We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rodrick Robinson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Rodrick, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I’d had to say my biggest risk was leaving my job and moving to a new city to pursue my career. Honestly when I moved to Montgomery Alabama I didn’t have a solid plan,I just knew that it would take hard work, networking and promoting myself to create a foundation for growth in the music industry . I dropped everything I had going on in life at the time and stepped out on faith and believed in myself that I could make it happen. I’ll admit I didn’t have the confidence to take the risk at first but my brother said to me “You have the talent to make it and this has been your dream since you were a kid, you owe it yourself to give it a shot”. That statement is what sparked my determination.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began playing guitar professionally at the age of 14 for the JD Gospel Singers of Uriah Alabama. Playing for them not was not only helpful In developing my skills but members of the group also taught me about integrity, professionalism and the importance of good character and those teachings have helped me along my journey to where I am today. In 2017 relocated to Montgomery Al where I began touring the southeast region with country singer Kirk Jay(NBC’s The Voice). During this time I also began playing for several artists from the Montgomery, Birmingham and Atlanta area and later began touring nationally.

Social media has also played a big part in my career. I wanted a way to continue to share my gift at times where I wasn’t on the road performing . It started with posting a few clips from live performances, cover tunes and eventually some original tunes. Over time this led to more followers,shares and began to catch the attention of magazines,bloggers and podcast hosts that eventually landed me features on some of the world’s largest social media platforms for musicians.
The hashtag #PlayDuke caught on very well with people , it stems from the audience yelling play duke during performances. This also sparked the idea for Duke The Guitarist LLC. Duke The Guitarist LLC specializes in recording sessions , the sales of guitar loop packages for producers and also merchandise bearing the Duke The Guitarist/#PlayDuke logo.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Talent IS NOT the only key needed for success. It plays a part definitely but it also takes discipline, a positive attitude, sacrifices , networking, marketing along with talent to create room for growth

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I appreciate the recognition,awards,endorsements from companies that I’ve admire since I was kid so feel blessed to be a part of these things but I’d have to say one of the biggest thing Is being an inspiration to people.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://duketheguitarist.godaddysites.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duke_the_guitarist/?hl=en