Press

Mark Robinson Named a "Top 20 Roots Guitar Player" and Releases New CD
[NASHVILLE, TN - March 8, 2013] Nashville blues-roots guitar slinger Mark Robinson has been making some news along with the February 26th release of his new CD, ‘Have Axe - Will Groove’:

• Roots-music magazine The Alternate Root named Robinson to their list of “Top 20 Roots Guitar Players,” in the company of some of the finest blues, roots, and Americana musicians playing today. Full list at TheAlternateRoot.com http://www.thealternateroot.com/what-s-trending/971-the-top-guitar-players-from-the-alternate-root

• “Blues Deluxe,” syndicated to more than 100 radio stations, selected a cut from the new CD, “Pull My Coat,” as its “Bluebloods” feature for the first week of February.

• ‘Have Axe - Will Groove” hit #1 on AirPlay Direct’s Blues Chart for the last week of January.

• Alternate Root TV Season 3, Episode 6 featured Mark Robinson and the East Nashville music scene. http://www.thealternateroot.com/alternate-root-tv-module/184-alternate-root-tv-this-week/953-alternate-root-tv-show-6

The reviews have started to come in, including a “5 Stars” rating from Blues Underground Network (see below for more), and DJs around the world have begun playing the CD.

Have Axe - Will Groove is Robinson’s follow-up to his acclaimed debut album Quit Your Job - Play Guitar (which made several “Best of 2010” lists). While the title of Quit Your Job —Play Guitar was autobiographical, the songs on his new release are even more personal … and dirtier and funkier and grittier. And when it comes to Robinson’s sterling guitar work, they’re also more colorful.

In addition to six solo-penned songs, including the opening boogie “Drive Real Fast” and the low-down slow blues “Lifetime Prescription,” the album has two tunes Robinson co-wrote with Nashville partners: the Johnny Otis-inspired jump blues “Cool Rockin’ Daddy,” written with Mike Cullison (creator of the old-school country concept album The Barstool Monologues, which Robinson produced); and “Rhythm Doctor,” written with Dave Duncan (2013 Blues Song of the Year nominee for co-writing the Curtis Salgado tune “She Didn’t Cut Me Loose”). The cover songs Robinson chose for the CD are by three of his favorite writers: Davis Raines (“Baby’s Gone to Memphis”), Slats Klug (“Angel of Mercy”), and Doc Pomus (“Lonely Avenue”).

The band and special guests will join Robinson for Have Axe – Will Groove CD Release Shows in Nashville and Bloomington, Indiana in March, then festivals and a return to Europe this fall. And the groove goes on.

# # #

EARLY BUZZ FOR THE CD ______________

“Robinson’s new album fully delivers on the promise of his critically acclaimed 2010 debut release, Quit Your Job – Play Guitar … He hits his stride on every track, flush with uncommon spirit.”
—Frank-John Hadley, DOWNBEAT Columnist

"With a blockbuster debut album under his belt – 2010's Quit Your Job, Play Guitar was one of the year's best recordings – Robinson comes roaring back with this impressive sophomore effort. Have Axe - Will Groove serves up eleven tasty new jams, most of 'em Robinson originals that display his incredible six-string talents that add the sizzle to a healthy, rocking hybrid of blues, rock, soul, and Southern-fried funk." —Reverend Keith A. Gordon, ABOUT.COM BLUES

"Robinson is a gifted guitarist, playing acoustic, electric and slide ... On top he is a songwriter of calibre ... Best track here for me is the closer, 'Blue Moon Howl' with its sense of foreboding, mystery and eeriness." —Merv Osborne, BLUES MATTERS! (forthcoming April 2013 issue)

“ ... stellar playing. Robinson's excellent on either electric, slide or acoustic guitar. ... [He] even includes glockenspiel within the blues sphere, but the best thing about Have Axe - Will Groove is his explosiveness and expertise.”
—Ron Wynn, ARTSNASH

"5 Stars ... another brilliantly done album from an equally brilliant group of artists, especially Mark Robinson ... thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommended."
—John Vermilyea, BLUES UNDERGROUND NETWORK

" ... strong performances ... Mark Robinson once again clearly articulates his musical vision.”
—Mark Thompson, BLUES BLAST MAGAZINE

