Robert Pollard (born October 31, 1957) is a Dayton, Ohio singer-songwriter, who until 2004 was the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices ("GbV"). During his high school years, he was a successful basketball and baseball player. Pollard was a fourth grade schoolteacher until 1994, when GbV first broke into the national consciousness with the release of the album Bee Thousand. With over 900 songs registered to his name with BMI [1], Pollard is among the most prolific songwriters of his time.
Pollard began releasing solo records in 1996, alongside regular releases from GbV. These albums were typically recorded with a small group consisting of current or former GbV members, and they were generally considered to informally be part of the GbV canon, as that band would regularly perform selections from the solo releases in concert.
During the mid-90's, in addition to GbV albums appearing annually, Pollard's prolificacy typically was vented onto innumerable singles, EPs, compilations and other side releases. However, once signed to a major label and constrained to the expectation of producing only a single album per 18 months, Pollard began the self-finanaced and released Fading Captain Series, a still-active series of releases both under his own name, and a wide variety of pseudonyms. In addition to solo and archival releases, Pollard began collaborating with fellow musicians and friends by mail via a process dubbed "postal rock" - Pollard would receive completed musical backing tracks, and add his own lyrics and vocals. Albums under the Airport 5, Circus Devils, and Go Back Snowball monikers, among others were produced in this fashion.
After the dissolution of Guided by Voices in 2004, Robert Pollard launched his official solo career with the release of From A Compound Eye in February 2006. Pollard's recent studio work has eschewed the live-band format, instead relying on the multi-instrumental talents of Todd Tobias, who produced several GbV albums. He returned to touring with a new band informally dubbed "The Ascended Masters", which featured Tommy Keene on lead guitar and keyboards, Dave Phillips on guitar, Jon Wurster on drums, and Jason Narducy on bass, but subsequent to the cancellation of some 2006 dates due to a leg injury, Pollard announced his retirement from touring. Despite this, Pollard has recently performed two shows in support of his new albums. The first show was on November 31, 2007 in Chicago, IL at The Metro. The second was on December 1st, 2007 in Newport, KY (across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, OH) at the Southgate House. After releasing Superman Was a Rocker in January he announced that he would be leaving Merge Records to form Guided by Voices, Inc., his own record label that will produce his entire musical library.
In May 2008, Pollard announced his intention to form a new band, to be called "Boston Spaceships", who will also tour in the fall. The new band consists of Robert Pollard, Chris Slusarenko and John Moen, although the live band's line-up also will include Tommy Keene on guitar and Jason Narducy on bass. It is expected that the band's debut album, entitled "Brown Submarine" will be released in September '08 and will find Pollard re-visiting some older Suitcase songs (including "Dorothy's A Planet" and "Soggy Beavers") as well as showcasing some brand new material.
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