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“ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE A YOUNG GUITARIST CAPTURES THE ATTENTION OF MUSIC LOVERS EARLY IN HIS CAREER AND MANAGES TO SUSTAIN THIS INTEREST AS HE MATURES CREATIVELY AND SHEDS THE ‘PRODIGY’ LABEL. JOE ROBINSON IS ONE OF THOSE RARE TALENTS.”- PREMIER GUITAR
Joe Robinson is a true force in the pantheon of excep onal ar sts in modern music. He has joined an exclusive group of elite performers whose impact con nues to shape our unique American musical culture. With his popularity con nuing to rise, Robinson has earned a reputa on as one of the world's greatest guitar players and a brilliant singer/songwriter. His fluid and inimitable style has delighted audiences around the world, garnering high praise and pres gious awards from the interna onal music community.”
Nashville, Tennessee has been Robinson’s home base for the last decade. He’s performed or recorded with a long list of celebrated music icons including Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Keb’ Mo’, Les Paul, The Wailers, Styx, John Jorgenson, Lee Roy Parnell, and friend and mentor, Tommy Emmanuel, CGP.
Robinson was voted “Best New Talent” in the Guitar Player Readers’ Poll and his talents were further recognized by Guitar Player magazine as part of a cover story en tled “Youthquake 2017: Ten Mind- Blowing Young Guitarists.” In the ar cle, Guitar Player has called Robinson “equally mind-blowing as an acous c fingerpicker and electric soloist…his YouTube videos display an astounding combina on of taste, speed, cagey phrasing, and a clear, ar culate, and sparking tone.”
“IT’S HARD NOT TO IMAGINE HIM RIVALING THE POPULARITY OF SAY, JOHN MAYER IN COMING YEARS.”- WASHINGTON POST
Born and raised into a musical family in the Australian bush, Robinson began playing guitar when he was just nine years old, eagerly exploring the Internet to expand and deepen his cra . At the age of 13 he won the Australian Na onal Songwri ng Compe on, and at 15 released his first collec on of original material. A monumental achievement followed when he won first place on the “Australia's Got Talent” television show, aged 16. It came with a $250,000 grand prize. By his eighteenth birthday Robinson had played more than 1,000 shows, and by the me he celebrated his twenty-fourth he had played over 2,000, an incredible total number of performances logged in a compara vely brief professional career. He has developed a worldwide touring career, performing across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, China and his na ve Australia.
His live “one man” acous c/electric show is an energe c display of virtuosity and wi y, finely-cra ed lyrics delivered with his personable Aussie charisma — he has songs inspired by George Carlin, Al Capone, a person he once picked up hitchhiking — and tells stories of performing in a California prison and growing up in a rus c farmhouse in backwoods Temagog, NSW (pop. 200).
Robinson has released five solo albums, including Borders (2020) and Undertones (2019), to great acclaim.
As is the case with many highly ar s c people during the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down, Robinson has u lized his me to write, record and produce an emo onal new album, tled Borders.
“JOE IS, OF COURSE, RENOWNED FOR BEING A VIRTUOSO GUITARIST. BUT AFTER SEVERAL LISTENS TO HIS LATEST OFFERING (BORDERS), I'M OF THE OPINION THAT AS A SINGER AND SONGWRITER, HE ALSO BELONGS IN A LEAGUE WITH SUCH MEGA-SELLING ARTISTS AS CHARLIE PUTH AND HARRY STYLES. BUT DON'T JUST TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, GET A COPY OF THE ALBUM AND SEE FOR YOURSELF.” - GRAMMY® AWARD WINNER RODNEY CROWELL
Robinson, an Australian na ve who has recently become an American ci zen, became engaged to his fiancée, a graphic designer based in Canada, in October 2019. Although the couple knew they would con nue to have a long-distance romance un l her Visa came through and she could relocate to Nashville, neither an cipated the closure of the border between Canada and the United States because of the pandemic, completely elimina ng any travel between their two homes. “This is a collec on of songs I wrote, some within the last year and some specifically about being separated from Genevieve during the pandemic—we haven’t seen each other in eight months now,” Robinson said. “I just felt I had some hear elt songs bubbling up, and I was sure there would be other people out there who can relate. Being separated from loved ones is something I have dealt with for 10 years, having moved to the U.S. from Australia when I was 18. I le all of my family back in Australia, but this felt like a different situa on since we became engaged over a year ago and are so excited to begin a life together.”
