Hello and Welcome!

Where to start? I’ve had an unusual career as a singer-songwriter. I only started writing songs in 2014 when I was almost 60 years old. I had been terminated as Senior Paralegal from Lee Memorial Health System (details are public record) during the mortgage meltdown and financial crisis of 2008 when there were no jobs available. To make matters worse, I had just separated from my wife and filed for a divorce. I had left with only the bare essentials, my two dogs, Sam and Joey, the only things that really mattered, anymore. The three of us rented a small one-bedroom apartment, and they were right by my side every night, listening and watching me play guitar, drink lots of wine, smoke weed, and sometimes cry. My dogs and music became my life. 

I could not find employment, so I started Coastal Research & Investigations, a private investigative agency specializing in electronic discovery and computer forensics. I also started playing my guitar in public at the invite of a friend who had a friend that owned a Beef O'Brady's sports bar and restaurant in Lehigh Acres. Things clicked from there and Talent and Entertainment Productions, a talent and booking agency, offered to represent me. I was soon playing at some of the finest resorts and other music venues in the southwest part of Florida, to include Naples, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and Captiva. Sand, water, and dolphins were always nearby. 

For all intents and purposes, I closed my private investigative agency and devoted full time to music and my dogs. I recorded my first album, "Ruff Draft", with the Dog Bones Band in 2016, a trio with guitar, bango, and congas. (For real) It had six songs that I had written and six covers on it. But I had to stop performing live in 2018 due to peripheral neuropathy in my feet and legs affecting my balance and mobility. I started physical therapy and was hoping to return to live performances, but the COVID pandemic hit and all the live music venues closed. So, I started writing a lot more songs during the quarantine and would share my music by performing songs live on Facebook as a way to provide a little online entertainment for people until live venues reopened. I am grateful to have developed a nice and enthusiastic following.

I released my second album "Climb on Board" in 2021 and "Younger Than Ever" in 2023. performed two of my songs in the finals. I also competed in the finals of the 2022 and 2023 Sounds of Summer Singer-Songwriter Competition where I played "Anthems of Hope" and "I'll Help You Write Your Song". I spent most of 2023 and 2024 creating music videos to accompany twenty-five of my songs that I could display on a big screen behind me while I performed live singing and playing guitar. I even intermittently displayed pet videos of Jackson and Cody, my cat and dog,.during the three hour performance.

To test out the show and technology part, I performed at the Fort Myers Music Walk and twice at a Steve's, a downtown Fort Myers bar. Everything worked well, except for my peripheral neuropathy and profound hearing loss. Even though I had purchased the best hearing aids on the market, I could not converse with the audience or bar staff due to background sounds and others talking. And my leg muscles had atrophied so much from nerve damage that I couldn't balance and my leg muscles would give out and I would most likely fall. Old age had come to roost. So, now, I pretty much use my website and Facebook page to share my songs and videos, although all of my music is available for purchase at all major online music stores like Apple, Amazon, iTunes, etc.

And lastly, I would be remiss not to introduce Mike DiVito, the real “artist” behind the curtain when I call myself a recording artist, which I don't ever do. He takes my songs to another level that only Mike can bring out. Mike not only played the instruments on my last two albums, but he is also my recording engineer with a special gift for blending sounds, tracks, and melodies into something special. Please buy our records so Mike can quit his daytime job.

Thank you for visiting!

Rob