Album Notes

Uncle Rock’s fourth CD The Big Picture is a socially conscious salute to his musical heroes. The twelve original songs (and two covers – Carol Burnett’s theme song and Tom T Hall’s “Sneaky Snake”) offer sonic nods to David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Cat Stevens, The Ramones, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash and others. The engaging tributes feature lyrics that veer from whimsy to the necessity of recycling, acceptance of differences, and the importance of shopping locally.

To craft the cross-generational shout-out that is The Big Picture, Uncle Rock – AKA singer-songwriter, published author and former globe-trotting bassist Robert Burke Warren – brought in producer and multi-instrumentalist Dean Jones, the man behind the acclaimed family music group Dog On Fleas. Together they’ve created a collection of hooky singalongs primed to take up residence on radio playlists and in iPods everywhere.

In addition to contributions from Uncle Rock’s top-notch band the Playthings – musicians who’ve shared stages with Joe Cocker, Vassar Clements and Hanoi Rocks – celebrated Smithsonian Folkways artist Elizabeth Mitchell elevates the story song “There Is No Away.” Also heard on The Big Picture is the plaintive cello of revered “cellist to the rock stars” Jane Scarpantoni (Nirvana, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls).

Before being dubbed "Uncle Rock" by his nephew, Robert Burke Warren performed as a bass player in many rock and roll bands, including international garage rock titans The Fleshtones. He also spent a year portraying Buddy Holly in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story in London's West End, and has co-written songs for multi-Grammy winner Rosanne Cash and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson.

"Shel Silverstein meets Buddy Holly."" LA Times
"A star among the young." New York Times
"Uncle Rock can be counted upon to take a classic kids' song, rough it up, and churn it back out as pure, bare-bones rock music." ParentDish.com
"For kids music with an edge, Uncle Rock is your go-to guy" NY Post