“I recommend this CD from the bottom of my Blues heart.”
—Ken Utterback, EXAMINER.COM Nashville Blues

"Tasty guitar ... superb musicianship ... damn fine tunes ..." —Adam Dawson, BROKEN JUKEBOX

“Mark Robinson is a great singer-songwriter and a great guitar purist. Check out this new album, and you will know what I mean.” —Philip Verhaege, KEYS AND CHORDS

"Another strong performance. Robinson is excellent on both electric and acoustic guitar, and the CD again proves his great expertise and experience. ... More than a must!" —Eric Schuurmans, ROOTSTIME

“Robinson’s edge is whetstone-sharpest when he takes risks, like on his out-of-the-box blues rocker ‘Broke Down,’ and on the mini-masterpiece final track ‘Blue Moon Howl.’ He stretches his voice on this mood-setting haunter, backed by a chain-gang moan and a downright eerie resonator. Listening to this album is an education in our American blues.” —Janet Goodman, MUSIC NEWS NASHVILLE

“You hear someone who plays with feeling, a high degree of uniqueness and are greatly entertained.” —Johan Schoenmakers, ALTCOUNTRYFORUM.NL


ALBUM INFO ______________________________

HAVE AXE -– WILL GROOVE • Mark Robinson
Blind Chihuahua Records
(Release: February 26, 2013)

Producer: Mark Robinson
Associate Producer: Daniel Seymour
Engineers: Jim Burnett, Mark Robinson & Daniel Seymour
Recorded and mixed at Guido's Studio South, Nashville, TN
CD Design: Alicia Adkerson, Adkerson Design
Mastering: Paul Mahern, Mahern Audio
Photographs: Gregg Roth


• Publicity & Booking
For interviews, review copies, photos, bio:
Sue Havlish, Big Sister Productions
sue.havlish@bigsisterproductions.com
812-327-5494
BigSisterProductions.com


• Radio
Todd Glazer, Todd Glazer Promotions
907-279-8546
toddg@gci.net
ToddGlazer.com


EPK and more at:
MarkRobinsonGuitar.com


Mark Robinson Releases New CD 'Have Axe - Will Groove'
"Serpentine guitar" —Blues Revue
"A focused, expressive guitarist" —DownBeat
"Top quality blues guitar" —Maverick

[Nashville, TN, January 3, 2013] Guitar slinger-songwriter Mark Robinson’s debut album Quit Your Job — Play Guitar ignited like the first blast of a fireworks display. It was an attention-grabbing harbinger of even more exciting, incendiary things to come. DJs quickly embraced the disc and About.comBlues, Blues Underground Network and BluesVan branded it one of 2010’s best. Now Robinson’s follow-up Have Axe – Will Groove provides an even more colorful and explosive display of the Nashville-based guitarist and songwriter’s estimable skills.

While the title of Quit Your Job — Play Guitar was autobiographical, the songs on this new release are even more personal … and dirtier and funkier and grittier. And when it comes to Robinson’s sterling guitar work, they’re also more colorful.

"Have Axe – Will Groove is about finding my voice as an artist,” Robinson explains. “The songs all say something about my life and the music that has guided me along the way: blues, jazz, country, rock and more. And while I’m not the most technical player in a city full of technical players, I’ve found a style on guitar that’s all my own and lets me share something positive with people, which is truly a gift.”

The album’s genesis was the song “Drive Real Fast,” the scalding radio-ready boogie that also opens the set. With a grinding rhythm guitar foundation and Robinson’s lyrics about tossing his cell phone out the window and hitting the gas, the tune captures a distinctly American longing for freedom and escape.

Several of Have Axe — Will Groove’s tunes showcase Robinson’s depth in the blues tradition (earned in part through his years on the Chicago scene supporting blues legends such as Sunnyland Slim, Lonnie Brooks, Son Seals, Jimmy Johnson, Lefty Dizz, Byther Smith, and Koko Taylor). “What’s the Matter Baby” revisits the vibe of Chess Records. The title of “Pull My Coat” comes from hipster slang meaning “fill me in.” (Robinson nicked the term from jazz composer David Baker, under whom he studied at Indiana University's famed School of Music.) Then there’s “Lifetime Prescription,” a heart-plumbing slow blues that pairs its pain-wracked lyrics with sweet, simmering, sultry guitar melodies.