Robinson enlisted top musicians to help – drummer Nir Z (John Mayer, Chris Cornell, Genesis); bassist Bernard Harris (Aaron Neville, Tommy Emmanuel, Mandisa); Irish violin and fiddle player Eamon McLoughlin (Rodney Crowell, The Greencards, Ashley Monroe), harmony vocalists Shannon LaBrie and Hannah Sutherland and Robinson on lead vocals and guitars. “I chose friends of mine who are all great musicians in their own right, but who also have a musical spirit with which I feel connected,” Robinson adds.
In addi on to me spent recording the new record, Robinson has been very available to his fans around the world in 2020 playing live-from-home concerts on a regular basis, and streaming on YouTube and Facebook weekly, landing himself on Pollstar's Top 10 Weekly Livestreams chart alongside Norah Jones, Brent Cobb, Ricky Skaggs and The Circle TV's "Opry Live.” Addi onally, since Robinson normally tours between 150-200 days a year interna onally, he’s joined Patreon to give all of his fans access to private concerts and behind-the-scenes access to his crea ve process. “I feel a deep responsibility to share my musical passion with as many people as I can. That ability has been extremely limited with the cancella on of my tour this year. It’s s ll important to me that I’m able to communicate with anyone who enjoys my music and spread some joy at me when it feels more important than ever.”
“UNDERTONES PROVES HE'S FAR MORE THAN A FLASHY PRODIGY…ROBINSON HAS DEVELOPED INTO AN ARTIST WITH A FULLY FORMED VISION OF WHO HE IS AND WHERE HE WANTS TO GO.”
- PREMIER GUITAR
On Robinson’s album, Undertones, the Australian na ve con nues to awe and delight with soulful and u erly brilliant, finely cra ed songs on both acous c and electric guitar, and has come into his own as a lyricist. As The Washington Post recently observed, “It's hard not to imagine him rivaling the popularity of say, John Mayer in coming years." There is no doubt that Robinson is at the top of his game, boldly stepping up with mind-bending chord work, solos that literally redefine what can be milked from a guitar, and inspired, melodic singing in his signature tenor voice. “Crea ng Undertones was truly a labor of love for me,” Robinson reflects. “I elected to produce and mix this album myself. Having been quite busy as a session musician over the past few years, I felt I knew how to get the musical performances I wanted down on tape, so the whole process felt really natural.”
The project was recorded on the outskirts of Nashville, where Robinson is based, at The Castle Recording Studios. “It had the perfect laid-back atmosphere for us to lay down the sonic founda on for this record,” Robinson added. The historic studio looks true to its name and was purportedly built by gangster Al Capone between 1929-1932.
In addi on to Robinson’s own skills on guitar and vocal, he solicited help from drummer Pete Abbo (Jaco Pastorius, Average White Band, Randy Brecker, Blood, Sweat & Tears) and bassist Anton Nesbi (McCrary Sisters, Keb’ Mo’, CeCe Winans).
Premier Guitar magazine observed Undertones “proves he's far more than a flashy prodigy…Robinson has developed into an ar st with a fully formed vision of who he is and where he wants to go.” In an album review, Acous c Guitar magazine noted the “virtuoso’s latest is dense with brilliant moments… Robinson’s guitar playing is what really does the talking.”
Robinson has been performing so much of his life that he’s had a lot of me to delve into the emo onal process of recording, and takes an unusually philosophical approach to crea ng music. “Undertones represents the many shades of the human experience. There are songs about love, pain, faith, story songs, sa rical moments, and archetypal representa ons of behavioral truth.”
“To me, music is comprised of the technical element, and the spiritual element,” he con nues.
