Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Bell.
Hi Robert, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Music has always presented itself as both an opportunity to explore as a listener and connect with others as a performer. Being inspired through listening and connecting to parts of ourselves through song is a common catalyst for musicians and this experience holds true for me. Born in Milwaukee WI, there were many opportunities to be exposed to various genres, from Jazz to Blues, Alternative to Punk, and Folk to Classical, my first studies began at The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. I played in Alternative bands and experimented with multiple genres before moving to Minnesota for college and non-music studies. In Minneapolis, a moment of great inspiration occurred after hearing guitarist Django Reinhardt on the local radio station, KBEM and so began my career in Jazz. My first solo recording Gypsy Tendercies that Vintage Guitar described as “fiery, virtuosic solos” preceded forming the Twin Cities Hot Club. The group has released a self-titled CD and the DVD Live at the Times. I work as a guitarist, bandleader, and sideman with many groups and artists in Minneapolis, a busy year includes 250+ shows. Being in this city has enabled me to meet and work with a truly diverse set of people and the support for and interest in the arts here is incredible. I’m almost two decades into being a professional musician and feel fortunate to share the stage with some of the same musicians and book shows with event planners that were working when I began this journey. Oddly, my first regular gig as a jazz musician was at The Terminal bar in NE, but since then have worked in just about every live music venue with more of a focus on private events, weddings, dances, and concerts. Recurring events include the Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz Festival, the Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival, and many more.
Featured concerts as a guest soloist with the Fort Smith and Fort Worth Symphonies and the North Carolina Symphony are as great as being invited to perform at MIA or a local food co-op. Recently, I was able to perform as part of the Emmy award-winning production by Hippocrates Café. It’s been a total honor to provide music for many corporate clients and concerts, music for many weddings and private events. While I do travel, in general, I really appreciate being able to do the work I love here, in Minnesota, and that in large part is due to being in contact with and being contacted by fellow Minnesotans!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The journey can be the most blissful experience. That feeling of being wholly present while filled with purpose, connection, and beauty all with grace and humility. The journey can also be filled with challenges, uncertainty, and disconnect. Working professionally as a creative, self-employed person in my experience, the biggest struggle has been learning how to balance and find recharge away from the craft of music and the work of being self-employed.
There’s no roadmap, so when struggles appear it often manifests as an issue being out of balance between the art and the business. The fix can vary, but always reveals itself!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work as a guitarist, bandleader, accompanist, and producer. My work as a professional musician includes providing music at concerts, music venues, private parties, weddings, memorials, burlesque shows, yoga classes, dances, and much more. I have traveled from Washington State to Washington D.C. as a guitarist, from concerts to being a guest soloist with symphonies to swing dances. My primary focus as a guitarist and bandleader has been early jazz and swing. Minneapolis is filled with amazing creatives and I have been fortunate to work on over 30 recordings as well from folk to indie to jazz and more.
I’ve been most proud as a live performer when a listener takes time to share how they were moved or that the music was the perfect complement, as a producer the highest compliment is collaboration and capturing visions of musicians. I do recall a day when I performed Canon in D, Bob Dylan and Fleet Foxes for a wedding ceremony, and a jazz trio for social hour, then heard my band on the radio playing a cumbia while driving to perform that night at a swing dance, playing swing music from the 1930s and 1940s. Being present and able to connect musically across genres and visions whether at live events or in the studio is a gift I continue to appreciate and cultivate.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The music industry as a whole is going through the fastest possible changes, ever. Talent can be found quickly through videos and social media, concerts can be promoted and tickets sold easily, and music from around the world can be listened to and purchased immediately. Major artists will continue to have huge followings and smaller artists will continue to cultivate their community of supporters. The recent pandemic taught us that musicians are non-essential and I think that was a good thing. It caused those using the periscope to look around more broadly and consider that during the pandemic, we were all more alike than ever (work from home, covid concerns) and we found that common experience can connect us much in the same way a great lyric or song might. But then, where is the place for music after this paradigm shift? Have you heard the latest Artificial Intelligence voices and compositions lately?
What if we “creatives” as we create forget just enough of the many pieces of music that we listen to and merely create music from the bits we do recall? AI does not forget, but we can program it to do so. So, you could have an AI model listen to every Funk record from 1970-1978, Taylor Swift’s entire songbook, and Brazilian music, then ask it to forget every song from that collection of music over a certain tempo and then compose something based on that experience.
That’s what is coming, no idea if it’s a shift, change, or trend, but someone (or something) will write a song about it.
With regard to living music, as we both retreat into ourselves and phones and outwardly become more deeply connected through gatherings, the overall result may be fewer events but more profound experiences as we share the same space and consider that sacred.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bellrobert.com
- Instagram: @robertbellmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.bell.167189
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@guitarminnesota
- Yelp: https://robertbellevents.com/
- Other: https://hotswingcombo.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-socially-distant-happy-feet-and-hearts
Image Credits
Emily Jane Davis, Ben Hejkal, Alissa Coddington, and Marc Andrew
