Rob Drabkin is a native of Denver, CO. His Mom had him take piano lessons at 5. That only lasted for a few months. At 11, Rob got lucky and scored an electric guitar from his parents. He and his older sister would sneak Metallica and Guns N’ Roses cassettes into the house. They loved listening to this forbidden music and Rob learned all of the guitar parts on both cassettes note for note. Soon after, Rob found himself playing Rhythm Guitar in Jazz Band in middle school. Learning a tune like “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane was a lot different than playing Heavy Metal anthems “Welcome to The Jungle” and “Enter Sandman.” Rob loved what he was hearing though and stuck with it. Now he says, “I started to really love Jazz and especially playing with a horn section.”
For being relatively new to the music scene, Rob has assembled a truly impressive roster of musicians including: Jazz virtuoso Bijoux Barbosa on Bass (played and recorded with Herbie Mann and Dave Grusin) Brian McRae, (played and toured with The Bodeans and The Freddy Jones Band) Eric Moon on keyboards (toured with Bjork and recorded with Victor Wooten) and Mackenzie Roberts, who played Viola with Rob before achieving huge success with The Flobots. Mackenzie also introduced Rob to The Denver Children’s Home where he volunteers his time twice a month to help abused and troubled teens learn to write songs. Rob explains, “The kids here love hip hop and rap and can freestyle really well. I’m constantly impressed by how they take the chaos they’ve endured and turn it into a way to express themselves.” Working with the kids has also made Rob appreciate his own family that much more. He talks about working with his father on one of the tracks on “On These Heavy Feet.” “Lullaby” is an instrumental collaboration that my Dad and I did. It really highlights his Sax playing. Being able to play some live shows with my Dad is incredible. The way he plays and his tone are simply unforgettable. There is a certain quality that just sings through his horn and not many sax players have that.”
Rob has achieved some big wins in his career so far. He was voted Colorado’s Best Singer/Songwriter by Westword Magazine 2008- 2010. He gathered enough votes to earn his turn on stage at The Mile High Music Festival with artists like The Fray, Widespread Panic, Tool, and Ben Harper. He played a Sold Out show at The Fox Theater opening for The John Butler Trio. Hes done short tours with Carbon Leaf and Tea Leaf Green and a national tour with Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam. Rob recalls how Davy invited him to join the tour. Davy said, “Rob, why don’t you save yourself the gas money and just come on the bus with us for the month?” We traveled the country, played some incredible places like Higher Ground and The Bowery Ballroom. It was a phenomenal experience and I cant wait to get on the road again.”
Rob also got a huge kick playing at Film on Red Rocks at the legendary Red Rocks amphitheater. He laughs, “Not a lot of people get to play their own music at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and we got to play to a sold out crowd before they showed The Big Lebowski which was nothing short of a dream come true. It was really cool because I grew up in Colorado and got to see so many of my favorite musicians play there.”
“I’m having a great time making music and I just want to inspire others to go after what will truly make them happy. That’s why I grew my hair a bit crazy. I just wanted to let loose, get expressive, create some nice grooves and get people to move.”
Rob came through Faultline to record with Starita on his way back from playing the House of Blues in San Diego and Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. Everybody had a blast laying down acoustic tracks while spitting banter about. Rob is a truly talented artist and we are happy to have him in the Faultline Family! Be sure to check out his website for music and tour dates.
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For 32 years, Harmony has been a leading-edge lifestyle festival that celebrates the latest trends in health, music, arts, ecology, and spirituality. Created and seasoned in the trend-setting North Bay Area, Harmony is the original festival to appeal to the green lifestyle market.
Over the past 5 years Harmony expanded into a major music festival and in 2009-10, Harmony added the Eco Rally Action Sports Skate Zone to attract a younger demographic.
In 2008, Harmony Festival celebrated its landmark 30th Anniversary with Damian Marley as the headliner.
In 2009, Harmony Festival again invested capital in the expansion of brand recognition and in pursuit of new demographics. Through the introduction of the 1st Annual Eco Rally Skateboard Competition, Harmony Festival received national and international attention and achieved new record numbers for ticket sales and revenues.
In 2010, Harmony Festival, Inc. moved its corporate headquarters to Sonoma Mountain Village, North America’s first and only the fourth in the world to receive the prestigious One Planet Communities honor.
