|
Robbie was born
November 23rd 1961 in Florida. Began taking lap steel guitar lessons at
8 years old. Played schools and churches as a child. At age 15 picked up
"standard" 6 string
guitar. In 1978 played first "professional" gig with band "AIRCREW".
1979-1982
Played clubs throughout the
Tampa Fl. area and mastered the craft of entertainment.
Moved to Ft. Pierce, Fl. in 1981 to study for a college degree in music. Kept
the band
AIRCREW together and began playing in Ft. Pierce, Stuart, Cocoa Beach, Delray
Beach,
and surrounding areas on the East Coast of Florida.
1983-1987
Graduated from college with
degree in music. In '83 signed with King Music, Inc. and
began touring the Crown Lounge and Big Daddy's bar circuit. Moved to Miami in
'83 to
be in the middle of a HUGE music scene that was there at that time. In 1984
formed a
new band..."LIX". Moved to Ft. Lauderdale. That year LIX went on a 2 week tour
of PERU courtesy of CBS Records of South America.
Lix signed with K&Marz Productions and played the "A" circuit rooms from Miami
to West
Palm Beach and all points in between. Left the band in 1986 and formed "D-Tour".
In 1987
formed the band "Silent Partner" and signed with Fantasma Productions, Inc. and
continued
to play before thousands of people 7 days a week up and down the East
Coast.
1988-1993
Joined the South Carolina
based band "SUBWAY" in late '88. Moved to Myrtle Beach, SC.
Subway was the number 1 band with Showtime Entertainment, Inc. and traveled the
entire country. Moved to Atlanta, GA. SUBWAY disbanded in late 1990. Moved to
Columbia, SC and the remaining members including Robbie
formed a band called "THE ESSENCE" which became the houseband at the SHANGRI-LA
rock club in Columbia, SC and later took the house job at the DYNASTY rock club
in
Augusta, GA.
In 1991 Robbie returned to Florida and formed a band out of Orlando, FL. called
"SWEET MERCY". After playing a couple of months in Florida working with OMNI
Entertainment, Inc. Robbie took the band to Showtime and CMC Entertainment and
once
again began touring the country.
In 1993 the bottom fell out of the club scene. Drinking laws became stricter and
people started listening to Rap and stopped coming out to clubs. It had become
an industry that was no longer viable for a band or a booking agent to be able
to
fill 7 days a week. So Robbie moved to Easley, SC and hooked up with local
Greenville,SC
band THE OATH.
1994-1998
Played with the Oath and the
band actually defied the odds and were able to work more
than just weekends! Actually began touring from Florida to Maryland at a time
when most
bands were packing it in! In '98 Robbie decided that 20 years was long
enough and "retired".
1999-2002
In late '99 Robbie, now fully
re-charged began putting out "feelers" to see if perhaps
he might want to play again. Joined local Greenville band KID COLT. After a
stint as
the house band at De Walkers in Greenville the band began playing all around the
Upstate area of South Carolina. In 2002 the band re-tooled itself and was
re-named "TRAILER
PARK TRASH". The band had a very successful run and was playing steadily
until...
TRAGEDY BEFELL ROBBIE!
On May 12th 2002 Robbie was in his Jeep Wrangler when it flipped 7 times!
Robbie's neck
was broken as well as both arms. It was uncertain whether he would be paralyzed.
Robbie
spent most of the month in the hospital and on May 29th finally came home.
Barely able to
walk and sporting a neck brace and two full arm casts it was a very discouraging
time.
Determined to come back Robbie began going to the gym everyday and piece by
piece,
little by little began putting himself back together. In July the neck brace was
removed as
well as the arm casts and Robbie began seriously re-habbing his broken body.
Robbie had
dropped from 205 pounds to a weak 183! But by August Robbie had miraculously
re-gained
all his weight and former physique by working through the pain at the gym. In
August
of 2002 Robbie defied all the odds and returned to the stage with the Oath!
After performing with The Oath through November of 2002 Robbie had to
regretfully step aside because of conflicts in scheduling.
2003-????
March 2003 sees Robbie
deciding to come back out and play live again! Recruiting Tony G, who was
formerly of The Oath/Party of Four Band, Robbie also got Claudia for lead vocals
and has formed a trio with the drums and bass sequenced. This is exciting and
promises to be a lot of fun!
|