US performer returns to UK

“I’ve very excited about coming back again!” says Bob who returns for dates which include The Chichester Inn, Chichester, on Wednesday, November 2 at 8.30pm as part of the latest Roots Around The World series (tickets £10 from 01243 774641 or direct from The Chichester Inn).

“I was born and raised in New Jersey, adopted by my parents in the year 1966, just a couple of months after I was born.

“I was always interested in the piano. When I was a little kid, before I ever played one, if I was in a room with a piano I’d stand near it and stare. When I was nine, mom and dad had me take piano lessons (so I would be ‘well rounded’), and within a year I was obsessed with it.

“Soon after I became so good, my teacher had to send me to someone else because she had nothing left to teach me. When I was around 14 or 15, I discovered Billy Joel, and The Beatles, which led me to all the rest of rock and roll. Until that time, all I listened to was classical music and jazz. I was a weird kid, but I got better!

“I studied jazz piano and arranging at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and it was around that time I was introduced to the blues and New Orleans piano as played by the likes of Dr John, Professor Longhair, and James Booker. Also Randy Newman. And the great Ray Charles. All of this led to the musical path I am on now.

“In 1990, I moved to Los Angeles, where I have lived for most of the last 20 years, except for a couple of years spent living in New York City and then New Orleans.

“I have played music for a living since I was 18. I have toured playing my own music for the last 15 years. Festivals, theatres, bars, and every single thing in between on four continents. I have played and sung on hundreds of recording sessions, and my music has been heard on TV shows such as Dr Phil, Entertainment Tonight, and Wheel of Fortune. I have been an opening act for The Neville Brothers, Rev. Al Green, Dr. John, Subdudes, Leon Russell, and many others. Played piano on The Price Is Right. Currently, besides playing my own shows around the world, I am also touring with John Fogerty.

“I have finished writing all the material for what will be my eighth full-length CD release. I anticipate a spring 2012 release, but that could always change. The only thing you can count on in the music biz is change.”