Robinson’s strategy for making the album was simple. He chose songs he wrote, co-wrote or that helped him tell his story, then enlisted his favorite Nashville musicians, including bassist Daniel Seymour (Tommy Womack, David Olney, Irene Kelley) and drummer Paul Griffith (Todd Snider, John Prine, Steve Earle) to lay the basic tracks. A-list vocalists (Vickie Carrico and Jonell Mosser) and instrumentalists (TJ Klay, Roguie Ray LaMontagne, Ben Graves, Justin Amaral, Randy Handley, Michael Webb) rounded out the tracks.

“What I’m interested in,” Robinson explains, “isn’t being flashy or making the latest hit single. It’s what the Allman Brothers call ‘hittin’ the note’ … reaching that point where the band is in sync and everybody is firing on all eight cylinders, including the listeners. Because when it’s all said and done, the reason I’m making records and playing gigs is to make music that moves people.”

# # #

Listen: MarkRobinsonGuitar.com
EPK: MarkRobinsonGuitar.com/press_kit
Facebook: MarkRobinsonBand

For more info/interviews/booking:
Sue Havlish
1-812-327-5494
sue.havlish@bigsisterproductions.com
BigSisterProductions.com


Have Axe - Will Groove Releases February 2013
“Strong musical intelligence … a focused, expressive guitarist … ” —DOWNBEAT

“Excellent debut ... [Quit Your Job - Play Guitar is] a nuanced mix of blues, soul, and twangy roots-rock ... serpentine guitar play.” —BLUES REVUE

“Top quality blues guitar … ” —MAVERICK

“[Quit Your Job - Play Guitar is] almost a brilliant album.” —BLUES MATTERS!

