Bio
“I remember putting the needle on a 45 of Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’ and wondering if anybody heard what I heard.
I remember spinning Chicago VI on my record player while I cleaned my room and pretended that I was singing ‘Just You ‘n Me’ to a pretty girl. I would sing harmony parts that weren’t on the record and think… ‘Huh, well I guess I know how to do that.’
I remember plugging my brother’s guitar into his stereo tape deck and turning the input up all the way and banging the opening chords to ‘Pinball Wizard’ – amazed that I could wield such a force in my hands.
And I remember playing our pea green upright piano in the basement and realizing that I could bang out ‘Pinball Wizard’ on the piano too. And I would play the drum solo to ‘Inna-gadda-da-vida’ on a home made drum set for a while and then fly back to the piano and try to understand the differences and similarities between ‘Chopsticks’ and ‘Pinball Wizard.’ And I would listen to the music I was making and wonder, ‘Why is this so unbelievably cool?’
I was beginning to realize that my love for music was not a passing fancy. It was not isolated to one instrument or one group or one album or song or style or anything. Early in life I had developed a fascination for music that has, for better or worse, consumed me on many levels my whole life. Sometimes it gives me wings. And sometimes it’s like a burdensome voice in my ear begging for my attention and that most precious of all commodities… time. Always there, like a wonderfully turbulent love affair.
“By the time I reached high school I had taught myself how to play guitar just good enough that I could create ‘moments’ like I heard on records. I didn’t love the guitar. I loved what I could make it do. And I’ve never been that good – I’m always just good enough to create the ‘moment’ I am looking for in a song. Beyond experiencing and creating those moments, music can’t hold my attention long enough to learn half a scale. My talent is the by-product of my search for a means to an end. That ‘end’ is what I call ‘the moment.’ The moment is when you hear those chords in ‘Pinball Wizard’ or when you feel your heart tug in the verse of ‘Live and Let Die.’”
Influences
“At 10 years old I had completely absorbed and internalized Emerson, Lake, & Palmer’s entire catalog of music to date. So, the very foundations of my musical experience are woven with strands of outrageously progressive music steeped in oddball time signatures and the most complicated of musical expressions. Yet at the same time I just wanted to sing a love song to a pretty girl and that would be enough for me. I was all over the map and I still am. Before I had started really drumming up the dedication needed to learn an instrument, my musical synapses had been stuffed with ELP, The Beatles, Rush, Sabbath, KISS, Chicago, John Denver, Alice Cooper and the dude who sings Big Rock Candy Mountain.
In 1978, I heard Edward Van Halen and it all kind of fell off the edge of the earth as far as guitar goes. He is the only guitar player that I listen to simply to hear guitar playing for guitar playing’s sake. The ‘moments’ he creates are a driving force in my study of the guitar. Ok – well maybe TROWER too. And Stevie Ray – but that’s it! (except for GILMORE, PAGE, and ANGUS).” 
History
Regional success first came knocking in the form of Rob’s band GASTEM which toured the East Coast in various forms from 1984 until 1990. With the opportunity to open the stage for such acts as KIX, Wrathchild America, Child’s Play, Monarch, Savatage, White Lion, & others, Rob earned a reputation as a gifted guitarist, singer and songwriter with a passion for the stage. The Maryland boy had found his calling, and it was calling him at an alarmingly loud volume!
In 1991, Rob decided to put his dreams on the shelf and start a family. In 2003 and after a 10+ year hiatus from the music scene, Rob was asked to contribute his songwriting and guitar talents to Funny Money, a band formed by KIX vocalist, Steve Whiteman. From the first notes of tracks like “Sharp as Knives” and “Just One Dance” off Funny Money’s Skin To Skin album, it was obvious that Rob had not lost his touch for reaching an audience. He was quickly asked to join the band as their second guitarist, an offer he happily accepted with his family’s support. What followed was an even wider audience being introduced to Galpin’s talents as a guitarist and then later as a songwriter when he penned and co-wrote many of the tracks from their 2007 effort, Stick It. After a successful five year run with Funny Money, Rob made the decision to get back to his growing family and their new addition, son Jack, and so he left Funny Money with no regrets and nothing but love for his former band mates.
Now what?
Fast-forward to June of 2009 and we find our mild-mannered hero in the midst of resurgence, if you will. At the rigorous if relentless prompting of former GASTEM band mate Craig Stegall (Rob’s writing partner of over 25-years), Rob agreed to make some of his music available to the public by way of a solo effort with the working title Home Away From Home. The album will be released as a track-by-track effort available by internet download at various online music stores including Itunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, Napster, LimeWire Pro.
The tracks are slated for release at three week intervals starting July 22nd. Stay tuned as this project promises to be an aural explosion of music that Rob has kept inside for many years… something the fans can truly enjoy!
