Janet Robin
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Janet Robin (born 1966) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, film and television composer, and guitar coach. Robin was named on the ''Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists Bonus List'' in ''
Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons covering artists, genres and products. It has been in print since late 1967. The magazine ...
'' in 2017.


Early life

Robin grew up in North Hollywood, California where she and her older brother Steve began taking acoustic folk guitar lessons at Valley Arts Guitar. When Steve wanted to begin playing electric guitar, the Robins were both referred to a North Hollywood music school owned by Delores Rhoads called Musonia School of Music. At Musonia, Robin took electric guitar lessons as the youngest and only female guitar student of Delores's son, Quiet Riot guitarist
Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo alb ...
. Robin continued taking lessons from Rhoads until he joined Ozzy Osbourne's band as lead guitarist.


Career


Precious Metal

Robin began performing professionally at the age of 16 in the mid-1980s playing guitar in the all-female hard rock band Precious Metal which she joined in February 1984. The band performed at Los Angeles venues such as FM Station, Club Lingerie, Whisky a Go Go and
The Roxy Roxy, Roxey, and Roxie may refer to: People * Roxy (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name Places in the United States * Roxie, Mississippi, a town * Roxie, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Music * Roxy M ...
. This exposure brought Precious Metal to the attention of influential KROQ radio disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, who played their music on his radio program. Russ Regan, head of Polygram Records, signed the band soon afterwards, and Precious Metal released their debut record ''Right Here, Right Now'' in 1985 on Mercury Records. After leaving Polygram, the band was picked up by
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
subsidiary label
Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...
who released their final two albums ''That Kind of Girl'' in 1988 and ''Precious Metal'' in 1990. While in Precious Metal, Robin wrote songs with members of Heart,
Poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
and Cheap Trick. Precious Metal recorded a cover of the Jean Knight song, " Mr. Big Stuff" for their 1990 self-titled album. Donald Trump originally made an appearance in the music video. However, Trump wanted a $250,000 payment instead of the agreed-upon $10,000 appearance fee. After the band refused to pay for his appearance, Trump was replaced in the final version of the music video.


Lindsey Buckingham and touring

After Chameleon Records went bankrupt and Precious Metal broke up in 1991, Robin started a duo with Precious Metal lead singer Leslie Knauer called Sugar Shack while also playing session gigs. In 1992, she became a full-time member of
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's band, touring extensively behind his solo album ''
Out of the Cradle ''Out of the Cradle'' is the third solo album by American singer/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham. Released in 1992, it was Buckingham's first album after his departure from Fleetwood Mac, in 1987 (though Buckingham rejoined the band in 1997). He ...
'' as both a headline act and in support of Tina Turner. Robin's first gig with Buckingham was a live performance on '' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' one week after she joined the band. Robin performed with Buckingham until 1994. In addition to performing with Buckingham, Robin also appeared as a guitarist for several artists including Meredith Brooks, Michelle Shocked,
Alice Peacock Alice Peacock (born November 19, 1969) is an American folk singer and has recorded five independent albums and an album released by Aware/Columbia Records (2002). A native of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, she lived in Chicago, Illinois where she ...
and Sarah Bettens. From 2008 to 2009 she was a touring member of Air Supply.


