Sebastian Robertson
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Sebastian Robertson is a Canadian-American non-fiction children's author, musician, composer, and studio engineer. As a children's author, Robertson has written the book ''Rock and Roll Highway'' (2014), a biographical book about his father, The Band co-founder
Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...
. He has also co-written ''Legends, Icons, and Rebels'' (2013), a contemporary pop and rock and roll history starter book, which he created in collaboration with Robbie Robertson, Jared Levine, and Jim Guerinot. As a musician and composer, Robertson has composed over 4,000 pieces of music that have been used in over 100 different television shows, films, and advertisements. He has collaborated with musician Daniel Davies on several projects, including songs featured in the soundtracks of the films '' Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!'' and ''
The Vatican Tapes ''The Vatican Tapes'' is a 2015 American supernatural horror film directed by Mark Neveldine from a screenplay written by Christopher Borrelli and Michael C. Martin, which is in turn based on a story by Chris Morgan and Christopher Borrelli. The ...
'', as well as the entirety of the soundtrack to the film ''
Condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...
'' (all 2015). Robertson has also performed on two of Robbie Robertson's solo albums, and was project coordinator on The Band box set '' Live at the Academy of Music 1971'' (2013).


Biography


Childhood

As a child, Robertson had little knowledge of his father Robbie Robertson's prominence, as The Band had recorded their last performance when the younger Robertson was two years old. Robertson remembers his father at the time as "the guy that made me do my homework, drove me to little league games, made me breakfast and brought me to school." It was through listening to the
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
album ''
Security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...
'' that the younger Robertson started to connect with music on a more personal level. This led to Robertson picking albums from his father's collection to listen to, and his father telling him the stories about the artists, many of which were from the elder Robertson's personal experiences. It was in his teens that Robertson came to better understand his father's place in music history. Robertson began playing the drums at age 14 after listening to the drumming of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.


Children's author

It was when Robertson was working a part-time job involving programming music for children that he noticed that children would respond overwhelmingly favorably when he would play music by artists such as
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
and
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
amongst more traditional
children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...
. Robertson expressed to his father an interest in creating a resource that would give children a foundation in music education, and help them choose quality music. The elder Robertson discussed the idea with his friend Jared Levine, and then met music industry professional Jim Guerinot, who initiated the work of building the project. The four worked together over the course of five years to create the book, which was entitled ''Legends, Icons, and Rebels: Music that Changed the World''. Released by Tundra Books in 2013, ''Legends, Icons, and Rebels'' is a hardcover book with two CD's that introduces children ages nine to twelve to the stories of twenty-seven foundational contemporary music artists such as
Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, Johnny Cash,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
, and others. The book was featured as Best of the Month in Non Fiction Books by
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
, and was listed as one of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine's "20 Best Music Books of 2013". After the release of ''Legends, Icons, and Rebels'', publisher Christy Ottaviano approached Robertson about writing a children's book about his father. Entitled ''Rock and Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story'', the book was published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2014, and tells the story of Robbie Robertson's life. The book is intended for children ages six to nine, and is illustrated with paintings by Adam Gustavson. At the end of the book, Robertson conducts a question and answer session with his father, which is intended to encourage the book's young readers to interview their own parents to learn more from them. ''Rock and Roll Highway'' received favorable reviews from ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'', who compared it to "iconic compositions that might have been pulled from dusty album covers," and from The American Library Association's '' Booklist'', who called it "insightful". The book received a mixed review from ''
School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...
'', who called the book a "well-illustrated and nicely told story," but were concerned that "the details aren't likely to resonate with the intended audience." Robertson plans to write a third book about his Native American heritage. The book will highlight eight to ten influential Native American tribal chiefs.


