Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Lore.
Robin, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started in 2nd grade when my music teacher told me I couldn’t play drums because I was a girl. I decided to be the best drummer in class at that point and continued to practice, much to my parent’s chagrin, every day until I was! I got into several bands as a drummer in New York before moving to MA. for college. I frequented an open mic where I just liked to watch until one night the host (and one of the best people I know), Russ Lawton, made me get up and play with him. I did and ended up getting into a band that very night. I played drums with that band for years until one day a guy I was dating bought a guitar. It sat in the corner of my bedroom collecting dust for about a year before I heard Ani Difranco rockin out on my radio one day and decided… I wanna do that!! I picked up the guitar and started messing around with it. I wrote a couple of songs and eventually got to sing them in the band I was in. That snowballed into a few more songs until we finally got another drummer allowing the original lead singer and I to share the front of the band. We got really good and we’re all supposed to move to CA. to break out in the music world.
One by one they dropped out of that dream, but I decided to go. Off to CA. I went with a Nisan Sentra full of all my goods and 1200$ in my pocket. I ended up in Southern CA where I played everywhere and anywhere I could. Got my first break after playing into an industry showcase at The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles. I was picked up by a production company that liked what they heard and offered to record my very first solo CD. I had one week to come up with ten songs so I through all of my time and self into writing. Dear Diary is the title track of the CD by the same name. It was fitting considering it was a diary of my trials and tribulations heading to CA. on my own. I continued to play everywhere that would have while in CA. Finding myself very lucky to get into all the great spots. Viper Room, Whiskey A Go-Go, The Troubadour, The House of Blues and everywhere else you’d want to be in LA. I grabbed a nomination for six years in a row for the Orange County and Hollywood Music Awards before finally winning an OCMA for best live female performer. I recorded my 2nd solo CD, Fickle Girl in Nashville with some really great musicians in 2009 before heading on tour for nine months. I opened for Ani Difranco in Phoenix and did the loop between Austin and Chicago quite a lot which eventually landed me here in Dallas.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Is it ever a smooth road for anyone trying to accomplish a dream? I definitely had my struggles along the way. From sleeping in a car for months while touring because I couldn’t afford a hotel to working a day job that I despised to make enough money for gas to drive 2 hours to play three songs every night of the week just so I could build up my chops and “be seen”… to having my car stolen with all of my notebooks (songs) and just off the press Fickle Girl CD’s in it….. to staying on friends couches because I couldn’t afford rent in CA. (it’s expensive as hell there!) It has been a long road, but one that got me where I am today. I wouldn’t change a thing…
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I do music and I’d say lyrics are my specialty… I run an open mic every Friday night at The Bison Bar in Dallas that brings in lots of great new and seasoned musicians. I’d say I’m most proud of sticking with it all these years and finally getting to a point where I am playing music full time and not struggling. I have my own place, a nice car and I go on vacation whenever I want to…. all thanks to the thing I love doing most in the world. Not too shabby!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’d say it’s played some part in certain aspects, but no part in others. It was lucky that I met the producer of my Fickle Girl CD, Tres Sasser, many years before at a club in Boston. It was luck that Ani DIfranco happened to be playing in Phoenix a month after I was driving through there and my friend decided to call as my “manager” to get me an opening act just because I’d recently told him she was my number one person I’d want to open for. Luck, fate, whatever you want to call it certainly plays a role in this line of work, but thats not to say it’s everything. Hard work and sacrifice made me what I am today and luck just made it a little easier at times.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.reverbnation.com/robinlore
- Phone: 9493512944
- Email: samthecattbooking@gmail.com
- Instagram: robin.lore
- Facebook: facebook.com/robinloremusic
- Twitter: @robinlore42
- Other: bandsintown.com/a/208765?_from206
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