Rob Ickes

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Rob Ickes (rhymes with "bikes") comes from a musical family. His grandparents played old-time fiddle music, and Rob trained his young musical ear at their weekly jam sessions. Although his family wanted Rob to play fiddle, the instrument didn't interest him. Then, at the age of thirteen, Rob was exposed to the Dobro playing of Mike Auldridge, and the sound immediately caught his attention. Soon after, Rob got his first Dobro, and he has been playing music ever since.

Upon moving to Nashville in 1992, Rob's career took off, and has continued to be a busy and successful one. Rob is a founding member of the Bluegrass Supergroup, "Blue Highway," one of the fastest rising groups in the genre. After their first recording was released in 1996, this group swept the International Bluegrass Music Association awards with wins for Album of the Year, Emerging Artist of the Year, and Dobro Player of the Year. Since then, Rob has gone on to win IBMA Dobro Player of the Year a total of five consecutive times, and he is the only person other than Jerry Douglas to ever receive the award.

Aside from his work with "Blue Highway," Rob has also been busy as a session player in Nashville (see Discography). In 1996 Rob was on two Grammy winning recordings: Alison Krauss and the Cox Family's, "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow," and the all-star Dobro release produced by Jerry Douglas, "The Great Dobro Sessions." Rob was the youngest player to be invited to participate in the project, a virtual "who's who" of Dobro players.

Rob has two solo albums on Rounder Records which have been landmark achievements for the Dobro. "Hard Times" (Rounder 0402) is a hardy salute to Rob's bluegrass influences. "Slide City" puts the Dobro into a band context not previously attempted with the instrument. With its jazz/blues flavor, "Slide City" was a surprise hit on the Gavin Americana chart and climbed all the way to #11, quite an accomplishment for an artist with no previous action on that chart!

Rob also recently released a 2-video instruction set for Homespun Tapes and it has been getting rave reviews. Rob is currently in the process of recording his third solo album. He is also busy touring with "Blue Highway" and with his own group, "Slide City."

Here is a small sample of the artists that Rob has performed and/or recorded with: Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless, Earl Scruggs, Steve Wariner, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Marty Raybon, Jeannie Kendall, Natalie McMaster, The Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Douglas, Susan Ashton, Claire Lynch, Lynn Morris, John Cowan, Harley Allen, The Cox Family.

Rob's group, "Slide City," currently features John R. Burr-Piano, Derek Jones-Bass, Kendrick Freeman-Drums, and Paul Hanson-Saxophone.