Robert Fairweather
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About
Fairweather’s interest in music showed itself early for this rock blues guitar phenom. A three-year old Robert was often found on the kitchen floor, tapping the beat on the pots and pans pulled from the lower cabinets. He was intent on jamming to the music from the radio, television and his parent’s record collection.
Then came the Chicago Blizzard of 1967, as notable as the Chicago Fire -except with snow. Add a large helping of rock and roll music and things would never be the same for Robert or any Chicagoan. The Doors were about to spin their blue voodoo on the world and the first song Robert remembers hearing at a very young age was “Light My Fire”, along with the songs written for The Monkees like “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Daydream Believer”. He also mentions that many of the guittar theme songs from the crazy tv shows of the 60’s and 70’s still inspire him today.
Robert’s interest in the percussion instruments and “music time” in grade school was apparent. Clave was one of his favorite instruments with it’s snappy hard wood tone. Music and instruments and singing were plentiful in Robert’s home. “My dad was in the church choir, we had a piano, some percussion stuff and an old Regal guitar my father bought when he was a kid, that guitar intrigued me but we (my brother or sisters) couldn’t touch it or we’d get scolded if you know what I mean”.
On the television, a host of great musicians including Dizzy Gillepsie and Satch were regular guests and Robert recalls, “Even as a kid I understood and had a feeling for the music these artists played and I wanted to do this too”. Then, out of nowhere, comes Jimi Hendrix. Robert continued to hear this mysterious music from an early age. It sounded so different than any other music.
The next instrument Robert went for was the trumpet in about the 4th grade. Learning the national anthem and his future high school’s fight song, Robert picked these up by listening to the high school band on his front porch any fall afternoon when the local high school football team was playing a half mile away. Robert later attended Glenbard North (ironically, alternative rocker Billy Corgan’s Smashing Pumpkins alma mater) and graduated in ‘83.
In the 70’s, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Yes, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, KISS, BAD Co, and a host of other rock bands caught Robert’s attention. This is when a guitar and amp were spotted at a local garage sale for $25.00 for the pair. Robert had been working the local Carol Stream Daily Journal paper route and had the money to buy the rig. Now, all he had to do was convince his mother and father to let him buy the guitar. And, more difficult, to learn how to play it.
Well, he bought the guitar. “Smoke on Water” and a few chords later and Robert had his baptism in electric guitar. Jamming with other electric guitarists after grade school became a passion. And, early on these boys would open up the electronics of the guitars and amps to see what made ‘em tick. Playing records and trying to decipher Rock and Roll with guitar in hand was the game. “It might be sunny out, but we’re in the bedroom working on being rock stars”. They didn’t become rocks stars. Later in high school, girls, beers and pranks became Robert’s obsession and the only musical event he participates in is a Cool and the Gang lip sync band with several classmates. It’s the high school variety show, with Robert on drums, the band was an easy winner when the frontman did a front flip and started into Cool’s “Too Hot”. First place.
College (Robert was a radio dj for three years a WIUS 88.3 Macomb, Western Illinois University) came and went quickly for this LEA graduate. Again, Robert’s first love music took a back seat to his pursuit of a law enforcement career. Working odd jobs for low pay and trying to support a new family while making applications to Chicago area police departments was tough. Sometimes 1500 candidates would show up for two police officers positions. Robert always ended up in the top 5 or 10 and tried for a couple of years before deciding to forget about a career in law enforcement. This is when he went out a bought a new guitar. He just wanted to learn a few Neil Young songs on this cheap applause guitar to satisfy his soul. Working as an auto repossessor, after a long night of stealing cars (legally), Robert and his partner would sit around and trade a few licks in Robert’s apartment. This lead to the purchase of a used electric guitar and full pursuit of the blues and rock music. Ironically, this is when Robert met Robert. Robert picked up a copy of the Robert Johnson collection and was stunned to find nearly the entire catalog of popular rock music was drawn from these musings and those of his contemporaries.
Robert made a concientious decision to learn how to play blues music after spending many of his formative years sneaking into Chicago blues clubs with his fake i.d., “They (club owners) knew we were young, but they knew we were cool and our money didn’t hurt them neither, Chicago just has a great vibe”. There is nothing like a blues show downtown Robert comments, “the energy is high and the people are all just real cool. There’s a lot of dancing, drinking and smokin’ goin’ on and the music is full of feeling, humor and sexuality - just a total release”. Robert has spent the last several years learning, listening, watching and playing rock and blues music. His respect for the music and it’s history is apparent.
After years of corner bar gigs, several band and band names, multiple attempts to record in a professional studio and a zillion let downs, Robert finally had his chance to complete a cd. The three Roberts record a full cd begining on June 7, 2004, with a completion date of August 14, 2004. In the summer of ‘04, Robert completed his debut cd “Blizzard In Chicago” which traces a life of an aspiring blues rock musician. And what about the Luv Machine? With the help of Chicago music scene veteran, Bobby Midnight on bass guitar, and MI California educated Robert Wimmers on drums, Fairweather’s Luv Machine has come up with a fun and exciting new blues rock album of original songs. This cd is an autobiography, detailing the low and high points, the dreams and aspirations for a blues guitarist from Chicago in 2004. These are exciting times for Robert with the new release and the attention great music brings. Sales of the album at www.BlueSpawn.com are exceeding all expectations and early reviews are positive. As Robert says, “I’m sure there’s somethin’ on there (the Blizzard In Chicago” cd) that everyone can like because we put such a variety of music in there. This is ten years of my life in 60 minutes. There were extra tracks that we will release on our website in a couple of months.
Chicago finest psychedelic rock blues outfit is setting up to take the main stage. Robert Fairweather often draws comparisons to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan when playing live. With recent guest appearances with the famed Chicago rocker Bobby Midnight, whose history dates back to the Thirsty Whale and the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago-sometimes referred to as the ‘brawlroom’- Robert Fairweather has been keeping busy writing songs for the next cd. After several successful outings in 2007, Robert is looking forward to 2009-2010. He states that, due to personal reasons, the 2008 Robert Fairweather & Luv Machine World Tour will have to been pushed back to 2010 when he plans to travel throughout Europe and the Orient with his Stratocaster. Last year during the Chicago Bears run up to the Super Bowl…the band posted a couple of Chicago Bears tribute fan songs. They were getting 2000 plays a day. They eventually made a ringtone which inspired a sales frenzy and a new source of income for the band.
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