Although he had been playing guitar since age 8, Rob Eberhard Young was originally inspired at the age of 15 by the first Van Halen record, and has been at it ever since.
Riding on the heavy metal wave of the 80’s, Rob played in top rock and heavy metal bands from Boston to Honolulu, as well as many of his own electric guitar based instrumental projects. As Rob remembers, “I was always about a half-step behind. By the early 90’s, my chops had gotten scary—and I think my writing was pretty happening too—but I was missing the big key…I hadn’t found my own voice.” Within the next year, Rob happened upon a chance meeting that not only led him to find his voice, but would change his life.
In the summer of ’93, Rob met street musician Ned Landin while Ned was performing in Harvard Square, playing acoustic guitar through a PA in strange tunings with a huge sound. As Rob recalls, “I was never more inspired in my life…his sound was just jaw dropping…I went home, put the Strat in the closet, and started writing my first solo acoustic guitar record.”
A year later, he released his first solo recording, Consistent Variation about which Guitar Magazine’s John Stix wrote"Consistent Variation is rhythmically propulsive, harmonically rich and melodically compelling. That Rob does this all at the same time on the acoustic guitar makes for one fine ride!” Clearly, Rob’s “heavy” background was reflected in his acoustic playing, but the music was far more intriguing than the simple mixture of acoustic and metal. It was homegrown, gutsy, direct, and fresh.
“Rob sent me Consistent Variation and I was just blown away. It had been years—literally fifteen years since I’d heard a voice so new, so unique, and so powerful on the steel-string guitar.” — Will Ackerman
Consistent Variation caught the attention of Windham Hill founder and New Age Godfather, Will Ackerman, who subsequently signed Rob to his new label, Imaginary Road and produced Rob’s second album, Sticks & Stones, in March of ’97. Sticks & Stones marked the first time Ackerman had chosen to produce a new guitarist since he first produced the late, great composer/guitarist Michael Hedges, in 1980, who, along with Michael Manring, and Ackerman, joined Rob on Sticks & Stones.
“Not a wimp!!! I like the strong pickwork, melody, abstract development, and the way the music moves.” — Michael Hedges
“Rob’s music is powerful, passionate and intense. His creative vision is opening up new worlds for the acoustic guitar.” — Michael Manring
Sticks & Stones charted in the top 25 on Billboard’s New Age charts and reached 10 on the CD OneSource New Age charts. The lead track, “Trance Dance”, reached 1 on both of the top 2 nationally syndicated new age radio shows, Echoes and Hearts of Space. In addition, “Trance Dance” hit 11 on the national charts for the NAC radio format and also appeared on the Guitar World ’97 music sampler alongside such greats as Pat Metheny and Nuno Bettencourt. Another piece, “Rhumbline”, is featured as a soundtrack and video performance in the documentary film Modern Luthier which is set to air as a Learning Channel special.
Sticks & Stones revealed Rob’s compositional talents as well as his incredible virtuosity. As Will Ackerman said, “Rob has these incredible chops that alone would stun the listener, yet he never loses sight of delivering evocative melody in his pieces. Having both talents makes him very rare…” Ironically, however, it was Ackerman’s pristine production values and Rob’s obligation to fit into the traditional New Age mode which ultimately left Rob chomping at the bit to, as the sleeve on Sticks & Stones said, “Play it loud.”
Having established his solo acoustic identity with Sticks & Stones, Rob took a decisive step toward realizing his true musical vision. Whereas Michael Hedges was the undisputed master of putting the band in the acoustic guitar, Rob had always intended to stake a claim to putting the acoustic guitar in the band…
“Although I enjoy playing and writing for solo acoustic guitar, that was never what I really set out to do. I felt that just too many people were playing solo guitar and that, for the most part, it had become a bit of a ‘dime store’ genre…there wasn’t much left to say with it that hadn’t already been said. What I wanted to do is be the first guy to present that ‘huge acoustic guitar in open tuning’ sound with a full band. Sort of a rock backdrop with huge grooves, but very ambient and beautiful at the same time. It was like, ‘OK, we’ve heard plenty of great solo acoustic guitar without a band, and we’ve heard plenty of great electric guitar with a band, but what we haven’t heard is a really good acoustic guitar instrumental album in a full band setting, which melds rock, jazz, and new age.”
So Rob set out to enlist his “A Team” to help make this new direction a reality. Much to the surprise of many industry people, Rob asked Kip Winger to produce. “People just have no clue how amazing he is…that 80’s stuff was just the very tip of the iceberg. He’s like Stravinsky…his mastery of orchestration and making sense out of 40+ tracks per tune was key in making the sound happen. Plus he’s kind of like my big brother, which made the whole process much more fun!”
In addition, Rob invited his all-time favorite musicians to play. Bassist Michael Manring joined Rob again as well as Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dreggs/Winger) on drums, pianist Alan Pasqua (John Williams Orchestra/Alan Holdsworth) ..s, and additional players including Andy Snitzer (Rolling Stones) on soprano sax, Chris Botti (Sting) on trumpet, Joel Derovin (Eric Clapton Band) on violin and Marc Clark (Ottmar Liebert) on percussion.
“Rob’s unique rhythmic style is right up my alley, lending itself to a wide and dynamic range of drumming. We had a blast recording SPEAK!” — Rod Morgenstein
“So you think this guy is pretty good, huh? Well he’s not! I punched him in at every bar!” — Kip Winger
“This guy can’t possibly be played loud enough!” — Al Olsen
The result is Rob’s newest recording, SPEAK!, an album which is that most exciting type of music—an indescribable and new hybrid. The range established on Sticks & Stones, from solo meditations to in-the-gut grooves, has been widened and deepened, with Kip Winger’s masterful production keeping the entire album cohesive and seamless.
From SPEAK!’s opening track—a radically groovy reworking of “Wandering Minds” from Consistent Variation, featuring Rob, Michael Manring, and Rod Morgenstein slamming it in the pocket—to the chunky juggernaut, “Trades” (with Rod and Kip Winger), to the beautifully austere duets, “Islamorada” (with Andy Snitzer on soprano sax) and “Resolutions” (with Joel Derovin on violin), Rob has produced his most diverse and dynamic recording to date. With SPEAK!, Rob Eberhard Young has spoken again.
Online Now!