[NASHVILLE, TN] Mark Robinson’s debut album Quit Your Job — Play Guitar ignited like the first blast of a fireworks display. It was an attention-grabbing harbinger of even more exciting, incendiary things to come. DJs quickly embraced the disc and About.com Blues, Blues Underground Network and BluesVan branded it one of 2010’s best.
Now Robinson’s follow-up Have Axe – Will Groove (Blind Chihuahua Records, February 26, 2013) provides an even more colorful and explosive display of the Nashville-based guitarist and songwriter’s estimable skills. And while the title of Quit Your Job —Play Guitar was autobiographical, the songs on his new release are even more personal … and dirtier and funkier and grittier. And when it comes to Robinson’s sterling guitar work, they’re also more colorful.
“Have Axe – Will Groove is about finding my voice as an artist,” Robinson explains. “The songs are stronger and fit together well, and they all say something about my life and the music that has guided me along the way: blues, jazz, country, rock and more. And while I’m not the most technical player in a city full of technical players, I’ve found a style on guitar that’s all my own and lets me share something positive with people, which is truly a gift.”
The album’s genesis was the song “Drive Real Fast,” the scalding radio-ready boogie that also opens the set. With a grinding rhythm guitar foundation and Robinson’s lyrics about tossing his cell phone out the window and hitting the gas, the tune captures a distinctly American longing for freedom and escape.
“ ‘ Drive Real Fast’ came to me like a bolt of lightning,” he recalls. “I went right onstage with the band after I wrote it and we performed it. The song gave me the blueprint for the album — keeping things live, raw and spontaneous, and just paying attention to the things that felt right.”
Several of Have Axe — Will Groove’s tunes showcase Robinson’s depth in the blues tradition — earned in part through several years on the Chicago scene supporting Sunnyland Slim, Lonnie Brooks, Son Seals and other legends. “What’s the Matter Baby” revisits the vibe of Chess Records. The title of “Pull My Coat” comes from hipster slang meaning “fill me in.” (Robinson nicked the term from jazz composer David Baker, whom he studied under at Indiana University.) Then there’s “Lifetime Prescription,” a heart-plumbing slow blues that pairs its pain-wracked lyrics with sweet, simmering, sultry guitar melodies.
He also pushes the envelope as only a confident, mature artist can. “Blue Moon Howl” is a superb example. There’s rust all over his electric resonator rhythm guitar’s sound, perfectly matching his vocal evocation of the hoodoo-haunted soul of the blues itself.
For Robinson, the door to the blues opened when he was a teen, after hearing the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Allman Brothers, which in turn led him to the music of Muddy Waters and other foundational artists.
Robinson earned a degree in telecommunications from Indiana University in his hometown of Bloomington, playing with bands and working at a local studio. He was touring in a Top 40 band — and hating it — when his wife Sue was offered a job in Chicago. And Robinson’s hard-core schooling as a working blues musician began.
“Chicago was the big leagues, but I started at the bottom,” he says, “although I sure got to play with some interesting people.” The list includes Tad Robinson, Sunnyland Slim, Byther Smith, Lefty Dizz, plus Queen of the Blues Koko Taylor and Jimmy Johnson.
“I loved Jimmy’s playing and singing style,” Robinson recounts. “He was a Mississippi musician at his roots, but could also play some jazz licks beautifully, and his voice is angelic. I asked him for lessons, and he said, ‘Man, I can’t teach you anything, but I’ve got a gig at Rosa’s next week. You can come play with me.’ ”
Robinson played four- and five-hour gigs in Chicago’s blues haunts with Johnson for the next two months without pay. “Then one night, he came over and handed me some money,” he says. “That meant I was no longer taking lessons.”
As luck had it, his wife got a job back in Bloomington, and Robinson found a position as a producer in the University’s audio-visual department, where he stayed for 17 years. He formed a band with drummer Rex Miller, the Kookamongas, who remain a staple of the Blooming roots music scene. And he gigged with folksinger Carrie Newcomer, John Mellencamp guitarist Larry Crane, and other notables. But, to paraphrase John Lee Hooker, the blues was still deep inside him and it had to come out.
In 2004 Sue got yet another job offer, this time in Nashville. And as Robinson’s debut album proclaims, he quit his job to play guitar, relocating to Music City. Soon he found himself collaborating with some of Nashville’s best roots songwriters — such deft craftsmen as Randy Handley (Garth Brooks, John Mellencamp), Davis Raines (Pam Tillis, Kenny Rogers) and Dave Duncan (Curtis Salgado, Delbert McClinton) — and supporting a variety of artists including Tracy Nelson and Tommy Womack. He also began producing and recording other artists in his home studio, where both Quit Your Job — Play Guitar and Have Axe ¬– Will Groove were made, establishing himself as an MVP in Nashville’s live and independent music communities.
All the while, Quit Your Job — Play Guitar had been gestating. “Finally I decided it was time to stop being a sideman and step into the limelight,” he says. “In a town like Nashville, it’s easy to be intimated by the great singers and great instrumental technicians all around, but I had discovered a voice and of my own and it was getting stronger and stronger.”
That voice is at a peak on Have Axe – Will Groove. Robinson’s strategy for making the album was simple. He chose songs he wrote, co-wrote or that helped him tell his story, then enlisted his favorite Nashville musicians, including bassist Daniel Seymour (Tommy Womack, David Olney, Irene Kelley), and drummer Paul Griffith (Todd Snider, John Prine, Steve Earle) to lay the basic tracks. A-list vocalists (Vicki Carrico and Jonell Mosser) and instrumentalists (TJ Klay, Roguie Ray LaMontagne, Ben Graves, Justin Amaral, Randy Handley, Michael Webb) rounded out the tracks.
“What I’m interested in,” Robinson explains, “isn’t being flashy or making the latest hit single. It’s what the Allman Brothers call ‘hittin’ the note’… reaching that point where the band is in sync and everybody is firing on all eight cylinders, including the listeners. Because when it’s all said and done, the reason I’m making records and playing gigs is to make music that moves people.”
—END—
MarkRobinsonGuitar.com


Read More

Living the Nashville Dream: "Quit Your Job - Play Guitar"
NASHVILLE, TN] Nashville guitar slinger-songwriter Mark Robinson launches his first solo CD, Quit Your Job – Play Guitar, on (appropriately) Labor Day weekend. Until now, Mark has been known in musician circles for his guitar gigs with Bob Cheevers, Tad Robinson, Carrie Newcomer, Cory Batten, Davis Raines, and many more. But with the new CD, he steps out as an artists in his own right.

In 2004, after being “one of the best guitar players in Bloomington, Indiana” for many years, Mark decided to take the plunge, quit his video producer job at Indiana University, and go swim with the big fish in Music City. It’s been an adventure.

