Robin and the Rubes, Buffalo NY's best blues band!

 

ROBIN AND THE RUBES...

...IS A HARD DRIVING QUARTET THAT MIXES TRADITION WITH AN EMPHASIS ON IMPROVISATION TO CREATE A COOL BLEND OF OLD SCHOOL BLUES WITH A MODERN EDGE.


ROBIN MAYERAT / LEAD VOCALS & KEYBOARDS

RON LOCURTO / GUITAR & VOCALS

DAN SHAYS / BASS

JERRY BASS / DRUMMER & VOCALS


THIS BAND DRAWS ON TRADITIONAL ROOTS BLUES MUSIC FROM LEGENDARY BLUES PERFORMERS LIKE BB KING, JOHNNIE JOHNSON AND MUDDY WATERS, AS WELL AS THE INFLUENCES OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS LIKE BONNIE RAITT, SUSAN TEDESCHI, DEBBIE DAVIES AND ERIC CLAPTON.


BASSIST DAN SHAYS AND DRUMMER JERRY BASS PROVIDE SOLID RHYTHMS THAT CREATE A FIRM BACKDROP FOR THE FERVENT VOCALS OF ROBIN MAYERAT AND THE AWARD WINNING GUITAR PLAYING OF RON LOCURTO.

SETTING ROBIN AND THE RUBES APART IS TALENTED SINGER ROBIN MAYERAT WHO BLENDS AN EVOCATIVE MIX OF STRENGTH AND SENSUALITY IN HER VOCALS WHICH EARNED HER AN AWARD IN 1998 FOR BEST FEMALE VOCALIST (BLUES) AT THE BUFFALO MUSIC AWARDS. SHE HAS ALSO BEEN NOMINATED FOR THAT SAME AWARD EVERY YEAR SINCE WINNING.

BORN AND RAISED IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK, RON LOCURTO HAS BEEN A STUDENT OF THE GUITAR FOR OVER 25 YEARS. CUTTING HIS TEETH ON HEAVY GUITAR DRIVEN ROCK AND THIRSTING FOR MORE, HIS TASTES GREW TO INCLUDE ANYTHING HE COULD GET HIS HANDS ON. HE HAS FORGED HIS OWN UNIQUE STYLE, ENCOMPASSING ALL TYPES OF MUSIC FROM ALL AROUND THE GLOBE. IT'S THIS PASSION THAT HAS SERVED HIM WELL OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS AS HE HAS HONED HIS CRAFT PLAYING WITH SOME OF THE TOP MUSICIANS IN THE AREA PERFORMING ROCK, BLUES, JAZZ, REGGAE AND INDIAN-INFLUENCED ACOUSTIC MUSIC. HIGH POINTS ALONG THE WAY INCLUDE A 1994 REALSE CALLED "KALEIDOSCOPE" AND HIS LATEST RECORDING, "PATTERN SEEKING PRIMATES". JEFF MIERS OF THE BUFFALO NEWS DESCRIBED RON'S PLAYING AS "LIQUID GRACE" AND ROBERT SILVERSTEIN OF 20TH CENTURY GUITAR WRITES, "LOCURTO RIPS THROUGH HIS FRETBOARD WITH COMPELLING PRECISION". RON WAS ALSO CHOSEN TO PERFORM AS A FINALIST IN THE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN GUITAR COMPETITION AND RECENTLY WON 2ND PLACE IN THE 2006 COMPETITION.

BASSIST DAN SHAYS HAS WORKED AND RECORDED WITH A VARIETY OF LOCAL MUSICIANS. IN ADDITION TO WORKING WITH ROBIN ON PREVIOUS BLUES PROJECTS, HE WAS ALSO A MEMBER OF SEVERAL ORIGINAL BUFFALO ROCK BANDS INCLUDING SHAKING HANDS AND EXIT 55.

WELL-TRAVELED DRUMMER JERRY BASS HAS TAKEN THE LONG HARD ROAD PERFECTING HIS CRAFT. FROM THE NASHVILLE COUNTRY CIRCUIT WITH WILLIE NELSON, WAYLON JENNINGS AND LORETTA LYNN TO BUFFALO'S BLUES CIRCUIT APPEARING AT VENERABLE VENUES LIKE THE BELLE STAR WITH MEMBERS OF THE BYRDS AND EDDIE SHAW.

THE BAND WAS ORIGINALLY FOUNDED IN 1994 BY ROBIN AND HAS BEEN A MAINSTAY ON THE WESTERN NEW YORK BLUES SCENE. ROBIN AND THE RUBES HAVE OPENED FOR SEVERAL ACCLAIMED BLUES ACTS SUCH AS MATT "GUITAR" MURPHY, JOHNNY CLYDE COPELAND, JAMES THACKERY, GARY PRIMACH AND TINSLEY ELLIS. THEY HAVE PERFORMED AT THE BUFFALO BLUES, WESTERN NEW YORK MUSIC, BUFFALO BLUES SOCIETY AND THE FREDONIA RED WHITE AND BLUES FESTIVALS. ROBIN AND THE RUBES WAS THE FEATURED BAND IN THE SPRING 2000 ISSUE OF BLUES BEAT MAGAZINE.

"...A SINGER WHO INTERPRETS THE BLUES WITH A PERSONABLE AND VIVACIOUS SENSUALITY, ACCOMPANIED BY THE KIND OF MUSICIANS WHO CAN DAZZLE AND ENERGIZE A CROWD, WITHOUT GETTING IN THE WAY OF THE MUSIC'S NATURALNESS AND SIMPLICITY." (BLUES BEAT MAGAZINE, SPRING 2000)