Album Notes

Rob Mathes has been writing his own little brand of blues drenched spiritual Pop for years and yet has increasingly become known in the industry for other things. Having grown up in a family of musicians, Rob has known how to orchestrate and arrange since he was a kid. Music is a second language and when you look at his resume, it is filled with so many disparate names it is almost confusing. He has written arrangements for artists as diverse as Lou Reed, Bono, Sting, Sade, Lenny Kravitz and Jay-Z, Yo Yo Ma, Elton John, Tony Bennett and Natalie Cole, written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Kathy Mattea, Aaron Neville, Wynonna Judd, Faith Hill and Oleta Adams, and even produced a number of projects for people like Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, and Vanessa Williams. Rob has an arrangement on the Grammy Winning Genius Loves Company by Ray Charles and has musically directed The Kennedy Center Honors, The Songwriter's Hall Of Fame, NBC's Concert For America 9/11/02, and the all star Grammy week tribute to Bono in 2003.

He has always taken the resources made from these high profile gigs and funneled it back into his band. The band, comprised of an astonishing bunch of musicians, has recently completed their record "Evening Train". Shawn Pelton is on Drums, a regular on Saturday Night Live, having played on records and in concert in the last few years with everyone from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, to Sheryl Crow. On Bass is studio legend Will Lee, one of the finest electric Bass players in the country. Joining them is a six piece horn section of New York's finest, soul singer Vaneese Thomas (Rufus's daughter and Carla's sister) and Billy Masters on Electric Slide guitar, just off the road with Suzanne Vega. Among Rob's musical heroes are Duke Ellington, Donny Hathaway, and the ubiquitous Bob Dylan. His lyrics are soul searching and almost veer into Gospel, yet remain firmly in the spiritually searching mode. The music has the lyrical depth and intelligence of our best singer songwriters but it is combined with a musically muscular style that is more akin to the best of Blood, Sweat and Tears albeit for the 21st Century, and mid period Steely Dan.