Rob Barraco

Rob has played music on both keyboard and guitar since the age of 6 and has been a professional musician all his adult life.For over ten years in the 80's and early 90's he was keyboardist for the hit tv show "The Cosby Show" and its spin off "It's A Different World."Rob toured with R&B sensation Freddie Jackson in the late 80's before joining The Zen Tricksters.Rob spent eleven years touring and recording with The Tricksters turning out two studio albums and playing live shows across the US and Canada. It was their second album, A Love Surreal, that caught Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh's ear.Phil summoned Rob and Trickster guitarist Jeff Mattson to play a series of shows in San Francisco and then on to tour the country double billing with Bob Dylan. That band included drummer extraordinaire John Molo, boy wiz Derrek Trucks, and the ubiquitous Warren Haynes. The following year one of the great jam bands of all time was formed with Phil, Rob, John, Warren and the guitar giant Jimmy Herring. This band would forever be known as The Q (short for The Phil Lesh Quintet). They went on to tour the country for three years and put out one studio album, There and Back Again.From 1999 through the present, Rob has been part of Phil Lesh and Friends.In 2002 he joined with the original members of the Grateful Dead for the Alpine Valley reunion shows and then toured with them in 2002 and 2003.In 2004 he joined Chris Robinson's New Earth Mud.In 2005, he toured with Dark Star Orchestra after the tragic death of keyboardist Scott Larnerd and is still playing with them at the present time.Rob has also toured with Ratdog and Government Mule.During Rob's time in Dead world he became friends with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. They collaborated on 7 songs that would become Rob's first solo release, "When We All Come Home".You can purchase the cd or download all of it or individual tracks at www.robbarraco.com or at any DSO show.