Janet Robin

Janet Robin (born 1966) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, film and television composer, and guitar coach. Robin was named on the Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists Bonus List in Guitar Player in 2017.

Early life Robin grew up in North Hollywood, California where she and her older brother Steve began taking acoustic folk guitar lessons at Valley Arts Guitar. When Steve wanted to begin playing electric guitar, the Robins were both referred to a North Hollywood music school owned by Delores Rhoads called Musonia School of Music. At Musonia, Robin took electric guitar lessons as the youngest and only female guitar student of Delores's son, Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads.

Career Precious Metal

Robin began performing professionally at the age of 16 in the mid-1980s playing guitar in the all-female hard rock band Precious Metal The band performed at Los Angeles venues such as FM Station, Club Lingerie, Whisky a Go Go and The Roxy. This exposure brought Precious Metal to the attention of influential KROQ radio disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, who played their music on his radio program. Russ Regan, head of Polygram Records, signed the band soon afterwards, and Precious Metal released their debut record Right Here, Right Now in 1985 on Mercury Records. After leaving Polygram, the band was picked up by Capitol Records subsidiary label Chameleon who released their final two albums That Kind of Girl in 1988 and Precious Metal in 1990. While in Precious Metal, Robin wrote songs with members of Heart, Poison and Cheap Trick.

Precious Metal recorded a cover of the Jean Knight song, "Mr. Big Stuff" for their 1990 self-titled album. Donald Trump originally made an appearance in the music video. However, Trump wanted a $250,000 payment instead of the agreed-upon $10,000 appearance fee. After the band refused to pay for his appearance, Trump was replaced in the final version of the music video.

Lindsey Buckingham and touring After Chameleon Records went bankrupt and Precious Metal broke up in 1991, Robin's first gig with Buckingham was a live performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno one week after she joined the band. From 2008 to 2009 she was a touring member of Air Supply.

Solo career Robin has recorded and released solo albums on her own imprint, Little Sister Records. In 1998, she recorded and released her first album Open the Door which was produced by Mark Karan of Bob Weir & Rat Dog. Robin joined Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart for an acoustic performance which led to a write up in music industry trade publication Radio & Records and earned her industry attention. Everything Has Changed was released in 2010 by German record label Hypertension Music who she was introduced to by Colin Hay. Robin released the album in the U.S. on Little Sister Records in 2012. In 2013, Robin released her first live recording, "Janet Robin & Band, Live in France," which featured a live show recording at a blues club in France with her French band. The album was produced and mixed by famed French guitarist, Charlie Fabert.

In 2016, Robin again raised fan donations and recorded Take Me As I Am with John Carter Cash as executive producer and Chuck Turner as Producer and Engineer at Cash Cabin Studio near Nashville. In 2018 she released a digital single-an instrumental version of "Here Comes the Sun".

The String Revolution The String Revolution is a side project started by Robin featuring four international guitar players playing mostly original instrumental pieces of all genres.

Film and TV composing Robin has composed scores for the short films, "Traces", "War of Art," and "Use Me Up." Robin contributed guitar to Michelle Shocked's score for the documentary Bush's Brain. She has had songs placed on several TV shows, including One Life to Live, All My Children, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Felicity.

Robin was the guitar coach for Quentin Tarantino's 2015 film The Hateful Eight. She taught actress Jennifer Jason Leigh how to play guitar. Leigh was nominated for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in the film.

Discography 1998: Open the Door (Renaissance Records) 2001: Out From Under (Little Sister Records) 2004: After The Flood (Little Sister Records) 2007: Days of Summer – EP (Little Sister Records) 2010: Everything Has Changed (Hypertension Music) 2012: Everything Has Changed (Little Sister Records) 2013: Live in France (Little Sister Records) 2016: Stringborn, The String Revolution (String Revolution Music) 2016: Take Me As I Am (Little Sister Records) 2018: "Here Comes the Sun" (Little Sister Records), Instrumental Single 2019: Red Drops, The String Revolution (String Revolution Music) 2023: Folsom Prison Blues, The String Revolution (String Revolution Music)