Bio
Growing up in Brooklyn New York, Rob’s introduction to music was a mix of the rock songs of the day and the folk music of the 1960s. Rob spent many evenings at the small coffee houses, which dotted the New York City music scene at a time when folk singers like Phil Ochs and Dave Von Ronk were performing to audiences for whom the message was what mattered.
In 1975 Rob moved to the Appalachian Mountains of Southern Virginia where he was immersed in the oral tradition of folk music and storytelling. For the next 10 years Rob played concerts at colleges and in music clubs in and around Blacksburg, VA. In the mid 1980’s Rob relocated his wife and new baby to a Maryland wildlife refuge, where he worked as an ecologist on the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.
In the 1990’s Rob’s interest in traditional American music led to his founding the North Elk Coffee House on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The Coffee House continues to be a community based venue, presenting traditional American music, with proceeds going to support local non profit organizations. For its first nine years, in addition to bringing a constant stream of talented folk musicians to the coffee house, Rob opened each evening with a set of folk songs and original compositions. It was here that Rob continued to hone his skills on the six-stringed acoustic guitar, and added songs from a variety of styles to his repertoire.
Since relocating to the Tampa Bay area Rob has continued to write and perform music. 1 Zero Productions Inc. has just released his new 13 song collection entitled 'Thirteen Petalled Rose'. This new CD combines 6 new original songs with material written by Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton, Jean Ritchie and Phil Ochs.