The 2010 Festival reached record-breaking attendance estimated at 35,000 people over the weekend. Press outreach, both print and online, hit the mark with featured stories appearing in LA Times, Boston Globe and thousands of impressions on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Slightly Stoopid and Ms. Lauryn Hill rocked the main field. Eco Rally Skateboard Competition attracted the 7-16 year old demographic. This pro/am contest featured MTV, Village Voice and Rolling Stone youth oriented music. The second year of Harmony Festival’s financially successful Harmony Tea House featured freshly made baked goods, teas, live jazz and sacred music in an intimate setting.
The 2011 Harmony Festival is a very exciting year for Faultline Studios as it features many members of the Faultline Family one of which is headlining Friday!
Michael Franti and Spearhead have long been a San Francisco staple but, over the past 2 years Michael has reached international stardom with his single “Say Hey”. They hit the road with John Mayer on his “Battle Studies” tour which exposed the band to a whole new audience that accepted them with open arms. Michael followed up this monumental tour with the release of another chart topping record “Sound of Sunshine”. Franti has been through Faultline tracking drums for his upcoming album as well as voiceover for a documentary. We’ve also had the pleasure of having his band, The Rockin’ Heads rehearse here for their annual Fillmore show for Power To The Peaceful.
Michael Franti and Spearhead will be headlining the festival Friday, June 10th so, be sure to catch his energy packed live show!
Jaden Carlson is another member of the Faultline Family that has spent plenty of time inside the walls of Faultline Studios.
Jaden realized her passion for guitar at an early age. Starting her venture with classical Suzuki training, she quickly moved to acoustic and electric rock, teaching herself many of her favorite covers and writing her own original material. Her musicianship on the guitar and songwriting is beautiful and impressive.
Possessing an amazing ear and an insatiable love for playing and performing, Jaden’s repertoire includes her beautiful and touching originals, as well as many covers by Michael Franti & Spearhead, Trevor Hall, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Ziggy Marley, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Peter Tosh, U2, Brett Dennen, and many more.
She has had some great opportunities to play with Michael Franti and Spearhead, Trevor Hall, Chris Steele, Keaton Simons, Scott Messersmith, Garrett Sayers, Rob Drabkin, Curtis Salgado, Roy Wooten, Steve Kimock, Dave Watts, Radioactive, Matt Butler and The Everyone Orchestra, and many other amazing artists.
Jaden has performed at national venues such as the House Of Blues in San Diego, The Gothic Theater in Denver, The Fox Theater in Boulder, and at numerous festivals across the country as well as at many benefits. She is also involved with some wonderful organizations such as Love, Hope, Strength and Feed Them With Music, and is an Arbor Collective Musician.
Jaden recorded her full-length CD “Tell Me What You See” here at Faultline along side Michael Ver Steegt and Starita featuring Keaton Simons, Rob Drabkin, Chris Steele (Trevor Hall), Dave Shul (Spearheard) Oren Williams(Rockin’ Heads, Pirate Radio) and Eric Grant.
Her band at Harmony Festival will consist of Oren Williams on drums and Michael Ver Steegt on bass. Oren has recorded at Faultline many times and is coming, yet again, with his own band Pirate Radio to work with our in-house producer/engineer, Starita.
Jaden will be playing Friday, June 10th from 3:30-4:30 so, be sure to check her out!
SOJA also came through Faultline to mix a tune with our own Yosh!. This band has definitely made waves across the world!
In 2005 the band hit the road… and they hit the road hard. Often dubbed “road warriors”, SOJA has brought their unique sound and stage show to nearly every city in North America, as well as many cities throughout Europe, South America, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean. While touring in Puerto Rico the band linked up with sax player Hellman Escorcia & trumpet player Rafael Rodriguez. These two exceptional musicians earned their position as SOJA’s mainstay horn section by helping further develop the band’s eclectic sound.
With no signs of slowing down – SOJA is planning a world tour for 2011/2012 in support of their upcoming album release. It’s all about the message in the music for this band. “People think we write music about the earth for the earth’s sake, but its not really like that. If we harm the earth, it will reject us. For all we know, its happened one hundred times before. This place gets too hot, that’s it. Reset button. That’s why I sing what I sing – to pull us all in the same direction, the same future. Without that, were finished (Jacob Hemphill).”
SOJA hits the stage Sunday, June 12th from 3-4:30 so, be there!
We are proud to call these artists members of The Faultline Family and look forward to watching them rock The Harmony Festival!!!!!
http://www.pirateradiotheband.com/
http://www.robdrabkin.com/home.cfm
http://www.trevorhallmusic.com/
