Born into a middle class family on Long Island, NY, Robert Evan Trop was first introduced to playing an instrument in 4th grade when his mom signed him up for piano lessons. Music was part of his family in many ways. His mom, a teacher in her regular job, was a very artistic person who played piano, guitar, and painted. His Dad was a lover of music too, namely of the Big Bands such as Count Basie. Robert’s grandfather was an accomplished commercial guitar player and published songwriter who played in smoky night clubs in NYC in the 1940’s, and unfortunately succumbed to lung cancer before his time as a result. After taking piano lessons for a number of years, Robert decided he wanted an electric guitar for his birthday when he was around 13. This was due in part to listening to rock guitar albums by bands like Led Zeppelin the babysitter used to bring over. Like his grandfather, he fell in love with the guitar. His first one was a Les Paul copy. Once he changed to guitar, he never looked back.
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