak, Ray was also honing his mixing and sound design skills. He took a job at Sync Sound in NYC and spent many years crafting the soundtracks to episodic television shows, features and concerts. One early highlight was helping to design the sound for a Beastie Boys music video on month and a Metallica video the next.
Today he resides in CT working as the staff Sound Designer for ESPN.
Tom Evans
Tom’s the newest member of Blondestreak, joining in 2007. Aside from being blonde (not entirely true), he locks our groove on bass guitar. A real native New Yorker, production & entertainment marketing guy-he's worked most recently for Samsung.
From rock, blues, jazz and funk, Tom’s shared the stage with numerous metro & regional bands, including: Ten Fingers, Say What?, Suburban Groove Squad, Limelight, Pulse, and Passion.
Currently living in Ossening, NY he still collaborates with BlondeStreak on occasional projects.
Liz Clayton
Originally from North Carolina, Liz Clayton comes from a family steeped in a tradition of performing. At the age of eight she went to her first rock concert to see KISS – a life long ambition had begun.
Liz first hit the stage as a singer/songwriter/guitarist for the band In Demand. She also established herself as a radio personality for the popular North Carolina classic rock radio station, WKRR – Rock 92.
Liz brings with her a diverse variety of artistic expression. An acting scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts brought her to NYC. Once there she reveled in the urban life style and New York’s rich artistic opportunities. As fate would have it circumstances brought her back to her first love, music.
New York credits include:
Jules Cohen & Whatever – Background vocals & rhythm guitar
Squid Licious – Lead vocals & rhythm guitar
PREY – Lead vocals & rhythm guitar (PREY’s CD “Lick the Boot” debued as the 14th most added CD on college radio – CMJ Magazine.)
Liz is a founding member of BlondeStreak and played with Ray and Victoria in Saturn's Child since 1997 but most recently moved to North Carolina to start a family and start a career in voiceover.