My Music Autobiography
(the short version)
Updated April 22, 2010
I'm a guitar player and singer-songwriter. Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, I grew up in Texas and Arizona, and have been living in Denver since 2000. A rock guitar player for most of my life, I also always loved the quiet acoustic songs.
I got my first guitar at the age of 12 and took lessons for five months. I took lessons again when I was 18 for nine months, but music remained a hobby when I was young; unlike most people, I got more serious about music as I got older, when I was in my mid-30's.
In Tucson, Arizona, I took more guitar lessons, and bounced around various bands, then connected with bass player and songwriter Kurt Loken. We made two home recordings on 4-track cassette in 1994-95 under the band name "Faded Innocence". Kurt wrote and sang most of the songs and played bass. I played guitar and did the arrangements, and wrote and sang a couple of songs. You can hear some of those songs on the Faded Innocence MySpace site.
I continued to accompany singer-songwriters on lead guitar in Tucson and then Denver. Then in 2004 I started getting serious about songwriting. The result of that was a "Do-It-Yourself" CD called "Some Songs I Wrote", recorded in 2007. I followed that with the EP "Me", recorded in 2009 at Swallow Hill in Denver. See the Music page of this website for more info on those records.
I started playing my songs out in 2005. Since then I've played several Colorado venues, including Gennaro's Lounge, Swallow Hill, The Meadowlark Bar, The Rock and Soul Cafe, Oskar Blues, Cafe Cero/The Open Tap & Grill, The Mercury Cafe, The Toad Tavern, Herman's Hideaway and Leela European Cafe. I've also played venues in Boston, Iowa and The Netherlands.
In 2010 I formed a band consisting of Paul Ermisch on violin and backing vocals, Laurie Lamar on bass and backing vocals, and Dan Heinrichs on drums. We have been playing in Colorodo as the Rob Roper Band. I also continue to play solo acoustic shows.
In 2010 recorded my first full-length album, "Misfit", produced by John McVey. That record will be released in May 2011. See the Music page for more info.