Album Notes

Passionate. Intense. Unique. That describes Michael Robinson’s distinctive brand of roadhouse blues and roots rock. He tears through these songs like a man possessed. No wonder the music sounds so good.

With Michael on guitar and vocals, this disc features radio friendly songs, top notch musicianship and excellent production. Michael co-wrote half the songs with San Francisco Bay Area legend Johnny Nitro, who scored hits for Grammy-winner Albert Collins and Tab Benoit.

Playing in the Dark showcases Michael’s gift for clever lyrics yet simple honest stories, his trademark gutsy vocal style and tasty solos.
The disc also features a wide range of styles and rhythms. From the Chuck Berry-driven “If I Could Marry My Guitar,” to the BB King-inspired “Even Jesus Had the Blues,” to the Americana feel of “Halfway to Mexico” and the roots vibe of “30 Days Late,” each song expresses a unique personality.

An award-winning former newspaper reporter and critically acclaimed author, Michael has spent the last five years honing his writing, playing and singing into a distinctive style he calls Roadhouse Blues and Roots Rock. After all, he says, “If you flip a blues coin with Muddy Waters on one side, it’ll have Chuck Berry on the other.”

Michael’s other major influences include Albert King, Billy Gibbons, Freddie King, George Thorogood, Tommy Castro, Jimmie Vaughn and Howlin Wolf.
To make Playing in the Dark, Michael put together some of the Bay Area’s top blues players who are veterans of such groups as Johnny Nitro and the Doorslammers, the Daniel Castro Band and the Tommy Castro Band.

After a rapid rise in newspapering that included a Pulitzer Prize nomination, Michael became a songwriter at age 30. He issued his first CD at age 34 and learned to play guitar the next year.

He started the Tabloids, his first band, at age 39. “Train of Thought,” the Tabloids’ last CD, received airplay on 120 college radio stations and garnered steady gigs throughout northern California and extensive press coverage. Michael kicked off his blues career just three weeks before his 44th birthday opening for Johnny Nitro at the infamous Saloon in North Beach.

Today, he says he is the most fulfilled he has ever felt in his 20-year musical career. That relaxed sense of confidence permeates “Playing in the Dark.” Michael sounds like a man who is having the time of his life -- and he is.