Bio
Personal History
A Native American and native Arizonan, Bob was born on the Gila River Pima reservation southeast of Phoenix. He grew up in and around Coolidge, Arizona, where he completed primary and secondary schooling, graduating from Coolidge High School in 1979. He attended American Indian College in Phoenix, and Grand Canyon University, also in Phoenix.
Musical History
Bob has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old. His over 30 years of experience is evidenced by his eclectic styles and ease with the instrument. Bob has been involved in church music for many years and served as worship leader in various churches, as well as at national conventions and convocations. He has made several television appearances and done gospel and worship music recordings.
A few years ago, Bob began playing the Phoenix-area coffeehouse scene, performing at various open mic venues. He made quite an impression on area musicians, and caught the attention of local television personality Steve Bodinet. At the request of Mr. Bodinet, Bob made an appearance on Channel 3's "Good Morning Arizona" in early 2004, performing original music and impressing the hosts and audience alike with his music and interview. In 2005 he made two return appearances to the show. Since that time, Bob's calendar has been solidly booked with performances around Arizona and elsewhere around the country. Listeners enjoy Bob's smooth performance on cover tunes, but especially his original music, much of which is influenced by his Southwestern and Native American roots. He released two CD's during the winter of 2004/2005 containing, with the exception of one song, all original music. Recently, Bob won The Proof Is In The Pudding solo artist competition at Alice Cooperstown in Phoenix. He went on to perform at Alice Cooper's Christmas show held at the Dodge Theater along with Alice himself, STYX, Don Felder of the Eagles, and many other world-class musicians. During 2006, Bob enjoyed a 4-month run at Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino in Mescalero, NM. The summer of 2007 found Bob & Penny in the hill country of Texas, where they enjoyed great success performing mainly in the tourist town of Fredericksburg. Bob has also been featured in several writers' showcases in Nasvhille. In March of 2008, Bob received an invitation to the national auditions for Nashville Star, a country music reality series similar to American Idol. He attended the audition in Burbank, California, and was selected for a callback interview the next day.
Musical Repertoire & Influences
Bob's repertoire is eclectic and constantly growing and includes pop jazz standards like Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon and All Of Me and Nat King Cole's Mona Lisa and When I Fall In Love. He convincingly covers Jim Croce tunes Don't Mess Around With Jim, Time In A Bottle, etc., James Taylor hits like Fire and Rain and Handy Man, Elvis favorites such as Teddy Bear and Hound Dog, and a Beatles lineup that spans the early 60's to the mid 70's. Bob's influences include modern jazz guitarists Charlie Smith, George Benson, and Lee Ritenour; rock legends Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Doobie Brothers; blues artists Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King; and Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Mac Powell, and Petra in the Christian music arena. Bob loves country music, a love planted and fostered by his mother, and expresses that love by passionately covering classics by Charley Pride, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, etc., as well as more modern tunes by Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Blake Shelton, and others.
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