Rob Ickes hymes with "bikes"is an American dobro ( resonator guitar) player, born 1967 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. Ickes moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

in 1992 and joined the contemporary bluegrass band Blue Highway as a founding member in 1994. He currently collaborates with guitarist Trey Hensley, with whom he has released three albums. Ickes has been nominated for numerous

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s, winning two in 1994 for bluegrass and gospel albums he contributed to.

Biography

After spending 21 years as Blue Highway's dobro player, Ickes left the band in 2015. Currently, he records and performs with guitarist Trey Hensley. The duo has released three albums with Compass Records: ''World Full of Blues'' (2019), ''The Country Blues'' (2016), and ''Before the Sun Goes Down'' (2014). ''Before the Sun Goes Down'' was nominated for a Grammy in 2016. As a duo, Ickes and Hensley have performed and recorded with Taj Mahal, Tommy Emmanuel, David Grisman, Molly Tuttle, and Jorma Kaukonen & Hot Tuna. In 2013, he was named Dobro Player of the Year for the fifteenth time by the

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

. IBMA notes that he is the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of the IBMA Awards. He was also named the USA Peter Cummings Fellow in 2010 by United States Artists, an organization that annually honors 50 of America's finest artists across eight disciplines. In 2014, Ickes released an album with fellow dobro greats

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he has ...

and

Mike Auldridge Mike Auldridge (December 30, 1938 – December 29, 2012) was an American Dobro player and a founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. The ''New York Times'' described Auldridge as "one of the most distinctive dobro players in the ...

, titled ''Three Bells''. This album was nominated for a Grammy in 2015. His other solo projects include ''Road Song'', a jazz project with

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Michael Alvey and vocalist Robinella (ResoRevolution), and four solo albums on Rounder Records: ''Big Time'' (2004), What It Is (2002), ''Slide City'' (1999) and ''Hard Times'' (1997). Ickes has also performed and recorded with a "jamgrass acoustic power trio", Three Ring Circle, with Andy Leftwich and

Dave Pomeroy Dave Pomeroy (born April 26, 1956) is an American musician, known as a Nashville vocalist, songwriter, and producer (Earwave Productions), but is best known as a bassist. He has played electric and acoustic bass for many world renowned artists, ...

. Three Ring Circle released a self-titled CD in 2006, (Earwave Records), followed by Brothership in 2010 (ResoRevolution). Ickes has also released a studio performance DVD+CD, Rob Ickes: Contemporary ''Dobro Artistry'' (2008, Mel Bay), featuring duos with mandolinist Andy Leftwich, solo performances, and duos with jazz pianist Michael Alvey. Ickes was the youngest dobro player on ''

The Great Dobro Sessions ''The Great Dobro Sessions'' is a 1994 country music and bluegrass album featuring an all-star line-up of 10 American resonator guitar players, produced by dobro players Jerry Douglas and Tut Taylor. The album won that year's Grammy Award for B ...

'', produced by

and

Tut Taylor Robert Arthur "Tut" Taylor Sr. (November 20, 1923 – April 9, 2015) was an American bluegrass musician. Taylor played banjo and mandolin as a child, and began playing dobro at age 14, learning to use the instrument with a distinctive flat-pick ...

, which won the 1994

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Bluegrass Album. He was also on the Alison Krauss & The Cox Family album, ''

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow ''I Know Who Holds Tomorrow'' is an album by American violinist/singer Alison Krauss and the Cox Family, released in 1994. At the 37th Grammy Awards, Grammy Awards of 1995, ''I Know Who Holds Tomorrow'' won the Grammy Award for Best Southern, Co ...

'', which won the 1994

for Best Southern Gospel. He has also collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Merle Haggard,

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-fin ...

, Tony Rice, Charlie Haden,

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Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

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, Patty Loveless, Peter Rowan,

Niall Toner Niall Edward Toner (born 1944) is an Irish bluegrass musician, songwriter and radio broadcaster from Dublin, known nationwide for his programmes ''Country Heartland'' and ''Roots Freeway''. Musical career Toner organised his first acoustic band i ...

, Claire Lynch, and Mary Chapin Carpenter and the southern gospel group The Dunaways. His work with Merle Haggard includes Haggard's 2007 release, "The Bluegrass Sessions" (McCoury Music). Other notable collaborations include the CD '' Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends, The Ultimate Collection: Live at the Ryman'' (2008, Rounder), nominated for the 2009 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album; and "Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs, The Three Pickers" (2003, Rounder DVD & CD), which appeared on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart for 138 weeks. Ickes also played on Mark Twain: Words & Music in 2011, a benefit CD for the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum produced by Carl Jackson. The project featured

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

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, Brad Paisley,

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

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, and others. Active in dobro workshops and instruction, Ickes is the founder and producer o
Resosummit
a 3-day educational event held in Nashville annually since 2007, with 100 students, 10+ faculty, and key luthiers, with workshops, master classes, and performances. He frequently serves as an instructor at music workshops and camps, including NashCamp, Sore Fingers Week (UK), Rockygrass Academy (CO), Wintergrass Academy (WA), and Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp (OH). In 2019, Ickes began offering video instruction o
Big Music Tent
an online music lessons platform. He uploads regular videos and interacts with dobro students on his dedicated learning page, "Rob's Reso Room."

References

External links

Rob Ickes Official siteBlue Highway Official siteResoRevolution website NPR All Things Considered feature, "Dobro Player Rob Ickes Takes A New Highway"Big Music Tent Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ickes, Rob Living people American bluegrass musicians Slide guitarists 1967 births Blue Coast Records artists Resonator guitarists Grammy Award winners Jazz musicians from Tennessee Bluegrass musicians from Tennessee Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Musicians from San Francisco