“THE MORE I PLAY MUSIC, THE LESS I NEED TO THINK ABOUT IT. THE LESS I NEED TO THINK ABOUT IT, THE MORE I FEEL THAT I CAN DEDICATE MYSELF TO EXPERIENCING THE UNDERTONES OF HARMONY, RHYTHM, MELODY, RHYME AND NARRATIVE.” - JOE ROBINSON
“I am enamored with the Taoist worldview, as was Bruce Lee, a man I admire a lot. Through this lens, one is exposed to the polarizing elements of our world—the whole world views the beau ful as the beau ful, yet this is only the ugly. The whole world recognizes the good as the good, yet this is only the bad. Thus, something and nothing produce each other. The difficult and the easy complement each other—note and sound harmonize with one another. It seems everything in our world can be deconstructed in this way. Everything has an undertone.”
Robinson was invited to come to Nashville by his mentor and inspira onal savant Tommy Emmanuel. In 2009, for his debut album Time Jumpin’, Robinson chose to work with Brad Paisley producer Frank Rogers. At that same me, he was awarded the Senior Grand Champion Performer of the World award at the World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, where no less than 70,000 contestants vied for the top prize.
Such high praise and recogni on hardly dampened Robinson’s crea ve energy. In 2011 he released Let Me Introduce You, produced again by Frank Rogers, where his deep excursions into acous c and electric music only served to solidify his growing reputa on as a crea ve genius.
Various EP projects followed, most significantly Gemini Vol. 2 on which Robinson played every instrument, and produced and mixed all songs. He also de ly expanded his cra as an accomplished vocalist and lyricist, con nuing to compose songs that vividly reveal his varied influences, from bluesy shuffles to jazz- nged solos and truly celes al musical musings that s r and awaken the soul.
Considered one of the preeminent fingerstyle guitarists in the world today, performing complex arrangements that feature the bass line, chords, and melody all played simultaneously, Robinson carries forward the legacy of legendary guitarists Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Lenny Breau, and Tommy Emmanuel while adding a flavor of ar stry very much his own.
Robinson's popularity has rapidly grown as he con nues to tour na onally and interna onally, trea ng audiences to his rare virtuosity on guitar and his beau ful singing voice. His fluid and inimitable style has delighted audiences around the world, garnering high praise and pres gious awards from the interna onal music community.
“I FEEL A DEEP RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE MY MUSICAL PASSION WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN.” - JOE ROBINSON
A significant and ground-breaking addendum to his touring schedule was Robinson’s par cipa on in Guitar Army, an all-guitar tour de force ini ally featuring Robben Ford and Lee Roy Parnell, which now features John Jorgenson, along with Robinson and Parnell. This trio concept brought these supremely gi ed guitarists together in a truly historic ensemble whose talent and tone are simply stunning.
Robinson’s essen al influences cannot go unno ced–he has been able to tour with many of his mentors who have inspired him to reach ever-higher as a singer, songwriter, musician, performer, and recording ar st. He con nues to tour and play dates with Emmanuel, whose prowess on the guitar is by now a ma er of record, and Robinson joins Rodney Crowell as part of Crowell's acous c trio. Robinson’s pairing with Crowell is simply magical. Robinson has also performed with Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris together.
Robinson rhapsodizes about his mentors, “When I perform with Rodney, every night on stage I just sit there and listen to the lyrics. He weaves these amazing narra ves into his songs. Through his music I have been exposed to Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt as well as Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. Just being around the genius song cra sman that Rodney is has been a huge influence on me both as a writer and a singer. And the first me I heard Tommy I was so uncomfortable because I didn't know how he was ge ng all those sounds. I knew that I just had to figure it out. I was just gobsmacked by the power with which he played, and I became determined and obsessed with how I could play like that. I s ll learn so much from him when we are on the road. I'll be walking past his room in the hotel and I'll hear him prac cing. He just cares so much about pu ng on a good show. When I was sixteen, I got to play with Les Paul at the Iridium, and apparently, he was like Tommy in that he would drive home from the Iridium and listen to the board mix of the show to cri que himself. Rodney’s the same way. He rewrites his songs –he can spend 25 years on the last verse of a song. This kind of a en on to detail has been really inspiring to me. I credit everything that I've been able to do to these wonderful mentors who have so inspired and encouraged me.”
All this inspira on surrounds Robinson and informs his crea vity. “The more I play music, the less I need to think about it. The less I need to think about it, the more I feel that I can dedicate myself to experiencing the undertones of harmony, rhythm, melody, rhyme and narra ve.” joerobinson.com
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