Tad Robinson leads the rest of his band.
AUSTN CANDOR / THE DEPAUW
The DePauw had the opportunity to personally sit down with soul blues singer Tad Robinson and learn more about his profession and take on the music business.
The DePauw (TDP: Where are you from?
Tad Robinson (TR): [I was] born in Manhattan. Loved New York city…That was a great childhood…To a person from New York, [it] felt like small town because you lived in your neighborhood, you knew everybody…It felt to a child growing up there that was your playground.
TDP: What brought you to Greencastle?
TR: My in-laws…A long time ago, when I decided to go to music school, I left New York and went to the Indiana School of Music…So I went to Bloomington and stayed in the Midwest. Met my wife and her family was from here. So that’s the connection we had to Greencastle.
TDP: How much time does your profession take out of your life?
TR: Well, I do…probably about 100 dates a year right now. Some local, some far away. We’ve played about 15 countries in the last 10 years. All over Western Europe, Eastern Europe…Ultimately, it’s just good to play to play in front of people who have an appreciation for American traditional music, like blues and soul.
TDP: What do you like most about traditional music, or more specifically, the blues?
TR: I like the fact that there is a tradition behind the music. So, there’s a structure and a folklore behind it…I was lucky coming up playing blues because I lived in Chicago for about a decade…There were so many great artists there, and that you could have ready access to them, like you could meet your heroes. So being a blues musician is a little like being a historian. By virtue of wanting to understand the idiom that you play in, you have to study it, you have to research it.
TDP: Can you give me some background of your new CD?
TR: There’re a lot of different types of blues. There’s Delta blues, rock blues…and there’s jazz blues…My brand of blues is…what we call soul blues and the music on my album is 11 original songs that I’ve written with other song writers and [they] are songs about relationships, songs about loss, songs about some gritty blues. But…it’s more of a singer’s record…
TDP: Where do you get these stories when writing the songs? Are they personal?
TR: Not really. I think a singer is an actor. So people say, “Oh, are these all your personal reflections?” and I don’t think they are…I write with a team…Most of these songs are collaborations with at least one other songwriter…They’re all in my studio band…
TDP: As a vocalist, have you taken lessons?
TR: I’ve taken lessons along the years, but there’s no lesson better than the trenches. You know, being on a tour where you have to sing 11 nights in a row, and sing hard. There’s no school that prepares you for the different environments that you find yourself singing in…You learn tricks.
TDP: What advice would you give an aspiring vocalist?
TR: Meet the sidemen. You’re only going to be as good as your reputation and that’s among the people who are actually active playing gigs. If you’re a singer, your livelihood relies on your relationships with the people who accompany you. You need to impress upon them your professionalism, your preparedness…you need to know you material because you are working with really good side men and side women. They will know the material.
TDP: What would you be if you weren’t a singer?
TR: I always wanted to be a singer from the time I was a little kid, so what I would have done if I hadn’t, I don’t know, because I was so hooked at such a young age, that I never turned back. I really don’t know the answer to that question, because it’s been so long.