“ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE A YOUNG GUITARIST CAPTURES THE ATTENTION OF MUSIC LOVERS EARLY IN HIS CAREER AND MANAGES TO SUSTAIN THIS INTEREST AS HE MATURES CREATIVELY AND SHEDS THE ‘PRODIGY’ LABEL. JOE ROBINSON IS ONE OF THOSE RARE TALENTS.”
- Premier Guitar
Twenty-five-year-old Australian Joe Robinson is considered uniquely gifted as a virtuoso guitarist and singer/songwriter. He walks a tightrope between the instrumental music that has put him in the spotlight and a unique fusion of vocally based rock, blues, jazz, and R&B that is entirely his own.
Born in the backwoods of Temagog, on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, Australia, his six-string ability and compositional insight have already earned him a worldwide following.
Robinson started playing guitar at age nine, abandoning the piano lessons he’d been taking for the past three years. He quickly outpaced his guitar instructor and began educating himself via the Internet. At just 13 years old, he won the Australian National Songwriting Competition.
Within a couple of years he was touring regularly and sharing stages with artists such as Tommy and Phil Emmanuel, both of whom served as mentors. He released his first album of original material, Birdseed, in 2005 at age 15.
When a 16-year-old Robinson burned through a Chet-inflected medley of “Day Tripper” and “Lady Madonna” at the opening round of the 2008 Australia’s Got Talent television series competition, the entire house—including the judges— gave him a standing ovation. He went on to win $250k with his take on Tommy Emmanuel’s arrangement of “Classical Gas.”
Tommy Emmanuel then invited him to Nashville, where among other things he hooked up with Brad Paisley’s producer Frank Rogers, who helmed his 2009 release, Time Jumpin’. That same year, Robinson was awarded the title of “Senior Grand Champion Performer of the World” at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood.
He has also performed at Bonnaroo, and was voted “Best New Talent” in the Guitar Player Readers’ Poll.
Robinson has spent the last few years touring North America and abroad (China, Japan, Europe, and Australia) playing festivals and headlining clubs, which has enabled him to define himself as a budding world visionary. Displaying his virtuosity on electric as well as acoustic guitar, Robinson landed a coveted spot as one of Australian Guitar Magazine’s Top 50 Best Guitarists.
Robinson’s Let Me Introduce You … (Joe’s Garage), produced by Rogers and released in 2011, found Robinson accompanied by an all-star team of musicians including drummer Keith Carlock, bassists Michael Rhodes and Bernard Harris, keyboardist Gordon Mote, percussionist Eric Darken, and background vocalist Hershel Boone. The result is a record replete with catchy melodic hooks, sophisticated pop progressions, soulful vocals, and superb guitar playing that encompasses influences from Sweet Baby James to Django. “I’ve been meaning to make an album like this from the start,” Robinson said. “So, after spending years touring as a solo instrumental guitarist, I wanted to push myself in another direction.”
This ultra-talented 25-year-old’s unique musical sensibility, thoroughly modern guitar tones, and tenor voice are at the core of the self-penned songs about communication and self-realization found on his EP, Gemini, Vol. I (2014), which followed 2012’s vibrant EP, Toe Jam. Experimenting with electronic looping, junk percussion and even a toothbrush scrub, Robinson’s one-man-band approach used on the self-produced Gemini, Vol. I helped to create his new sonic landscape. Jacquire King, a three-time GRAMMY Award-winning mixer, put the final touches on the recording.
“I wanted to call the project Gemini because I learned so much about myself while recording these songs,” Robinson says. “Being creative and expanding my scope helped make sure the voice I’m listening to is the one that’s inside of me. When I listen to that voice, I know I’ve got something unique and genuine to say.”
"Since day one, I found it easier and more intriguing to create songs rather than learn existing ones, so the compositional element of my music is somewhat deep-rooted,” Robinson says.
After touring as a soloist for quite some time, Robinson toured predominately with his own trio over the course of the past few years. However, recently he has committed to a new solo show featuring both electric and acoustic guitar. This amazing new show is touring now.
His latest music project, Gemini Vol. 2, is a four-track EP released in 2015 that features his deepest and most creative work to date. Robinson played all the instruments, produced and mixed the project.
In addition to touring on his own, Robinson has been hitting the road with Guitar Army, which features fellow master guitarists/singers/songwriters Robben Ford and Lee Roy Parnell.
Joe is touring with Tommy Emmanuel during early 2017 and is also writing for an upcoming studio album.
What Others Are Saying About Joe Robinson:
“Australian guitarist Joe Robinson has accomplished what most musicians can only dream of.” - NPR
“Robinson’s technique is dazzling — his bluesy licks go by in a blur, and his harmonic savvy is apparent in every chord he plays.” - Nashville Scene
“It’s not hard to imagine him rivaling the popularity of, say, John Mayer in coming years.” - Washington Post