Artist description Robin O’Herin is a local musician from the Berkshires specializing in acoustic blues and gospel with a taste for Appalachian mountain gospel music. In addition to playing bottleneck and regular guitar, she also plays the dulcimer, a traditional American instrument. Robin has performed Appalachian gospel music, blues and original music in various bands and groups, as a solo performer and in duets, playing guitar and dulcimer, locally in New England for over twenty years in churches, coffee houses, open mics and just about anywhere there’s an audience. She has been a song leader in several churches and formed a gospel choir which performed traditional gospel music.

Music Style Delta and Piedmont Blues, Fingerstyle guitar

Musical Influences Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Taj Mahal, Rory Block, Bonnie Raitt, Odetta

Similar Artists Rory Block, Bonnie Raitt, Odetta

Artist History Growing up in the Sixties, I was probably the only kid in my neighborhood listening to such legendary blues artists as Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Bessie Smith, Blind Willie Johnson and Lightning Hopkins, among others. My father still has boxes of his old 78s stored in his garage (someday they’ll be mine). My mother liked folk music, especially Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, but I liked them all—blues, folk and gospel. I wore out my mother’s Odetta records. My choices in music covered a wide spectrum. Leo Kottke and John Renbourne were my heroes. I found myself listening to and learning from a diversified group of musicians: everything from Phil Okes to the Staple Singers, Emmy Lou Harris to Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt and Rory Block to Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. I learned to sing by making up harmonies and singing along with the albums. Music was a refuge and answer to the pain and seeking of a youth growing up in troubled times. I especially loved the raw power and emotion of bottleneck blues. In August of 2001, I fulfilled a dream and spent a week at Blues Guitar Camp in California (International Guitar Seminars), with guitar greats Bob Brozman, Woody Mann and John Renbourne, to name just a few of the awesome guitarists who were there. We studied all day and jammed all night. It’s never too late to go to camp. I was an introspective teen, with lots of time to practice, (I wish I had that kind of time now), listening to scratchy records and struggling to develop a sound. Armed with just two chords I began writing songs. If I was happy, it would make me sing, and if I was sad, it would make me sing. Music became irrevocably entwined with my life. Being involved with the civil rights movement in the sixties had repercussions that are still echoing in my music. It was a non-violent movement fueled by faith and music, lots of music. People wept, laughed and sang, and changed the world. As I grew up, I continued to play blues, but I also developed a taste for Appalachian mountain gospel music. In addition to playing bottleneck and regular guitar, I also play the dulcimer, a traditional American instrument. Appalachian music, like the blues, is “roots” music in one of its purest forms. I have performed Appalachian gospel music, blues and original music in various bands and groups, as a solo performer and in duets, playing guitar and dulcimer, locally in New England for over twenty years in churches, coffee houses, open mics and just about anywhere there’s an audience. I have been a song leader in several churches and formed a gospel choir which performed traditional gospel music. Recent endeavors have included taking a seminar in African American song with Ysaye Barnwell and singing in a community chorus, Eclectichorus, led by jazz singer,Vikki True. I still perform in local churches, the Dream Away Lodge and various open mics throughout the Berkshires, and am expanding to other venues. (Check http:www.robinoherin.com/gigs for when and where info.) In between being a full-time mother of three and a full-time art director, I have devoted the remainder of my time to my music. At long last I am (finally!) done recording my first cd, filled with original music, gospel and country blues. It was recorded at SubStation, a subsidiary of SoulTube Music in Housatonic, MA, owned and run by musician, Robby Baier. The cd, Red, White and Blues, is available online and locally in the Berkshires. There was a time growing up when my parents actually paid me not to sing, not that my singing wasn’t great, but it was just that I would never stop. I still have not stopped singing and in the words of the great gospel song, His Eye Is On The Sparrow: “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free.”

Group Members Robin O'Herin

Albums Red, White and Blues

Press Reviews "...Punctuated by beautiful harmonies and intricate guitar, Red, White and Blues is a country blues and folk mix of old standards and originals that would make Mississippi John Hurt and Lead Belly proud..." — Bill McGowan, The Boston Blues News, Mar-Apr, 2003 to read the complete article click here. "Red, White and Blues" is an easy-going, laid-back effort, a tribute to tradition that extends that tradition forward in a personal vein. It also highlights O'Herin's deft fingerpicking and slide-guitar work on numbers like Willie Moore's "Old Country Rock" and her committed vocals on "Abilene" and a few humorous, original tunes, including "Junkfood Junkie Blues" and "The Driving Song (Commuter Blues)." — Seth Rogovoy, The Beat, Berkshires Week, October 10, 2002 to read the complete article click here. Thanks for the wonderful Christmas show I just watched on channel 16 Pittsfield. I think it was the nicest Christmas show I saw all year —Pittsfield MA fan Love your CD, haven't had it out of my car since I got it. —Mike Johnston , fan from Kansas Everytime I listen to “Brian's Song” I cry. I have been listening to the cd over and over...—another midwest fan I have tons of CDs with one or two good songs on them, but I love every song on Red, White and Blues—Anne Delgrande, Berkshire Fan That last song (Precious Lord) was so good I didn't want it to end!—fan at a recent concert Heartfelt, fun, home-cooked blues—Robby Baier

Location Lee, MA - USA

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