Rich Robinson

Following the Black Crowes’ dissolution or extended pause—accounts differ depending on the source and timing—guitarist Rich Robinson devoted several months to family life at his residence while deciding on subsequent moves. Losses within his extended family intensified the disorientation of existing apart from the Crowes and apart from his brother, vocalist Chris Robinson. He installed a studio inside his Connecticut home and refined his abilities as a producer. Additional paths opened when Robinson scored the soundtrack to the 2001 film Highway and, for the first time since the Crowes formed, concentrated seriously on painting.

During 2003 he assembled the four-piece group Hookah Brown, which toured briefly until Robinson determined he could no longer endure band politics. Working independently required vocal coaching, since the guitarist had never performed lead vocals. A single lesson exposed fundamental errors in his method yet raised his confidence and rekindled his wish to complete an album. Playing every instrument except drums, Robinson gathered enough material for a full record. Joe Magistro recorded the drum parts, after which keyboard contributions from ex-Crowes member Eddie Hawrsch and BR5-49’s Donnie Herron were added, finishing the project. Robinson issued the resulting album, Paper, in August 2004 on his own Keyhole label.

The Black Crowes reunited in 2005 and enjoyed a productive sequence of releases; at the same time Robinson recorded an acoustic duet with brother Chris titled Brothers of a Feather that appeared in 2007. The Crowes followed with the full-length Warpaint in 2008 and the double album Before the Frost...Until the Freeze in 2009. Two years later the Crowes entered another hiatus, leading Robinson to release his second solo album, Through a Crooked Sun. Two further years passed before he returned with The Ceaseless Sight, his third solo record. Early in 2016 Robinson released the EP Llama Blues along with a vinyl reissue of Paper, the album’s first appearance in that format. Flux arrived later the same year.