Bobby Holland describes his music as “uptempo Americana, southern style,” which as an description for his distinct blend of influences. This probably comes from his Richmond, VA upbringing, one which brought with it a southern heritage that informs the styling of his songs. In many ways, Holland defies easy categorization, as he moves seamlessly from country, through rock, and right on into the blues. He consistently delivers first rate material that will keep the listener engaged and returning for more.
These days, R.T. Colasurdo is spending less time on the road and much more of it in the studio, writing his musical stories. Starting in his early teens, he has been a working musician, performing with northwest greats such as The Griffin Band, Breeze, Hotel Texas and the renowned Bramble Brothers.
Like a lot of kids, R.T. took up music at an early age – but unlike most, he kept after it. Practicing guitar while learning other instruments, his hard work eventually paid off. This veteran songwriter and troubadour has since mastered woodwinds, keyboard, and percussion as well as the guitar.
Concerning the tree depicted on the cover, Bishop had this to say: “This is a historical monument, 9 miles south of Helena, Montana. This was the Hanging Tree, many swung from its branches. I played under this tree as a child. My grandparent owned a section of the ranch. This was the Northern corner of their property, on their land.”
He also made sure to place a cup of the soil on some property that he currently owns – which means that in a way, he still lives under this tree. Regarding the songs contained herein, he arranged these to tell a story. “Think you will be surprised by this,” Robinson adds.
This release, Bishop’s first solo offering with our label, finds the multi-faceted musician in a reflective state of mind. He is thinking of his former musicians, some lost along the way, but with a handful he has connected with time and again for over 50 years. The song Union Hill for example was written as an homage to his days playing with the Walrus Brothers band, a crazy era that he returns to often in his memories. In general, though, Robinson says he titles his compositions in much the same way that Native Americans do their children – just going with the first thought that comes to mind. Based upon the evidence gathered here, we would say that this strategy has served him quite well.
This duo has crafted a compelling, unique sound that we’re not even sure how you’d begin to categorize – all we know is that we like it. If pressed you might say they play modern jazz of sorts, but with the occasional space rock transmissions from a distant planet and a whole lot of other curveballs thrown at the listener. Or something like that.
In 1963, Bishop started at one of the same clubs as Alice Cooper, Monterey Palace in Tucson, with a group called The Runaways. During this time they actually shared a bill with the Hollies, and the Spiders, which was Cooper’s first major band. He also went to high school with the legendary Linda Ronstadt.
Along with fellow Exquisite Noise artist Doc Van Etten, Robinson was in a Seattle based band in the 70s. They did the Don Steel show in LA and came close to being managed by a major. “Who knows, LA b.s., but we were being told that,” Bishop says now, reminiscing about those days. The band members were – and still are, in fact, very tight, living together in a 7 bedroom house just outside of Redmond, WA.
As for Steve Blood, he and Bishop were in a Tacoma based group called NuVines in the 1980s and 90s, releasing 4 albums. Tom Murphy, who has also drummed for the likes of Robert Cray and Albert King, was their drummer at the time.
Like many a lifelong musician, they seem to have come this close to fame on many occasions – but as anyone knows, there’s a certain crapshoot element to all of this. According to Robinson, there was a point in time he spent a brief stay at Dennis Wilson’s log cabin on Sunset strip. There was talk of Bishop doing some backup on an album, but it never happened. He also played with Jerry Miller of Moby Grape fame for a while. But the biggest potential break of all may have occurred with a band called MUF in the late 1960s. They headlined the 1969 Aldergrove Rock Festival and were in the process of negotiating a contract with Capital Records. They were neck and neck with another group that was also fighting for a contract. Capital called MUF’s manager and said, Robinson recalls, “you have far better promotion, but please send more recordings as so far, we like the other band’s recording. Well he put us in a cheap studio with a case of wine and the rest is history. The other band was Grand Funk Railroad.”
He has also been lucky enough to play with the Sam Andrews Band at the Moore theater. This included Mick Taylor (John Mayall, The Rolling Stones), Sam Andrews (Lead from Big Brother, and the bass player from Cold Blood). Another accomplishment was to play with members of Moby Grape. While in Tucson, he also worked in development and put together the renowned Ages n Stages community event.
