Louis Robinson + Bob Bakert @ Lena's Place Coffeehouse

Saturday, March 14 Supported Charity for the month- El Refugio 8:00 :: Louis Robinson In 1969, Louis Robinson was a member of the popular London folk band Green Ginger which performed at venues throughout the UK and Europe. During the next twenty years Louis Robinson appeared as a solo act and wrote songs for BBC Radio Stations up and down the country including Radio Bristol, Radio Northampton, Radio WM and Radio Cambridgeshire. In 1975, Louis joined a traditional Ceilidh dance band The A40 Improvement Scheme with Geoff and Joy Lakeman. In 1978 Louis wrote songs for "That Was the West That Was" a weekly satirical radio show that won the prestigious Sony Radio Award for Best Comedy of the Year. It also won the Radio & Record News Award for Best Comedy Show. In 1984 Louis wrote a words and music for a stage musical "A Man Out of Time" performed in Bristol by the Bristol Light Opera Company based on the life of 19th Century inventor and engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In 1994 Louis joined The Greensleeves Theater Company for their tour of Canada with an entertainment entitled "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." In the twenty years between '75-'95 Louis wrote over 300 songs to order while pursuing his career as a BBC radio and TV producer and on-air presenter. Louis' non-music writing credits include comedy material for "Cue Gary" with Gary Wilmot for Central TV and "The Freddie Starr Show" for Carlton Television, short stories, documentaries and a play for Radio 4 "Julie and the Prince," "Telly Addicts"with Noel Edmunds, Call My Bluff with Sandi Tosvig and Alan Coren, "Noel's House Party," "Noel's Addicts" and "The Entertainment Game" with Kit and the Widow. He co-wrote a sitcom "Plaza Patrol" for British comedy legends Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball, and contributed comedy material for their 25th Anniversary Show in Blackpool. Louis now appears at venues in and around Atlanta. In 2012 Louis began to manage a venue called The Heron House in Mountain Park and in the same year he was appointed head of middle-school music at The Cottage School in Roswell. http://www.louisrobinson.com/ 9:00 :: Bob Bakert Bob was born in Buffalo, NY in 1950. While his parents were not performers they sang all the time around the house. Bob’s father was the proprietor of a small grocery store and Bob’s earliest remembrances of his father were of him singing in a beautiful baritone in the style of Bing Crosby… to this day every time Bob hears Bing Crosby he can see his dad. Bob’s mother raised seven children and sang to all of them. To Bob her voice was the best he ever heard. Bob’s grandmother played piano but Bob never heard her play. Bob’s interest in music was first piqued when he saw Ricky Nelson perform on the popular show of the day, Ozzie and Harriet. Bob’s brother Howard brought home a guitar one day and while Howard never developed any skill he would lip sync folk songs from Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Eric Anderson. While Bob was home “sick” from school one day he taught himself “Mr. Tambourine Man” from Howard’s Dylan song book. Bob was about 13 at the time and has been playing and singing ever since. All through High School Bob performed in folk and rock groups playing Beatles, Stones, Dylan, and later Hendrix and Cream. Bob went to college briefly in Iowa and found it not to his liking. He came home to Buffalo and met David Nehrboss. Together they formed a very popular local acoustic duo called “Gold”. While with Gold, Bob performed at he “Bitter End” in NYC and the “Riverboat” coffee house in Toronto. All the while performing with the likes of Dave Von Ronk, Biff Rose, Don McLean as well as several other nationally and internationally famous folk acts of the day. Bob played clubs and bars in Buffalo until 1974 when he moved to Atlanta. While looking for a guitar as a gift Bob, who was playing mostly electric guitar at this time, was bit by the acoustic, singer-songwriter bug again. In 2009 Bob discovered Ragamuffin Music in Roswell and started playing at the open mics. Initially dusting off old originals and covers, Bob started writing songs again and has recorded several of them including “Spanish Rain,” “I’ve Been Thinking,” “Jeanne’s Song” and “Partners.” Bob’s latest CD is "Finger Paintings". http://bobbakert.com/