Joseph Calvin "Butch" Robins is an American five-string banjo player with his own distinct style. He's an individualist and, according to himself "a seeker of information, knowledge and wisdom."
Biography
Few banjo players are as innovative or stylistically diverse as is "Butch" Robins. Robins was one of the longest-tenured banjoists for Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys, and bassist for the New Grass Revival, earning him the distinction of being "the one and only New Grass/Blue Grass Boy."
Early years
As a student of music and the banjo in the 1960s and 70's, Butch acquainted himself with and befriended many of the first generation bluegrass musicians at early festivals and fiddlers' conventions. As a teenager, Robins won major banjo contests and participated in banjo workshops at the 1969 Newport Folk Festival and at Carlton Haney's 1969 Camp Springs Bluegrass Festival in Reidsville, North Carolina. While serving in the US Army in South Carolina, Robins was introduced to Snuffy Jenkins & Pappy Sherrill, and later dedicated his first solo album Forty Years Late to Snuffy.
1970s group and solo
In the 1970s, Robins performed in a number of bands, including Charlie Moore, Jim & Jesse, Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper, and the New Grass Revival. During these years, he explored various banjo techniques, and helped lay the groundwork for the progressive, melodic, 5-string banjo playing of today. As a self-produced solo recording artist with interest in and attention to ensemble sound, Butch released three landmark albums with Rounder Records: Forty Years Late, Fragments of My Imagicnation and The Fifth Child.
From 1977 until 1981, Robins played banjo for Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, performing throughout the United States, including the White House and Lincoln Center in New York City.
The Bluegrass Band
Robins formed the Bluegrass Band in 1972, but disbanded one year later. The band started up again in 1989, this time with members Wayne Henderson, Ronnie Simpkins, Wyatt Rice, Arnie Solomon, Robins, Rickie Simpkins, and Larry Stephenson.
Hay Holler Records
Robins launched the Hay Holler record label, and the Bluegrass Band recorded four albums that were sold via telemarketing: Once Again From the Top volumes 1 and 2 were traditional bluegrass, and Shine Hallelujah Shine volumes 2 and 2 were traditional gospel.
Grounded-Centered-Focused
In 1995, Robins produced a masterpiece banjo-oriented bluegrass recording: Grounded-Centered-Focused featuring a talented supporting cast, including Bill Monroe himself.
The World International Blue Grass Band
As a result of traveling to and performing in Japan, Australia and Europe, Robins recruited some of the world's finest bluegrass musicians into the World International Blue Grass Band in 2007 as "a musical statement of international cooperation and goodwill." This band toured Virginia before performing at the International Bluegrass Music Association Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, and recording a live TV performance on Song of the Mountains for the Public Broadcasting Service.
Butch has also been an instructor at several camps, including the Tennessee Banjo Institute, Jack Hatfield's Smoky Mountain Banjo Academy, Midwest Banjo Camp, Augusta Heritage Center, and Camp Ausgrass in Australia.
Bluegrass Videos
In 2013, Butch recorded a series of videos for Radford University entitled "Butch Robins Presents- Blue Grass Music, its Origin and Development as a Unique and Creative Art Form." In this five-part video series, Robins explains the fascinating history of bluegrass music, using recorded and live music to set and illustrate the timeline, relate real-life anecdotes from the musicians involved, and relate personal stories of his life and relationship with Bill Monroe. He draws on his relationship with Monroe and other musicians to provide a unique perspective.
