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Robert Holmes born March 31, 1959 is an English-born [1] guitarist, best known for his work as guitarist/vocalist/writer in the American new wave band 'Til Tuesday, [2] the former band of Aimee Mann. He first moved to America with his family at the age of seven. [1]
In 1988, he formed a bluesy rock quartet called Ultra Blue with his wife Glenda who sang backups for Robert and occasionally sang lead. Ultra Blue won best new artist at the Boston Music Awards in 1989 and made many recordings. Several sessions were paid for by Epic records but a recording contract never materialized.
In 1993, Ultra Blue was put on the back burner when Holmes joined up with Street Magic, an a cappella quintet specializing in Doo Wop. A short article written by Holmes was published on the backside page of the August 1996 Musician magazine called "The Morning After 'Til Tuesday" in which Holmes detailed some of the differences between working with 'Til Tuesday and doing general business work on a local level with Street Magic.
In 1996, he moved to Vermont and formed a function/cover band called "Love Bomb" for which he was the leader and lead guitarist. According to an interview he gave to the Valley Advocate, the band inherited its name from the Lynsey De Paul song "Love Bomb". [3] The band built up a sizable following in the Southern Vermont/ Western Massachusetts area and played numerous weddings and private parties for the next 13 years.
In 2010, Holmes collaborated with Grammy Award-winning producer Bob St. John and former Beat Surender (Sony Records) front man Paul Souza to release Shakin' Not Stirred under Souza's current rock band The Velveteen Playboys, before moving to the UK.
Holmes is now [ when? ]a freelance guitar player for hire living in the UK. [4]
During late 2011 and spring 2012, Holmes played guitar on the first Wilderspin album Something to Crow About, with songs written by Mark Wilderspin and produced/engineered by Paul Bryant.
Late 2012 sees Holmes again working with producer and bass player Paul Bryant, on the Sarana VerLin [5] and Billy Brandt [6] CD Going Home.
Both Wilderspin and VerLin Brandt albums recorded in Paul Bryant's Cotswold recording studio in the UK. [7]
In 2013, Holmes played on a session with Hugh Padgham producing at British Grove studios in London. The two tracks recorded were written by Holmes and singer-songwriter Lydia Baylis, but they have not been released as of yet. [4] There are also original and cover songs recorded by Holmes at home posted on his Soundcloud page. [8]
In 2017, Holmes joined The Achievers, a touring original Rhythm and Blues act and winners of the sixth UK Blues Challenge in 2019. The band has released two records, Live at the SVA in 2018 and The Lost Arc in 2019.
He lives in Gloucestershire with his wife, artist Sheridan Jones.
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that reflect characteristics of the human singing voice. It typically involves playing the guitar in the traditional position with the use of a slide fitted on one of the guitarist's fingers. The slide may be a metal or glass tube, such as the neck of a bottle, giving rise to the term bottleneck guitar to describe this type of playing. The strings are typically plucked while the slide is moved over the strings to change the pitch. The guitar may also be placed on the player's lap and played with a hand-held bar.
'Til Tuesday was an American new wave band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The band, consisting of Aimee Mann, Robert Holmes (guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards), and Michael Hausman (drums), was active from 1982 to 1989. They are best known for their 1985 hit single "Voices Carry".
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the first half of the twentieth century. Key features that distinguish Chicago blues from the earlier traditions, such as Delta blues, is the prominent use of electrified instruments, especially the electric guitar, and especially the use of electronic effects such as distortion and overdrive.
Dread Zeppelin was an American reggae rock band. Formed in 1989 in Sierra Madre, California, the band combined hard rock and reggae styles with humor. They are best known for performing the songs of Led Zeppelin in a reggae style as sung by a Las Vegas Elvis impersonator. They also performed songs originally by Elvis Presley, Bob Marley and The Yardbirds. The group toured extensively around the world during their tenure with I.R.S. Records.
William Keith Relf was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for rock band the Yardbirds. He then formed the band Renaissance with his sister Jane Relf, the Yardbirds ex-drummer Jim McCarty and ex-The Nashville Teens keyboardist John Hawken.
Albert Nelson, known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and influential album Born Under a Bad Sign (1967) and its title track. He, B. B. King, and Freddie King, all unrelated, were known as the "Three Kings of the Blues". The left-handed Albert King was known for his "deep, dramatic sound that was widely imitated by both blues and rock guitarists".
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Freddie King was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar". Mostly known for his soulful and powerful voice and distinctive guitar playing, King had a major influence on electric blues music and on many later blues guitarists.
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Larry Eugene Carlton is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. One of the most sought after guitarists of his era, Carlton has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorded on hundreds of albums in many genres, including more than 100 gold records, as well as for television and movies. He has been a member of the jazz fusion group the Crusaders and the smooth jazz band Fourplay, and has maintained a long solo career.
Robert "Waddy" Wachtel is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Beth Hart, Stevie Nicks, Kim Carnes, Randy Newman, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Warren Zevon, Bryan Ferry, Michael Sweet, Jackson Browne, Karla Bonoff, The Motels and Andrew Gold, both in the studio and live.
William Boazman, known as Sonny Black, is an acoustic guitarist based in the UK, who plays blues, rags and original compositions usually fingerstyle or slide. "Sonny Black" is a pseudonym adopted when he began the first Sonny Black's Blues Band. He previously became well known as Bill Boazman on the folk club circuit and at college gigs during the 1970s as a singer, songwriter and acoustic guitarist. He has been credited with accompanying J. J. Cale, but this is a fallacy arising from a typographic error involving an American musician with a similar name, Bob Brozman.
Honeycrack were a British rock band, formed and fronted by former Wildhearts members Willie Dowling and Chris "CJ" Jagdhar.
Derek St. Holmes is an American rock musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitar player for Ted Nugent's early solo career. After splitting from Nugent in 1978, St. Holmes worked with various artists, most notably the Whitford/St. Holmes project with Brad Whitford, who had then recently parted ways with Aerosmith. He has also reunited with Nugent on several occasions.
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Sherman Robertson was an American blues guitarist and singer who has been described as "one part zydeco, one part swamp blues, one part electric blues and one part classic rhythm and blues."
"Love in a Vacuum" is a song by American band 'Til Tuesday, which was released in 1985 as the third and final single from their debut studio album Voices Carry. The song was written by Aimee Mann, Michael Hausman, Robert Holmes and Joey Pesce, and produced by Mike Thorne. "Love in a Vacuum" peaked at No. 88 on the US Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles chart.