"For me, Nashville’s been a six-year town," says Mark, referring to the “5-Year Town” status Nashville has for many musicians. "After years working a straight job and playing guitar on the side, I just had to give music a full-time shot. I didn't want to wake up one day, looking retirement in the face, regretting what might have been. So I quit my job and moved here. Now that my CD is out, a project I could only have done in Nashville, well, it's a great feeling. This whole experience has been so worth it, worth every gig where the musicians out-numbered the audience, every near-empty tip jar, every call I didn't get. Because when I look at the incredible players I work with now, the amazing songwriters I write with, and the line-up of some of Nashville's best on the CD, I realize that I am doing what so many musicians only dream of: I make music for a living in Music City. It just doesn't get any better than this."

The nine originals and two covers on the CD are roots-based blues, soul, Americana, rock, R&B—all played to the boogie hilt by Mark Robinson and his "erudite guitar" (in the words of one reviewer). One of the covers will be especially familiar to Bloomington listeners: “Payday Giveaway” is Mark’s soulful take on one of the late Bill Wilson’s best-loved songs.

At the CD release parties, he'll be joined by more of Nashville's finest: Paul Griffith on drums, Dan Seymour on bass, Randy Handley (a former Bloomington guy, too) on keyboards—to play Mark Robinson’s own brand of roots and blues—real get-up-and-move music that's good for your soul.

Check out www.QuitYourJobPlayGuitar.com for more.

PUBLICITY CONTACT: Sue Havlish, Big Sister Productions
812-327-5494 sue@bigsisterproductions.com

Bob Cheevers
"My old pal from Indiana has completed a musical circle with Quit Your Job-Play Guitar, stepping out of the sideman shadow with a super-kool collection of self-penned, co-written and cover songs that match his musical talents. You can hear the seasoned honesty in his voice and feel the razor's edge of his guitar playing on every track. Nothing overdone or underachieved here -- just plain deep-in-the-groove delivery song after song. Count me in as a fan of this record."
--Bob Cheevers
Austin, Texas, Inbred Records Recording Artist, New CD: Tall Texas Tales

Tad Robinson
“For years, Mark Robinson has been known in the music biz as a talented and versatile sideman. But on Quit Your Job, he walks out of the shadows and into the spotlight as a leader. Mark comes up with an entertaining collection of heartfelt songs in which the expert backing band cozily fits each tune. With clever songs like the pithy, 'Back Up Plan,' and the yearning of the closing track, 'Try One More Time,' it's evident that Mark belongs in that spotlight; let it shine!”
--Tad Robinson
5-Time Blues Music Award Nominee
Severn Records Recording Artist, New CD: Back in Style

Karen Leipziger
Quit Your Job - Play Guitar, the aptly titled solo debut release of guitar player/songwriter Mark Robinson, proves that it's never too late to follow your dreams -- a soulful collection of roots/blues."
--Karen Leipziger
KL Productions, "Keeping the Blues Alive" Award-Winning Publicist

Randy McNutt
"Adeptly mixing the blues with rock-and-roll and a tint of country, singer-guitarist Mark Robinson shows how American music has evolved in sixty years, drawing upon its real roots. His studio band is tight, his original songs are heartfelt and catchy, and the production is first class. For me, his version ofthe instrumental 'Sleepwalk' alone is worth the price of the CD."

--Randy McNutt

Independent Production and Author of Guitar Towns: A Journey to the Crossroads of Rock and Roll and King Records of Cincinnati

T. Drozdowski
“Six-string slinger Mark Robinson’s Quit Your Job - Play Guitar is a soulful tour of American roots music’s hot spots, from the hills of Mississippi to the streets of Memphis to the heart of New Orleans to Chicago’s West and South sides and, of course, the honky-tonks of his Nashville base. And it’s not just his erudite guitar — which speaks a vocabulary of elegant bends, gorgeous tones and stomping riffs — that narrates the journey. Originals like the shadowy blues ‘The Fixer’ and the broken-hearted ‘Try One More Time’ are proof he’s a storyteller who’s found his calling.”

--Ted Drozdowski

Guitarist, Songwriter, "Keeping the Blues Alive" Award-Winning Journalist, Vizz Tone Recording Artist, Scissormen's New CD: Luck in a Hurry