Bio by Bart Mendoza

For guitarist Robin Henkel, music has been a lifelong obsession. "My mom gave me a ukulele when I was in third grade; that got the ball rolling" he remembered. Soon afterwards, he had mastered a few chords. At a class show-and-tell session, he played "Swanee River" for his fellow students. Oddly enough, it was the fact that he made a flub on the song that pushed him towards a life as a performer. "I made a mistake and the kids laughed, but I remember not being worried about it and just persevered. At the end, everyone cheered, and I was hooked," he said. His parents often took him to area coffeehouse in the early sixties to catch the latest folk acts coming through town, such as Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. "Years later, when I was ten, I saw the guitarist Josh White, who changed my life," he noted. Catching a performance from White cast a heavy spell over Henkel, who is still in awe, some four decades later, of White's six-string prowess. Four decades later, Henkel is considered one of the Southlands best acoustic blues players, a virtuoso at jazz, funk, country swing, Hawaiian and Latin music.

Henkel is at home playing with different-sized combos, from blues duos to 80-piece symphonies. He cites an appearance alongside blues harp player Kellie Rucker, when they opening for legendary trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie at the old Bacchanal club in Clairemont as an all-time favorite. "During our set, a spontaneous cheer and applause went up from the audience. Kellie and I had no idea what for; it was just one of those weird things that goes by," he laughed. "Later, I was informed that Dizzy had opened the stage door from the dressing room and appeared behind us onstage where we didn't see him, doing one of his funky, little dances that used to tick off Cab Calloway back in the 1940's."

In addition to his concerts, Henkel is also a music instructor, imparting his knowledge to future generations of musicians. "He's the best," enthused Anna Troy, a former Henkel student and now a respected artist on her own. "It's hard not to be inspired by Robin when you watch him play," said Troy . "He really understands a song and what makes it work. Even when he's doing material that's been interpreted hundreds of times before, say an old Robert Johnson classic for example, he'll still find different nuances than might be expected and breathe passion into it."

Henkel's statistics are impressive. He released his first album, the quirkly titled, "Let's Get Squished," in 1979, with a further eight albums to date. Notably, each of his releases since 2000 has been nominated for a San Diego Music Award. He's taken home two of the trophies, winning in 2000 for his self titled blues CD and again in 2004 for the album, "Acoustic Blues." As inspiring as his recordings are, it's onstage where Henkel truly shines, whether performing solo or with a group; he's opened shows for Dizzy Gillespie, John MacLaughlin, Bonnie Raitt, Dr John and Arlo Guthrie and has perfomed alongside the San Diego Symphony, Papa John Creach and Big Jay McNealy. Perhaps more importantly he's collaborated with countless artists and bands including Troy, Big Rig Deluxe, Earl Thomas, The Seventh Day Buskers and many more. Notably, Henkel has been a significant presence on San Diego TV and Radio shows over the years, but ironically, his best known media work is more anonymous. His song "Phat Boy Blues," has turned out to be something of a cable TV soundtrack perennial, showing up on such diverse networks as CMT and Animal Planet and shows ranging from VH1's "101 Juiciest Hollywood Hook Ups" to the Univision Networks Spanish language "Gente Activa."

Currently, Henkel is preparing his tenth album, "Steel Guitar" while simultaneously working on numbers 11 through 20. "I have such a backlog of things to work on, it's going to take another forty years to get through it all," he mused. Look for expanded touring to be a key component of future projects

After nearly three decades on San Diego stages, Robin Henkel is an institution. The reason for his success is obvious to anyone who's seen a Henkel concert. A dynamic and sometimes manic artist, Henkel's performances are never less than a barnstorming good time, custom-made for anyone who enjoys Americana , blues or simply terrific music played with heartfelt passion.


--Bart Mendoza