Composer, musician, and studio engineer

Robertson's primary line of work is in composing music for television. He owns and operates a music library called "We the People", which services approximately 45 different television shows. Robertson has worked extensively providing background music for '' Access Hollywood'' and '' Access Hollywood Live''. His work has been featured in television series such as '' Fresh Off the Boat'', ''
Wicked Tuna ''Wicked Tuna'' is an American reality television series about commercial tuna fishermen based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, who fish for the lucrative Atlantic bluefin tuna in the North Atlantic Ocean. The teams of fishermen battle each other to s ...
'', ''
Preachers' Daughters ''Preachers' Daughters'' is an American docusoap series that premiered on March 12, 2013, and airs on Lifetime. The second season premiered on March 5, 2014, with two families joining the cast. The third season was announced to be returning on Jan ...
'', '' Married to Jonas'', and others. Robertson has composed the soundtracks for the feature films '' The Anna Nicole Smith Story'' (2007) and '' Walk of Shame'' (2014), as well as for the Matthew Cooke-directed documentary '' Survivors Guide to Prison'' (2018). Robertson has also assisted on a number of his father's musical projects. In 1994, Robertson played drums on Robbie Robertson's soundtrack to the Barry Levinson film ''
Jimmy Hollywood ''Jimmy Hollywood'' is a 1994 American comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson and starring Joe Pesci and Christian Slater. It was released on April 1, 1994, and was a box office bomb, grossing just $3 million against its $30 million bud ...
''. That same year, Robertson played drums again on parts of the elder Robertson's album '' Music for The Native Americans''. In 2011, Robertson appeared on the elder Robertson's album ''
How to Become Clairvoyant ''How to Become Clairvoyant'' is the fifth solo release from Canadian singer-musician Robbie Robertson. It was released on April 5, 2011, and peaked at No. 13 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. Critical reviews were generally positive. Th ...
'', this time providing effects. In 2013, Robertson was enlisted to assist in the release of The Band box set ''Live at the Academy of Music 1971'' (2013), an expanded presentation of the source material that the live album ''
Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...
'' (1972) is taken from. Robertson worked on the stereo mixes of the complete New Year's Eve show that appears on discs 3 and 4 of the set alongside mixing engineer Jon Castelli. It was Robertson's idea to preserve and even highlight the imperfections and personal moments that fans of
bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...
s enjoy, instead of mixing them out. Robertson also sourced the previously unpublished photos that were used to illustrate the album's release. Robertson has been longtime friends with Daniel Davies, sometime member of the rock bands
Year Long Disaster Year Long Disaster was an American rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in 2004, the band was composed of vocalist and guitarist Daniel Davies, bassist Rich Mullins and drummer Brad Hargreaves. Hargreaves was later replaced by Rob Oswald, and gu ...
and
CKY CKY may refer to: * CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...
and son of The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies. The two have built a recording studio, and have worked together in several musical collaborations. The pair co-wrote a song for the 2008 movie ''
The Coverup ''The Coverup'', previously known as ''The Thacker Case'', is a 2008 crime-thriller film directed by Brian Jun and starring Gabriel Mann and Eliza Dushku. Plot This movie, based on a true story, centers on the 1984 investigation of the death of K ...
'', as well as another song for the soundtrack to the horror-thriller ''
The Vatican Tapes ''The Vatican Tapes'' is a 2015 American supernatural horror film directed by Mark Neveldine from a screenplay written by Christopher Borrelli and Michael C. Martin, which is in turn based on a story by Chris Morgan and Christopher Borrelli. The ...
'' (2015). The latter song, entitled "Rebel Shake", was performed on the ''Vatican Tapes'' soundtrack by Robertson's and Davies' rock band The Bootleggers. Robertson's and Davies' cover version of
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band The Pixies' song "Wave of Mutilation" was featured in the soundtrack to the
Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
film '' Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!'' (also 2015). Later the same year, they scored the entirety of the Eli Morgan Gesner-directed film ''
Condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...
'' over the course of a three-week period. The film soundtrack album was praised by ''Something Else!'' as "inventive – to say nothing of bone-chilling."


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Sebastian Living people American children's writers Children's non-fiction writers American film score composers American male film score composers 1974 births