ROB SHERMAN
drums
Since his very first public performance on piano at age five, then switching to violin at age eight, Rob Sherman has not looked back since switching to the drums at age ten. During high school he marched in two Rose Bowl Parades with L.A. Unified Schools All District Band and played his first paying gig with a band at age 14. Rob went on to study music at Cal State University, Fullerton, graduating with a B.A. in Music Education. There he studied percussion with Todd Miller of the L.A. Philharmonic.
He played in the Cal State Fullerton Orchestra under the direction of Keith Clark, a Leonard Bernstein protégé and founder of Orange County’s Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Rob toured Europe with the Cal State Fullerton Orchestra and performed in many of Europe’s most famous and historic concert halls where the likes of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Mahler graced the stage.
Rob worked his way through college playing drums in Fat City, a Top 40 cover band. Rob started the group in his senior year of high school, kept it going for six years all the way through college and learned the business side of live music firsthand. Fat City’s lineup included Jim Pollock on Sax (Brenda Russell) and Marc Lee Shannon on guitar (Jeff Scott and Marc Lee Shannon Group). After Fat City, Robert played with another popular Los Angeles cover group, the Six Million Dollar Band with brothers, Eddie and Juan Nelson. Juan would eventually become the long-time bass player with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals.
He eventually changed directions, moving into original music and joined Janelle and the Cause, a R&B act featuring vocalist Janelle Hayman. The group was managed by Deena Andrews, of Solar Records and played local venues such as The L.A. Cabaret, Club 88 and Santa Monica’s infamous At My Place. Janelle and the Cause were fortunate to receive opportunities and moral support from Jimmie Jam and Terry Lewis. That included performing at the Kool City Jam at Southwest College where the group opened for the SOS Band and The Whispers. They released an EP produced by Monty Seward and it featured Paul Jackson Jr. on guitar.
Rob eventually got into the blues scene in Antelope Valley and started attending jam sessions there where musicians such as vocalists Finis Tasby, Ed Freeman (The Drifters), drummers Bugsy Wilcox (Marvin Gaye), and Carmen Appice (Rod Steward) would appear. Through the network of musicians in the area, he eventually started a progressive blues band with the performance art multi-keyboardist Gaea. He has recently teamed-up with The Blues Faithful out of the Conejo Valley.
Over his career, Robert has performed at Disneyland, Dodger Stadium, The Greek Theater, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Palladium, Laguna Beach Festival of Arts, Los Angeles Sports Arena, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool, England and The Queen Mary in Long Beach.