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Riding on the heavy metal wave of the 80’s, Rob played in top rock and heavy metal bands from Boston to Honolulu, as well as many of his own electric guitar based instrumental projects. As Rob remembers, “I was always about a half-step behind. By the early 90’s, my chops had gotten scary—and I think my writing was pretty happening too—but I was missing the big key…I hadn’t found my own voice.” Within the next year, Rob happened upon a chance meeting that not only led him to find his voice, but would change his life. In the summer of ’93, Rob met street musician Ned Landin while Ned was performing in Harvard Square, playing acoustic guitar through a PA in strange tunings with a huge sound. As Rob recalls, “I was never more inspired in my life…his sound was just jaw dropping…I went home, put the Strat in the closet, and started writing my first solo acoustic guitar record.”
Consistent Variation caught the attention of Windham Hill founder and New Age Godfather, Will Ackerman, who subsequently signed Rob to his new label, Imaginary Road and produced Rob’s second album, Sticks & Stones, in March of ’97. Sticks & Stones marked the first time Ackerman had chosen to produce a new guitarist since he first produced the late, great composer/guitarist Michael Hedges, in 1980, who, along with Michael Manring, and Ackerman, joined Rob on Sticks & Stones.
Having established his solo acoustic identity with Sticks & Stones, Rob took a decisive step toward realizing his true musical vision. Whereas Michael Hedges was the undisputed master of putting the band in the acoustic guitar, Rob had always intended to stake a claim to putting the acoustic guitar in the band…
In addition, Rob invited his all-time favorite musicians to play. Bassist Michael Manring joined Rob again as well as Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dreggs/Winger) on drums, pianist Alan Pasqua (John Williams Orchestra/Alan Holdsworth) on keys, and additional players including Andy Snitzer (Rolling Stones) on soprano sax, Chris Botti (Sting) on trumpet, Joel Derovin (Eric Clapton Band) on violin and Marc Clark (Ottmar Liebert) on percussion.
The result is Rob’s newest recording, SPEAK!, an album which is that most exciting type of music—an indescribable and new hybrid. The range established on Sticks & Stones, from solo meditations to in-the-gut grooves, has been widened and deepened, with Kip Winger’s masterful production keeping the entire album cohesive and seamless.
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Although
he had been playing guitar since age 8, Rob Eberhard Young was originally inspired at the age of 15 by the first Van Halen record, and has been at
it ever since.
A
year later, he released his first solo recording, 
“Although I enjoy playing and writing for
solo acoustic guitar, that was never what I really set out to do. I felt
that just too many people were playing solo guitar and that, for the most
part, it had become a bit of a ‘dime store’ genre…there wasn’t much
left to say with it that hadn’t already been said. What I wanted to do
is be the first guy to present that ‘huge acoustic guitar in open
tuning’ sound with a full band. Sort of a rock backdrop with huge
grooves, but very ambient and beautiful at the same time. It was like,
‘OK, we’ve heard plenty of great solo acoustic guitar without a band,
and we’ve heard plenty of great electric guitar with a band, but what we
haven’t heard is a really good acoustic guitar instrumental album in a
full band setting, which melds rock, jazz, and new age.’”
So
Rob set out to enlist his “A Team” to help make this new direction a
reality. Much to the surprise
of many industry people, Rob asked Kip Winger to produce. “People just
have no clue how amazing he is…that 80’s stuff was just the very tip
of the iceberg. He’s like Stravinsky…his mastery of orchestration and
making sense out of 40+ tracks per tune was key in making the sound
happen. Plus he’s kind of like my big brother, which made the whole
process much more fun!”
From
