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ChristmasReviews.com
Hailed as a “Celtic guitar god” by Baltimore City Paper and “one of the best folk instrumentalists in the business” by Sing Out! Magazine, Robin Bullock is one of the preeminent acoustic music masters of our time.
His virtuosity on guitar, cittern and mandolin blends the ancient melodies of the Celtic lands, their vigorous American descendants, and the masterworks of the Baroque and Renaissance eras into one powerful musical vision. The 17th-century harp tunes of legendary Irish bard Turlough O’Carolan, the spirited jigs and reels of rural Ireland, the haunting ballads of the southern Appalachians and the timeless compositions of Bach, Dowland and Francesco da Milano all find a musical common ground in Robin’s music, where lightning-fast fingerwork one moment is perfectly balanced with tender, quiet intimacy the next. A warm, friendly presence onstage, Robin effortlessly creates a magical world for the audience with his multi-instrumental wizardry, taking them on an unforgettable journey into the deep heart’s core and through the music of the spheres.
Originally rising to prominence as a founding member of the innovative acoustic world-music trio Helicon (winners of the Association for Independent Music’s prestigious INDIE Award for Best Seasonal Recording), Robin’s solo career has won him a ranking among DigitalDreamDoor.com’s “100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists,” a Player’s Choice Award from Acoustic Guitar Magazine in the Celtic guitar category, three Washington Area Music Association WAMMIE Awards (Traditional Folk Instrumentalist 1997 and 1999; Traditional Folk Recording of the Year 1998), a Governor’s Award from the Maryland State Arts Council and a feature broadcast on National Public Radio’s hugely popular Celtic music program “The Thistle and Shamrock.”
Helicon 1989
Helicon 2004
His seventeen solo and collaborative recordings range from loving yet innovative interpretations of Celtic tradition, to the beloved carols and hymns of the Christmas season, to deep explorations of J.S. Bach’s incomparable masterpieces, and his many years as a leading exponent of Turlough O’Carolan’s Irish harp melodies on acoustic guitar culminated in 2015’s The Carolan Collection, a compilation CD benefiting animal rescue organizations in Robin’s home state of North Carolina. Robin also appears on The Road Home, a tribute to his late friend and collaborator Butch Baldassari, alongside such greats as David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien and the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble; his arrangements for guitar and mandolin have been featured in several of Mel Bay’s Master Anthologies, and his chamber orchestrations of traditional Celtic tunes have been performed by the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Writing about Robin in The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Celtic Music, Thistle and Shamrock host Fiona Ritchie says “Bullock’s music accents the connections between Celtic and American traditional and acoustic music. That he is able to do so by playing almost any stringed instrument to perfection is his specialty.”
Robin maintains a busy international touring schedule, performing in a number of settings; though his primary focus is solo performance, he can also be heard in Celtic duos with guitarist Steve Baughman and four-time National Scottish Harp Champion Sue Richards, as a member of the award-winning world-folk trio Helicon, as part of an Asheville-based John Denver tribute group, and most notably, as sideman with Grammy Award-winning folk icon Tom Paxton. Robin’s many years of touring with Tom have included collaborations with such luminaries as John McCutcheon, Grammy-winning songwriters Jon Vezner and Don Henry, and on their 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015 “Together at Last” tours, Tom’s fellow Grammy winner Janis Ian.
An experienced and articulate instructor, Robin is a regular faculty member at several of the U.S.’s leading acoustic music camps, including Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps in Tennessee, Common Ground On The Hill in Maryland, the March Mandolin Festival in New Hampshire, and twenty-two consecutive years at the Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina, where he was honored in 2016 with a Master Music Maker Award for lifetime achievement in musicianship and teaching. (Of the thousand-plus faculty members in the Gathering’s 27-year history, only 23 have received this award to date.)
When he’s not on the road Robin lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and in what little spare time he has can often be found hiking the region’s mountain trails or sharing tunes and craic at the many local Irish, bluegrass and old-time sessions.
With Sue Richards (Celtic harp):
Highland Ramble (2018)
With Steve Baughman (guitar):
Alone and Together (2014)
Celtic Guitar Summit (2002)
With Michel Sikiotakis (Irish flute and whistle):
The Irish Girl (2003)
With Butch Baldassari & John Reischman (mandolins):
Travellers (1999)
With HELICON (Ken Kolodner, hammer dulcimer & fiddle; Chris Norman, wooden flutes & pipes; Robin Bullock, guitar, cittern, fiddle, mandolin & piano)
A Winter Solstice with Helicon (1999)
Horizons: Traditional Music from Around the World (1992)
The Titan (1990)
Helicon (1987)
With GREENFIRE (Ken Kolodner, hammer dulcimer & fiddle; Robin Bullock, guitar, cittern & piano; Laura Risk, fiddle & viola)
Greenfire: A Celtic String Ensemble (1998)
Tom Paxton: Redemption Road
Tom Paxton: Live at Huntingdon Hall
Various Artists: The Road Home: A Tribute to Butch Baldassari
Steve Baughman: Life in Prism
Ken & Brad Kolodner: Skipping Rocks
Ken Kolodner: Journey to the Heartland
Ken Kolodner: Walking Stones
Elke Baker: Glenelg
Jamie Laval: Murmurs and Drones
Mary McLaughlin: Crystal Shoe
John Whelan: Come to Dance
John Whelan: Flirting with the Edge
Chris Norman: Highlands
Chris Norman: The Beauty of the North
Chris Norman: Man with the Wooden
Flute Bonnie Rideout: Scottish Fire
Bonnie Rideout: Kindred Spirits
City of Washington Pipe Band: Scottish Rant
Maggie Sansone: Wind Drift
Maggie Sansone: Mystic Dance
Maggie Sansone: Dance Upon the Shore
Maggie Sansone: Mist and Stone
Maggie Sansone: Sounds of the Season
Maggie Sansone: Sounds of the Season II
Maggie Sansone: Traditions
Lisa Moscatiello: Second Avenue
Lisa Moscatiello: Innocent When You Dream
Skyedance: Labyrinth
