Here is my promotion oriented, third-person introduction!

Rob Martino performs original music and arrangements on the Chapman Stick, a unique stringed instrument that combines elements of guitar, bass, piano and percussion. The strings are tapped and held onto the frets, rather than plucked or strummed, enabling both hands to play complete and expressive multi-part arrangements.

Since focusing exclusively on the instrument in 2004, Rob has become one of the most prominent solo Stick artists. In addition to making a strong impression at live performances, including TEDxOrlando 2010 and the 2009 3RP Progressive Rock Festival, Rob’s music has a popular online presence. With over 1.5 million views and thousands of subscribers worldwide on YouTube, he is currently the most watched solo Stick artist on the internet. He has been featured on the NPR radio program Echoes, as well as the progressive rock documentary Romantic Warriors.

A strength of Rob's music has been it's crossover appeal, drawing fans of vastly different musical genres. His compositions emphasize melody, feeling and mood, while also incorporating more intricate artistic qualities developed from a broad range of influences including folk, rock, electronic and classical music.

Rob has particularly drawn from progressive and art rock artists such as Jethro Tull, Rush, and Marillion to develop his particular musical approach. Within the progressive rock community, he has performed at such notable venues as 3RP, NJ Proghouse and Orion Sound Studios.

An aspect of Rob's unique style is his own particular string tuning, based on mirrored 4ths (not common among Stick players). His compelling musical demonstrations of this string arrangement contributed to it's inclusion as a standard Stick tuning by Stick Enterprises.

Rob is currently based in Fredericksburg, Virginia (originally from the Boston area), and has had a lifelong interest in music and computers - he is a software engineer in the music technology industry (Wave Arts and Camel Audio), and also holds a master's degree in music from Northwestern University.

Photo by Brandon Wu