Hailing originally from small town New Brunswick, Canada, singer-songwriter Robert Ross grew up in a music-loving household and started singing at a young age. “I was shy as a kid. I kind of just sang in the back room,” Robert remembers. His first public performance came at the tender age of twelve, at a community fundraiser. He laughs, “I was kind of forced into it.” But the music bug had taken hold. The next major step would come when Robert was 20 and serving in the Canadian military. Picking up a guitar for the first time and playing with friends led to a realization of “hey, this is cool…I can do this.”
After completing more than a decade of service, Robert decided on a complete change of scene, so he moved to Australia. When asked for a reason, his answer is succinct: “No snow.” During fifteen years there, his part-time music-making developed into a full-time career, which then led to the decision to come to Nashville in 2023. He laughs about the timing: “…coming to Nashville, they had one of the coldest winters they’ve experienced in a very long time…unbelievable!” Although he enjoyed much success in Australia, Robert saw the shift to Nashville as the best way to take his career to the next level.
Comparing and contrasting the music scenes he has experienced in three different countries, Robert says, “There’s a lot of similarities when you’re playing festivals and concert-style…people are there for the music.” On the other hand, he finds the bar scene in Australia differs from that of the US and Canada, in that “people go to a pub for one reason and that’s to drink…whereas in the US, you still get a lot of people who are there for the music.”
About his classic-country-tinged sound, Robert says, “I grew up listening to all the greats, like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson…I tend to classify myself as a neo-traditionalist…With the new album, there’s a little taste of rockabilly in there as well.”