I was born in Seattle, Washington but spent most of my early years in the green mountains of Vermont. There was always a lot of music in our home. My sister played piano, and my brother played drums. My dad had a part-time vending business, and we often had a jukebox blasting music in the kitchen. Music was everywhere, and I was blessed with incredibly supportive parents. I started playing guitar in 6th or 7th grade and loved it immediately. There was never a question about what I wanted to do with my life. My first lessons were uninspiring and taught me more about how not to teach than how to play. This would be a huge motivator to try and inspire my own students in later years. Thankfully, I had a much better experience with some great guitarists including Pete Henault and Dick Easter. I had an opportunity to work on a variety of rock and jazz/rock music by artists such as Jeff Beck and Stanley Clarke and was also introduced to Jaco Pastorius and Weather Report. My older brother was always in bands, and I was the kid hanging around wanting to somehow be involved. My big chance came when my brother's band, Tank, needed a bass player for a big New Year's gig. I had always learned their tunes, and that really paid off when they gave me the chance to play bass. The supposed one-shot-gig turned into a steady gig with great musicians on a new instrument. I was playing a Rickenbacker 4001 through an Ampeg V4B as my first bass rig. I never put the bass down after that show.In my junior year of high school, I began doing gigs often playing four or five nights a week. We played everything from Elvis Costello to Yes and a lot of originals. I was able to shed on the bass, write songs, and get paid! It was a great learning experience, and I had the opportunity to network with other musicians. One gig has always led to another, and I have found it all to be about relationships. My next groups were Champlain with blues man Nobby Reed and a life-changing gig for me with Crossfire. I learned so much about professionalism and had the opportunity to play in front of crowds as large as 20,000 people. Most importantly, it was the first gig I had with my future wife and musical soul mate, Jody. She is an amazing singer who epitomizes the phrase "the show must go on." The following years have been filled with over 4000 performances at clubs, colleges, concert halls, and radio stations throughout the U.S. and Canada.I have studied at Berklee College of Music and been fortunate to study electric and acoustic bass privately with Jeff Berlin, Charlie Banacos, John Hunter, and Jim Stinnett. My studies with Jim included massive amounts of transcribing the great jazz masters. It was without a doubt the hardest work I had ever done! In addition to completely changing me as a player, it also led to the release of my Walking In The FootstepsOf series of books. Since 2001, I have been blessed to be teaching with Jim at The Bass Workout (3-day bass intensive workshops) and also at clinics and college seminars. I have worked with Jim on several of his book and recording projects including Two Low, and also a quartet recording called Afrizona. Both projects include Terrence Blanchard/Herbie Hancock guitarist Lionel Loueke and Arizona's drummer extraordinaire Dom Moio and former Bill Evans/ Stan Getz drummer Joe Hunt. I perform regularly with my pal and amazing guitarist Tim Theriault and a variety of other jazz and rock groups.Live @ Berklee Basslines Concert June 2006
Rob Gourlay Bass Solo @ Berklee
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Rob Gourlay - Got a Match? @ Berklee
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