Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Rob Ickes (rhymes with "bikes") comes from a musical family. His grandparents played old-time fiddle music, and Rob trained his young musical ear at their weekly jam sessions. Although his family wanted Rob to play fiddle, the instrument didn't interest him. Then, at the age of thirteen, Rob was exposed to the Dobro playing of Mike Auldridge, and the sound immediately caught his attention. Soon after, Rob got his first Dobro, and he has been playing music ever since.

Upon moving to Nashville in 1992, Rob's career took off, and has continued to be a busy and successful one. Rob is a founding member of the Bluegrass Supergroup, "Blue Highway," one of the fastest rising groups in the genre. After their first recording was released in 1996, this group swept the International Bluegrass Music Association awards with wins for Album of the Year, Emerging Artist of the Year, and Dobro Player of the Year. Since then, Rob has gone on to win IBMA Dobro Player of the Year a total of nine times.

Aside from his work with "Blue Highway," Rob has also been busy as a session player in Nashville (see Discography). In 1996 Rob was on two Grammy winning recordings: Alison Krauss and the Cox Family's, "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow," and the all-star Dobro release produced by Jerry Douglas, "The Great Dobro Sessions." Rob was the youngest player to be invited to participate in the project, a virtual "who's who" of Dobro players.

Rob has four solo albums on Rounder Records which have been landmark achievements for the Dobro.

Rob also recently released a 2-video instruction set for Homespun Tapes and it has been getting rave reviews.

Here is a small sample of the artists that Rob has performed and/or recorded with: Merle Haggard, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, David Lee Roth, Toby Keith, Reba Macentire, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless, Earl Scruggs, Steve Wariner, Marty Stuart, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Marty Raybon, Jeannie Kendall, Mila Mason, The Oak Ridge Boys, Ashley Monroe, Susan Ashton, Claire Lynch, Lynn Morris, John Cowan, Harley Allen, The Cox Family, Mary Chapin Carpenter.

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