Bobby G.: Bio

Bobby G.

is not your average blues performer....

Born in Arkansas and raised in Florida, Bobby G first decided to become a musician while watching the Beatles on television. He picked up electric guitar at age 11 and began to learn 60's rock -- like The Venturas -- earning his callouses by playing to tape recordings. After high school, Bobby connected with the Detroit music scene, playing with several bands until he met the manager of Frijid Pink -- whose recording of "House of the Rising Sun" earned them a gold record and an international following. He recorded and toured with them for 4 years until they disbanded in 1975. Settling into college at the University of Michigan, he then formed a Detroit-based rock band -- Outer Drive -- and then toured the U. S. Before the 70's were over, Bobby amassed coveted concert experience in venues spanning the globe and the U.S.A.

After returning to Florida, Bobby spent several years playing with local-area bands while honing his natural talent to eventually become a sought after blues soloist. His love of blues classics -- Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters -- led him to join another Florida blues man -- Eddie E. (bassist extraordinaire) -- and form a very solid, long-running blues band.

For more than 12 years, the Bobby G Band was known in the Tampa-Bradenton-Sarasota area for its' house rockin' blues that earned them continuous acclaim from fans and appearances at almost every blues venue on Florida's "suncoast". After Gary Guzzardo - former drummer for The Marshall Tucker Band - joined them, they recorded the CD --“You Play it Your Way, I’ll Play it Mine" --a sell out on their indie label. To the chagrin of their many fans, they disbanded when Bobby permanently relocated to the North Carolina mountains by 2001.

Bobby then turned his attention to music production, combining his seasoned talent with technology by recording and producing his first original solo CD Smokey Mountain Blues -- an indie release in 2005. The surprise in this original blues CD is that he played every instrument, himself -- from percussion to keyboard. Bobby then took this inventive one-man show on the road with a successful Netherlands tour in 2007 and returned home convinced by European fans to pursue his solo career -- refining his trademark raw blues guitar with expressive whiskey-voiced lyrics and his own instrumental backing.

Always an innovator, Bobby still pushes the envelope with intricate chord progressions that bring to mind other world-class guitarists such as Carlos Santana or Joe Satriani. His ingenuity continues to astound fans and venues alike -- an electric heart-rushing tour de force -- that features not only his revolutionary guitar and vocal, but spotlights his cutting edge originality as a music producer, too.

Currently, Bobby G is working on his next solo CD and appearing in the Smokey Mountain region (NC, SC, TN). It's no surprise that over his career he has played with so many bands, he can't remember them all. And appeared with blues greats such as: B. B. King, James Peterson, and blues legend Diamond Teeth Mary. And played venues ranging from Pontiac Stadium and House of Blues (N.O.) to countless others as a soloist or with bands, such as: