Janet Robin

[Pop-Rock]

Janet Robin is a working musician. She plays guitar, sings, writes, produces, records, promotes and spends time on the road. She's a professional. Music pays her bills. It feeds her stomach and her soul.

Robin's career reflects the decades it's been through: garage bands in the '70s; rock (mild to heavy) and a touch of glam in the '80s with the L.A.-based group, Precious Metal; touring with Lindsey Buckingham, a shift to singer-songwriter mode and Lilith Fair in the '90s; and now, in the '00s, a commitment to DIY writing, producing, recording, promoting, and purusing new opportunities in those fields via the digital revolution.

Her solo discography to-date includes: Open the Door (1998, Renaissance); Out from Under (2001, Little Sister Records); and, After the Flood (2004, Little Sister Records). Her song, "Personal Revolution" appears on the compilation CD, Girls Night Out . She is currently working on her fourth album, as yet untitled, with producers David Bianco (Tom Petty, Teenage Fanclub) and Steve Baughman (Eminem, 50 Cent).

Janet Robin is born (1966) and raised in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, so I have to wonder: What turns a potentially straight-up Valley Girl into a music business warrior?

A few minutes into our conversation I know the answer. Destiny.

Her fate's sealed at the age of eight when she signs up for guitar lessons from Randy Rhoads.

Yes, the Randy Rhoads.

But, you don't survive or thrive in the music business because you took lessons from Randy Rhoads. You don't survive any serious business because you had a famous teacher. And we're not talking here about just any serious business. We're talking about a dog-eat-dog world that would make Darwin weep.

Want to know what it takes to survive in the music business and keep the love affair alive?

You're about to find out.

Read the interview