A little tribute

Donald "Duck" Dunn
Legendary bass player with Booker T and the MGs who were the session band at Stax Records playing on genre defining records by the likes of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. They also recorded one of my favorite and coolest records of all time, Green Onions.



Dunn later went on to play with some many great artists like Clapton, Dylan, Neil Young and of course the Blues Brothers!



Donna Summer
Whilst I don't know an awful lot about Donna Summer, I've always thought was an amazing record and hearing it on the radio the other day reminded me of dancing to it in a Junior School production, I guess because The Full Monty had been a recent hit...how inappropriate!




Robin Gibb
The Bee Gees are one of the greatest, end of. As singers, writers and record producers they have the be top five, don't they?

I don't want to start analysing it but it seems to me that they had the perfect knack of writing tunes that anyone could sing along to and marrying them to words everyone could relate to. Plus of course those harmonies!

Robin was the lead writer and/or singer of some of my favorites







Peter Jones
Drummer of the wonderful Crowded House. Passed away aged 45.

Last Minute Blues

On Thursday I went along to the first Songwriter's Cafe of 2012 and had a wonderful time listening to four very talented and eclectic acts; Boat To Row, Frankie Williams, Rod Demick and Little Sister.

It was also very nice to bump into various musical friends huddled together in the tree house in the garden of a suburban Birmingham home. Paul Murphy and the team have made some very attractive adaptions to the performance space, and 2012 looks set to be another exciting season. I'm due to be performing but as the line up of each evening isn't announced before hand, you won't get much warning!

On Saturday night I was asked to step in for my friend Chickenbone John and play at the British Legion in Balsall Common. A massive thanks to Alan Nicholls, drummer of Chickenbone Blues for joining Mick Jeynes, Simon Davies and I for an unrehearsed hour and a half of blues.

Christening our selves The Last Minute Blues Band we had a lot of fun playing this event organised by some Bikers (who were as lovely as anyone could be!) For some reason I didn't quite grasp many of the audience were dressed in Star Wars costumes...imagine the scene if you will...a mix of leather clad rockers, Wookies and Tusken Raiders dancing like mad to Elvis and Little Richard tunes. This gigging lark has it's rather unforgettable moments.

Songwriter's Cafe 2012

It's a very exciting time of year when I hear that Songwriter's Cafe is on it's way back. The 2012 season kicks off on the 3rd May and runs every Thursday night until 26th July.

"Songwriter’s Café (SWC) runs its summer season from The Treehouse which is situated in the garden of a private house in suburban Birmingham. As such it is not a commercial or public event and audience members (limit 40 seated) come by invitation only."

I was luckily enough to perform during the 2011 season and can verify that it is one of the best places to enjoy fabulous music, whether in person or via the "narrow cast" that goes out live on the internet.

To find out more about Songwriter's Cafe head over to the website of it's wonderful host Paul Murphy where you will find plenty of information and a rather fine radio documentary by another legend, Robin Valk.

Flamingo Tea Rooms

My friend Alan Garwood is a very talented Jazz Guitarist who it's been a pleasure to jam with many times at The Crossroads Blues Club. He's now also the proud co-owner of Flamingo Tea Rooms in Lichfield. He as invited me to perform at the Flamingo on April 21st, here's the April and May line up...

Acoustic Music LIVE @ Flamingo Tea Rooms every Saturday 3.30 -5.00pm. Solo artists, duos and bands.

29 Tamworth St Lichfield WS13 6JR. 015432 55588

Flamingo Tea Rooms “keeping music in the PINK”

Upcoming attractions at the Flamingo Acoustic Session....

March 31st – Pete Boddis... master craftsman of stripped down country balladry. Music from the heart. Also featuring blues troubadour Tom Woodman.

April 7th – Two of Lichfield’s finest new singer/songwriters.. Keshia and Rob Jackson.

April 14th – Mike Halley and Rich Green. Powerhouse duo with crisply arranged repertoire. Doubleheader with Trent Valley Delta bluesman Tom Woodman.

April 21st – Multi talented guitarist, singer, songwriter and thespian Rob Lane. Rob appears regularly at the Yardbird and Tower of Song venues in Birmingham. With resident duo Chris and Tom. Nice bill.

April 28th – Louise Petit & her Band. Rugeley’s most exquisite chanteuse returns to the FTR. Astute pairing with the Jon Alderson Quartet who perform classic jazz and swing material.

May 5th – FTR proudly presents Grievous Angel... authentic and authoritative country music duo from Matlock. Also featuring Chris and Tom.

May 12th – English Jones. Sutton-based band performing original compositions that draw inspiration from classic UK pop pioneers from Ray Davies to Paul Weller. Joint billing with Mr Lichfield Blues Tom Woodman.

May 19th – SPRIG ( Blues Festival, see separate publicity for FTR line up)

May 26th – Mourning Suns and Asha Jazz. Both acts profusely talented. An indispensable gig really.

Flamingo Tea Room “keeping music in the PINK” Free Admission.

First things first...

there are some new gig dates on the live page, with more to follow soon.

Second things second...

Here's some pictures from my gig supporting Alice Gold on the 6th of March. Thanks to Matty Pinfield and Mick Jeynes for playing in the band, and to everyone who came along.




This was a really great gig due to an excellent audience, great sound and venue, the fantastic Alice Gold (1st picture) and her band, the ethereal Monument Valley (2nd picture) and Tara Chinn (3rd picture) being as show stopping as usual.

There are also two video on the Robert Lane Facebook Page which is in need of some more "likes"

a week today, Alice Gold, The Robert Lane Band and Tara at Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath

I had a really lovely time at Bay Leaf Restaraunt on valentines night, playing for about 2 hours in all for people enjoying the beautiful food (and it really is beautiful, I sampled it before I played!) Thanks to Aftab and all the guys at The Bay Leaf, hope to be back soon.

Since my last post the tickets for my gig supporting the superb Alice Gold have arrived. If you would like one get in touch with me rlane110@hotmail.com

The gig is on the 6th of March at Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

Find out more about Alice Gold at her website alicegold.com

Here's one of her tracks...