I began playing guitar at age twelve when I asked my dad to start showing me a few chords. It didn’t take long before I came to my own and began practicing many hours a day.

As I got more and more serious about music throughout high school I wanted to take my experience to the next level and so I auditioned for and was accepted to Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While there I performed with the school’s Small Group Combo and Big Band.

After high school I wanted to go to the next level once again and auditioned for and was accepted to a few different music colleges but decided that Boston’s New England Conservatory was the best fit for me. Here, I had the opportunity to study and perform with some of the world’s best jazz performers and composers. As a sophomore I was a part of a group who received the Honors Jazz Ensemble award and as a senior I was awarded a scholarship for composition.

Every summer since the age of thirteen I...

Robert began playing guitar in Houston, Texas at the age of 12. It was not long before he began playing in bands and played his first professional gig at age 17. Robert performed in and around the Houston area for five years before deciding to study music on the college level. He attended the University of North Texas and later attended Musicians Institute. While a student at MI, Robert was given the Outstanding Student of the Year Award for 1991-'92. Robert began teaching at MI in the guitar school (GIT) in 1993. He has played with Bo Diddley, Tim Bogert, Chevy Chase, Floyd Radford, Deacon Jones, Joe Houston and countless others. He has performed for Buddy Ebson and Chevy Chase and has partied with the Monkees. In addition to playing guitar Robert also plays and teaches bass guitar and piano.

I've loved music since I was able to walk. When I was 5 or 6, I would listen to my mother's stereo system, with Jim Croce playing on the 8-Track tape deck.....(ok, so I'm aging myself a little bit). I would lay on the floor in between the speakers which were turned inward toward my ears. I could lay there for hours, tapping my toes to "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", "Roller Derby Queen", "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", and many others. I would also listen to the Beatles, Seargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and "Revolution" and be completely taken away. I didn't realize it then, but what captivated me were the songs that were written to tell stories, and the music that brought the stories to life. As I grew into my early teens, I got into Kiss, Alice Cooper, Rush, Ted Nugent, and Jimi Hendrix. (His version of "All Along the Watch Tower" was much better than Bob Dylan's original version)

During my high school years I got more into Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, because of it's...