Lonestar is Here! New Blues Rock EP

{Denver, CO} – James Robinson to release ‘Lonestar’ a reimagined Live in the Studio Blues/Rock EP of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble tracks. Available in all major music streaming services on 8/4/22. ‘Lonestar’ EP features San Francisco Bay Area native James Robinson on electric guitar, his son James Robinson II on bass, and Bryant Mills Sr. on drums. ‘Lonestar’ features five tracks (21 minutes and 21 seconds) recorded live in the studio, each tune in one take.

James Robinson announces new EP ‘Lonestar’ to release 8/4/22 James Robinson is a multi genre, multi instrumentalist that has returned to his musical Blues and Rock roots to present four of his favorite Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble tracks: Little Wing, Travis Walk, Riviera Paradise, and Testify. ‘Lonestar’ includes two versions of Little Wing (Hendrix) revisited by Vaughan, and now reimagined by Robinson. The EP was recorded at 25th Street Studios in Oakland CA during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EP was mixed and mastered by Blake Aaron (Innervision Records) and produced by James Robinson.

Robinson is known for his virtuosic technique, playing effortlessly across many genres including Blues, Flamenco, Latin, Classical, and Jazz. Robinson reimagines these five tracks with his signature intensity. Robinson expertly blends his own sound with the Blues and Rock genres, and delivers these melodies with precision.

Robinson describes recording at 25th Street Studios (Oakland, CA): “25th Street studio has an awesome vibe and it's so great to all be playing in the same room together and to feel that energy of what it’s like playing on the stage. During COVID, we did not have any other live outlet, so it was important to capture that live sound and rawness. Coincidentally the name of my amp on this session is a Mesa Boogie Lonestar set to 100 watts and cranked! We did all the tracks in one take. This truly gives it the immediacy and improvised direction that we thrive on.”

Robinson describes his playing on this EP: “I had a residency in Mountain View for 15 years that honed my guitar sound, giving it intensity and helped me to develop the sense of groove and melody needed to grab and captivate an audience. There is no experience like live playing, and I really wanted this EP to deliver this energy, raw and full of emotion. I even picked both takes of “Little Wing” because I could not pick one, so picked both!”.

Quotes: “James is an extraordinary talent that deserves to be heard.” Larry Carlton

“He’s phenomenal!” "James Robinson’s new record New Beginnings” is an exceptional display of virtuosic guitar playing. He is sounding just phenomenal on this record and his chops, tone, note choice, phrasing are all quite stellar. It’s rare to hear someone that has such authentic acoustic chops, also able to sound great on a screaming electric guitar, and he's that guy." Steve Vai

"...a fabulous improvisational jazz guitarist" Art Thompson, Guitar Player Magazine

BIO: https://www.james-robinson.com/bio www.james-robinson.com

Instagram @James.Robinson.guitar Facebook @JamesRobinsonGuitar Youtube www.youtube.com/jamesrobinsongroup

Suzi Humbert Management suzi.humbert@gmail.com

408-316-9782

Jim Douglas Primetime Entertainment Booking Agency jim@primetimeentertainment.com

925-449-1724

Hello Denver! Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all! We have been hard at work these past few months setting up my new studio and home in Denver Colorado! Ive been enjoying Red Rocks for leg day workouts, and the amazing Skys and sunsets.

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I've also been working with students online with Zoom while the pandemic has taken its course. I truly enjoy teaching guitar and music, and am currently accepting students in person in the Denver area, and online. Email me for more information jamesrobinsongroup@gmail.com

New Beginnings

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Electric Project

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4 (1 hour) Lessons

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Looking forward to more music projects featuring the Denver sound and including new instruments. Follow me on socials to see weekly updates on my adventures.

Cheers,

James Robinson

Electric Project Album Drop 6.4.21

Electric Project is controlled mayhem! It’s an album of seemingly opposite, yet complementary sounds in the guitar color-wheel.

Making of Electric Project:

I was looking to capture the live energy of this group that has always been a hallmark of our output. To keep the energy fluid, a lot of these tunes were not recorded to a click track. I feel that a lot of music recorded today can lack mojo due to over emphasis on aligning everything to the grid.

To use the right studio to find this mojo, Celso suggested we use engineer Michael Rosen (Grammy) at East Bay Recorders in Berkeley CA. Playing with my son, Jimmy on Bass, Celso on Drums, and Timo on Hand percussion with Michael on the console, allowed us to capture our live energy in a studio atmosphere.

While working on the Electric Project, several guitar voices emerged. The blues based sound comes from playing on the neck position with the Fender Strat. The rock guitar sound comes from playing the Ibanez with wider intervals and altered scales. The Latin rock guitar player sound comes from the Paul Reed Smith. The acoustic blues guitar sound is inspired by my brother Peter’s stinging vibrato, and comes from my Martin steel string, These guitar voices are a part of my musical identity. The trading solos throughout the tracks make for interesting colours, not only in tambor, but with the scales and melodies themselves that are intrinsic to each instrument.

I find each guitar is asking for a different approach.The tambor of each instrument leads to the inspiration of my music. I would have loved to have heard Allan Holdsworth play with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robben Ford with Hendrix, Al Di Meola with B.B King, and Pat Metheny with John McLaughlin to name a few.

The album features several of James favorite tunes, All Blues by Miles Davis, Life by the Drop by Stevie Ray Vaughn (sung by niece Carrie Nicole Robinson), and Stratus by Billy Cobham.

All Blues:

"The great Miles tune that is the great vehicle for so many approaches to play over I had to record it twice and would have gone for three… This take (track 8) is the representation of my alter ego looks on guitar as the blues lick motif player trades with the jazz rock altered scale player both me, each in harmony with the other, all disagreements are resolved amicably."

"In this take of All Blues (track 15) I wanted to show four different looks by using four very different guitars and the scales that best match their tambors: my Eastman jazz guitar, Kenny Hill nylon string, Paul Reed Smith, Fender Strat. Starting with the jazz guitar clean using a more traditional jazz approach, to my Nylon String using more Iberian peninsula inspired scales, Paul Reed Smith in a modern blues, and lastly the Strat to rock the last verse. Each guitar/style building upon the previous to bring it back around to the melody."

James Robinson

Life by the Drop:

" I have a personal connection to this moving song as it speaks to my upbringing coming from a large family wearing hand me downs and having the blues handed down to me from older brothers with “worn out shoes”, and “talking about good times and singing the blues”. Wishing anyone struggling with addiction living “Life by the Drop” to find solace in this great tune. It is such a great joy to have my super talented niece singing on this track bringing the love of family full circle"

James Robinson

Dave Lepori, photographer extraordinaire (photo by Suzi Humbert, shot during photoshoot in San Fransisco.

click the album for pre-save options

Looking forward to life returning and bringing Electric Project to you.

Cheers,

James Robinson