Ralbovsky to Receive Honorary Degree and Deliver Address at Academic Conovcation

Music industry executive Steve Ralbovsky, ’79, will receive a State University of New York (SUNY) honorary degree and deliver the Bonnie and Vern L. Bullough Academic Convocation Address at Buffalo State’s Academic Convocation on Thursday, September 15, at 12:15 p.m. in the Rockwell Hall Auditorium.

Ralbovsky, founder and president of Canvasback Music, is one of the most highly regarded artists and repertoire (A&R) professionals in the music industry today. He is responsible for discovering and cultivating such major acts and artists of the past few decades as David Gray, Soundgarden, Soul Asylum, the Strokes, Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket, LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Ray LaMontagne. He has worked for such major record labels as EMI, Columbia, Elektra, Arista, Interscope, and RCA. In 2006, he founded Canvasback Music, which in 2009 became a division of Atlantic Records. He is also the founder of an artist management company, Beekeeper Artists.

Ralbovsky’s singular talent for discovering obscure musicians and managing their growth both artistically and in the marketplace has made him a major force in American popular music throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. His influence can be found at every point on the radio dial—from the heavy-metal band Anthrax to folk singer Nanci Griffith—and he has profoundly shaped the sound of modern American popular music.

Ralbovsky entered the music business in 1975, working as a concert promoter while studying at Buffalo State. By 1979, he was working as a tour manager for the B-52s and, by 1981, had entered artist management, with Tom Verlaine as a client. He has held A&R positions at several major record labels since 1983.

Buffalo State strives to instill in its students both the intellectual power to succeed in the professional world of their choosing and the creative power to shape the world in new ways. Ralbovsky is an exemplar of this sort of education: he has combined business savvy with artistic inspiration to build a highly successful career in an enormously competitive field, and has had a tremendous impact on American popular culture as a result.

Ralbovsky is widely known in the music industry as a man of great integrity, and he is consistently spoken of by his colleagues in the most glowing terms. In receiving this honorary degree from Buffalo State, Ralbovsky demonstrates to our students how far they can go with a Buffalo State education—and how much they can achieve if they channel their passions into fulfilling, honorable work.