Meine erste deutsche Single "Der Seemann" erscheint hier am 23.2.2024 :-)
German born guitarist and singer Robert Carl Blank developed his craft as a musician from simple beginnings. As a teenager Robert created his own backing tracks using just a drum machine and an old Tape recorder. By the age of 16, he was acting musical director for a number of bands and projects, demonstrating a rare sensitivity in the arrangement and interpretation of other people’s songs.
A little later, inspired by the music of Frank Zappa the young artist, now equipped with his own home studio, began a period of zealous experimentation, using digital sound sources, to write his first, fully finished - and exquisitely arranged - songs. In 1996, after a year studying in England, Robert Carl Blank began playing with a number of bands in Frankfurt, his native area of Germany. Robert was always more than just a guitarist and backing singer, and would be found at the creative heart of the music. As a founding member of Boxer in 1998 he wrote and arranged many of his own R & B, soul and pop songs. Working with producer Edo Zanki on their debut album "Stick Together", six of the twelve tracks on that album bore his signature. This for a band who, by this time, were securing slots as the opening act for visiting international stars such as Elton John and Whitney Houston as well as headlining their own national tours.
But Robert’s first truly significant moment of musical education took place in the USA in the summer of 1997. Accompanying Blues legend Carl Weathersby as his guitarist on a six week tour, Robert immediately identified with Weathersby’s musical philosophy - "It's all about how many bars you can swing!" This chimed strongly with Robert and became a personal creed, along with some of Carl’s other sayings such as "Since you only got one life you might as well have a good one." Lured by the simplicity and beauty of these aphorisms, Robert also takes musical inspiration from others with a positive attitude to the world. Artists from Keb Mo to B.B. King, Marc Cohn to Eva Cassidy, and taking in along the way musicians like Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger), Neil Finn (Crowded House), John Mayer, G. Love & Special Sauce and The Getaway People - all of these, and a few more besides, belong to the rich pool of music from which Robert draws his influences.
Says Robert: "I’m drawn to a very humanistic attitude. Musically, this philosophy inspires many and very different artists. And whenever I hear that qualitiy in music I’m immediately drawn to it. In its broadest sense, music is an overarching spiritual source, both healer and story teller, good friend and life companion, and - equally important - a source of fun! And any artist I’ve been influenced by usually had come up with his own creative mix of those ingredients. This always seemed natural to me, because I carry the same kind of feelings inside me."
After finishing his studies in Political Science and American Studies at University in Frankfurt, Robert spent one and a half year in Australia, where his musical abilities were really put to the test and where he proved himself as a solo artist worthy of an international hearing. From being part of a team in a band to being just a solo performer with only his acoustic guitar for support, Blank learned energetically and hungrily, quickly developing into a charismatic singer and performer with his own unique touch.
When he returned to Germany from Australia, Robert marked the transition to fully fledged solo artist with his first solo album, "Steps" (September 2003). This was the year he also successfully got to the finals of the "PRINCE Talent Competition" (in the Vocal Category), followed by winning first place in the "Festival of Street Arts" (as a Solo Act). Alongside his ambitions as a solo artist, Robert once again founded his own band, Blank, releasing a total of three EPs in the years from 2005 to 2007 before Robert decided finally to concentrate on his solo career.
With the backing of new label, "analoghaus", the album "Soul Circus", was delivered in 2008 - a true globetrotting CD, earning enthusiastic reviews from media and fans alike. Soulful compositions, somewhere between Damian Rice, Pete Yorn and Ryan Adams. With analoghaus-chief producer Tom Ripphahn the album was mostly recorded ‘live’ using, as the name of the label implies, only analog equipment - no digital tools or lurid effects.
"Soul Circus" was followed in 2010 by Blank’s second Album - "Last Time I Saw Dave" (analoghaus, 2010). Maintaining the warm, analog sound of the previous album, "Last Time I Saw Dave" delivered a set of more sophisticated songs and testified to the maturing of an artist who came to be seen by then as a refreshing alternative to the generally uniform plastic commercial pop singer/songwriters of the age. It continued the honeymoon with the critics and certainly proved that Robert wouldn’t be a one-hit wonder. The album received nation wide airplay on Germany’s big radio stations including heavy rotation of the single "Whatever She Does". If there was a soundtrack to life, Robert would have written it: a truth in every song, honesty and artistic depth. Arne Schumacher (Radio Bremen) counts him as "one of the most talented songwriters in Germany", and Heinz Rebellius (Guitar & Bass Magazine) certifies him "an extraordinary voice that seems to combine expressivity, power, uniqueness and genuity…" While luminary Greg Calbi (Sterling Sound, NYC) was responsible for mastering "Soul Circus", this time, Fred Kevorkian (John Mayer and others) oversaw the final adjustments in New York's Avatar Studios.
Early 2015 the industrious and tirelessly touring songwriter comes back with his third album "Rooms for Giants" (Mokoh Music, 02/2015), and we can see a little sea change. The globetrotting singer, guitar player and skydiver has made an Album of 12 individuated Rock and Pop songs. It seems Robert is not interested in any labels - maybe because life is too short and too good for sticking to one routine only. That is why the overused label "singer/songwriter" seems only a vague description of Robert. The singer and songsmith is much more than that!
The 2010s see Robert Carl Blank continue to develop as an artist, with a sixth album already in the making while giving around 100 performances a year. You have to see him live, really! Each concert played with absolute authenticity, demonstrating his impressive ability to take the audience at each of his concerts on a musical journey around the world. His passion for music creates a feeling of companionship and ‘joi de vivre’. Together with the stories told between the songs, which Robert always tells with his tongue firmly in cheek, make his concerts something quite special.
