We’re excited to have some time today with acclaimed and  iconic musician Robin Lane; greetings and salutations, Robin! Before we meander down the proverbial Q&A musical pathway, how goes your 2023?  

Very nicely!

Major congratulations on the recently re-released – March 23, to be exact! –  EP Dirt Road to Heaven! What was the genesis of this remarkable new EP, how did it come into being?   

This EP is from the full length album (on CD and digital) of the same name, Dirt Road To Heaven.  We decided to pull 5 songs from the album to perhaps be a bit more accessible to all of  you out in listener land.  These days there is so much Music it’s hard to wade through an entire album.   So really the genesis was the album itself and a number of years to record all the songs and release it via Red On Red records.  Covid came along and before that there were other life events holding it up.  It took a long time but it sure was a cathartic and self revealing time in the studio.

3.)    Who was your producer on Dirt Road to Heaven and what did the collaboration between artist and producer look like in the studio?    

John Pfister owns Ringo Studio, in Marblehead MA.  Mainly it was John and myself who were the producers of this album.  We would sit around and work out the parts.  I like to find bass parts but am not technically proficient enough to play them so I’d hand the bass back to John, not that he didn’t find bass parts himself, plus keyboard and guitar.  Just being in the studio with John was a highlight of creativity between two people who allowed each other to do their thing.  John was instrumental in getting all the wonderful sounds and piecing together my 8 million guitar parts.  I played a lot of parts on these songs but we also had various musicians come in and play.  What a delight it was for me to be working on all of these songs with a like minded musical friend who only wanted to have my ideas work along with his ideas.  We had the most creative back and forth magical time.  I will always treasure the moments spent with John in the studio.  He’s a genius for figuring out how to put things together.  And I was given carte blanche to do whatever I wanted with all the time I needed.  I am hoping that we can do another album together, soon and very soon.

We love the entirety of Dirt Road to Heaven, but we’re particular fans of the tune Hurricane Watch! Is there a special story behind this lovely gem of a song that you could share?    

There really isn’t anything conscious behind Hurricane Watch. I just let the song come out of me and here it is…something from inside that I can’t explain. I could make it up but I like that the song has a voice of its own.

Red on Red Records is the home label for Dirt Road to Heaven! What makes Red on Red the perfect home for you and your music?   

Justine Covault heads up Red On Red.  The company is her baby.  Red On Red has given quite a few Boston bands and artists the opportunity to get their music out and noticed by music lovers.  This is a hard thing to do for many of us who don’t have marketing skills. Even someone like me who had a career in music doesn’t know how to put myself and my music out there.  It’s a brand new ball game in the music business right now.  Justine understands what to do.  Red On Red is such a great thing to happen for so many around these parts.  Justine just lets her artists do what they do and helps support their efforts with some good old fashioned fan fare geared toward the modern world. 

On the heels of the release of the new EP, can fans look forward to seeing you on the touring/performing circuit in the coming weeks and months? 

Who inspires you musically today?  

Funny enough…I just discovered Led Zeppelin and I say WOW.  I never listened to them when they first came out.  I was a singer songwriter folky type back then.  Then with my band Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, I was into all the punk and new wave.   Now I listen to a variety of music.  Bits and pieces of this person or that band.  I like Brandi Carlisle, especially The Highwomen, I love P.J. Harvey, I think she’s the female David Bowie.  I listen to Bowie, love Thom Yorke and Radiohead.  I love Amanda Palmer, I listen to Motown and then music from the era in London of Massive Attack.  I like songs from different bands and artists.  Elvis Costello God Give Me Strength and Beck.  I love Avett Brothers …there so much good music.  Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, I’ll always listen to Captain Beefheart.  I like Billie Eilish.  Just today I heard Dido again.  She’s wonderful and doesn’t sound like so many other young girls these days who all seem to have the same timber in their voices.   I think I am inspired by all of these people and their music plus many more.

You’re a legendary figure in the world of music and you’ve personally witnessed trends and fads come and go in that industry. How has the industry changed for the better during your tenure? How has it perhaps changed for the worse?   

I’m really not one to ask about the industry of music.  I’m just a songwriter/musician.  Now it seems, anyone can record their songs, whether or not they can get them out into the world is another matter but maybe these days the  younger people have marketing skills that I never learned.  I grew up in a time when it was all done for you and there weren’t that many spots…so it was stiff competition to get a record contract, like that was the be all to end all.  Some people got them but it wasn’t a guarantee you were going to sell a lot of records  That doesn’t float so much anymore.  I really have no clue how to do things in this current music industry, as I’ve said, and truth be known, I don’t think I knew what was going on in the old music industry.  I’m just a songwriter/singer/musician.  A creator, that’s what I do and what I am…a big chunk of me anyway.

Any final thoughts which you might like to share with readers about the new EP Dirt Road to Heaven?  

Well I hope you can get your hands on the CD, the EP is only digital with 5 songs…Yaaaaaaaay,  but there’s 11 songs on the CD.  You can buy it on my website therobinlane.com or on bandcamp and Amazon too I think? 

The songs are stellar if I do say so myself and I do.   You can also join me on Patreon and get first things as they come out live shows online, my art, so much patreon.com/robinlane  It would mean a lot to me to have your readers/listeners, to join me there.

You founded Songbird Sings in 2010, something which we know is very personal to you. For those not in the know, can you talk a little about Songbird Sings and what specifically it does?  

Songbird Sings workshops uses the creative process of songwriting to help survivors of trauma. The workshops help those who’ve been silenced by domestic violence, sexual exploitation, childhood abuse and the horrors of war experience joy, gain self confidence and empowerment, form community and restore health and balance in their lives, by learning to tell their stories in song.  The songs tell the stories.  I love doing these workshops and will do them wherever there are those in need.   songbirdsings.org