Fredericksburg Songwriters' Showcase Rob Martino

Rob Martino

Rob Martino performs original music and arrangements on the Chapman Stick, a unique stringed instrument that combines elements of guitar, bass, piano and percussion. The strings are tapped and held onto the frets, rather than plucked or strummed, enabling both hands to play complete and expressive multi-part arrangements.

Music listeners with widely different tastes- new age, folk, classical, rock, hardcore metal, jazz and more- have been attracted to different aspects of Rob's music- some find it pleasantly melodic and soulful while others are also intrigued by its subtle complexities and artistry. Rob has particularly drawn from progressive and art rock influences such as Jethro Tull, Rush, Marillion, and Genesis (as well as elements of folk, Celtic and classical music genres) to develop his particular playing style and musical approach.

In addition to making a strong impression at live performances, including a set outside at the 2009 3RP Progressive Rock Festival, Rob’s music has a popular online presence. With over a million views and thousands of subscribers worldwide on YouTube, he is currently the most watched Stick artist on the internet. He can also be heard on the NPR radio program Echoes.

An aspect of Rob's unique style is his own particular string tuning, based on mirrored 4ths (not common among Stick players). His compelling musical demonstrations of this string arrangement contributed to it's inclusion as a standard Stick tuning by Stick Enterprises.

Rob is currently based in Fredericksburg, Virginia (originally from the Boston area), and has had a lifelong interest in music and computers - he is a software engineer in the music technology industry (Wave Arts and Camel Audio), and also holds a master's degree in music from Northwestern University. 

One Cloud
Rob Martino appeared at the November 2010 Showcase

Page put together (with info & pics from Bob Gramann ) by Ernest Ackermann.
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