Solo career

Robin has recorded and released solo albums on her own imprint, Little Sister Records. In 1998, she recorded and released her first album ''Open the Door'' which was produced by Mark Karan of Bob Weir & Rat Dog. Robin joined Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart for an acoustic performance which led to a write up in music industry trade publication
Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...
and earned her industry attention. She continued to record and release her own material expanding her touring up the West Coast and eventually to the East Coast. Robin has co-written songs with several artists including Maia Sharp,
Garrison Starr Garrison Starr (born Julia Garrison Starr on April 29, 1975) is a Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter/producer. Her major label debut, "18 Over Me" was released in 1997 (Geffen). Starr's shows have been described as "marrying pop smarts ...
, and
Sue Ennis Sue Ennis is a songwriter from Seattle, Washington. She has co-written over 80 songs with Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart. Career Ennis' songwriting with Heart includes " Straight On", " Even It Up" and " Dog & Butterfly", and she ...
. Her song ''Personal Revolution'' appeared on the ''Girls Night Out, Vol. 5 '' (2004, Genius Entertainment) compilation CD. In 2007, Robin began working with producers David Bianco and Steve Baughman on an EP entitled ''Days of Summer''. Through Baughman she met Czech band November 2 on MySpace and travelled to the Czech Republic to tour with them. This led to subsequent European tours with Robin expanding her touring to Germany, France and the U.K. She has performed in Europe in support of several artists including Tommy Emmanuel,
Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...
and
Lenka Filipová Lenka Kripac (born 19 March 1978) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress best known for her song "The Show", from her debut album, ''Lenka''. "The Show" has been used in numerous advertisements, most notably for Old Navy, as well as th ...
. In 2009, Robin met up with producer John Carter Cash to record her album ''Everything Has Changed.'' Robin raised $16,000 in fan donations to record the album. ''Everything Has Changed'' was released in 2010 by German record label Hypertension Music who she was introduced to by Colin Hay. Robin released the album in the U.S. on Little Sister Records in 2012. In 2013, Robin released her first live recording, "Janet Robin & Band, Live in France," which featured a live show recording at a blues club in France with her French band. The album was produced and mixed by famed French guitarist, Charlie Fabert. In 2016, Robin again raised fan donations and recorded ''Take Me As I Am'' with John Carter Cash as executive producer and Chuck Turner as Producer and Engineer at Cash Cabin in Nashville. In 2018 she released a digital single-an instrumental version of " Here Comes the Sun".


The String Revolution

The String Revolution The String Revolution is an international guitar ensemble composed of Markus Illko, Janet Robin and Rober Luis Gomez formed in Los Angeles, California in 2015. The group's debut EP, ''Stringborn'', was released in 2016 and was mixed and mastere ...
is a side project started by Robin featuring four international guitar players playing mostly original instrumental pieces of all genres. Their first EP ''Stringborn'' was released in October 2016, mixed and mastered by Matt Hyde ( Rodrigo y Gabriela). Their follow-up EP, ''Red Drops'', was released in 2019.


Film and TV composing

Robin has composed scores for the short films, "Traces,", "War of Art," and "Use Me Up." Robin contributed guitar to Michelle Shocked's score for the documentary ''
Bush's Brain ''Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential'' is a book by James Moore and Wayne Slater that chronicles the political career of Karl Rove and the role he has played in the elections of George W. Bush, both when running for Gov ...
''. She has had songs placed on several TV shows, including ''
One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...
'', ''
All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...
'', '' The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and '' Felicity''. Her song "On My Feet Again" appeared in the short film comedy "Casting All Corpses: An Actor's Memorial" which won ''Best Comedy Short'' at ''The Hollywood Reel Film Festival''. Robin was the guitar coach for Quentin Tarantino's 2015 film '' The Hateful Eight''. She taught actress Jennifer Jason Leigh how to play guitar. Leigh was nominated for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in the film.


Discography

* 1998: ''Open the Door'' (Renaissance Records) * 2001: ''Out From Under'' (Little Sister Records) * 2004: ''After The Flood'' (Little Sister Records) * 2007: ''Days of Summer – EP'' (Little Sister Records) * 2010: ''Everything Has Changed'' (Hypertension Music) * 2012: ''Everything Has Changed'' (Little Sister Records) * 2013: ''Live in France'' (Little Sister Records) *2016: ''Stringborn'', The String Revolution (String Revolution Music) *2016: ''Take Me As I Am'' (Little Sister Records) *2018: " Here Comes the Sun" (Little Sister Records), Instrumental Single *2019: ''Red Drops'', The String Revolution (String Revolution Music)


References


External links


Janet Robin Official WebsiteThe String Revolution Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robin, Janet 1966 births Living people American women singers Singers from California Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women