Sound & Story.
Guitar. Voice. Thirty five-plus years of music rooted in Newburgh, NY — and enough range to hold a room from the first song to the last.
Where the music started
I grew up in Newburgh, NY, and that’s where most of my story is rooted. Music found me early — alto saxophone and trumpet at Meadow Hill School, where a teacher named Darryl Winslow first put an instrument in my hands and gave me a nickname which I still use to this day from time to time for music-related projects, RJ Johnston. I kept at it through high school at Newburgh Free Academy, where Winslow came back into my life to teach Guitar class and something called Rock Theory. Both were less classes and more an excuse to sit in the music room and play Beatles songs. I didn’t complain.
By the summer of 1990, I was in my first band.
Something Fell… and what came after.
Something Fell… started as a circle of friends in Newburgh who wanted to write songs and play acoustic-based music. The original lineup was Lawrence Roper on piano and vocals, Bryan Lynch on bass and vocals, Scott Clark, Ron Bath, and me on guitars. The following year, Matt DeLuca came in on drums, and at different points Jimmy Alto and Joe Bywater joined us for various projects. Between 1990 and 1993 we put out three independent releases — Tall Enough To Reach, Asleep, and Sojourn — and played house parties, the 3rd Annual Rockin’ Bradley Park in Walden, The Downtown in Middletown, and the Summer Metal Meltdown in Plattekill. Then responsibility showed up, band members scattered for college, and Something Fell… ended in late 1993.
I stayed loosely connected to music in the years that followed — building websites for a few bands starting in 1995, sitting in occasionally with Newburgh-based Jimson’s Lyric between 1998 and 2002. In 2005 I picked up guitar again and started jamming with other area musicians. In the summer and fall of 2007 I joined The Woodcocks, adding mandolin to a couple of their alt-country tunes, and performed with them at the 19th Annual Newburgh International Waterfront Festival on September 2, 2007.
In late 2007, Scott Clark started performing again as a solo singer-songwriter, and I fell back in alongside him. By May 2009 we were performing regularly at the 169 Bar in New York City under the name The Clark-Johnson Trio. In July 2010, Lawrence Roper rejoined us — and just like that, Something Fell… was back, performing at The Wherehouse and at the Slash Root Internet Cafe in New Paltz. Additionally, I performed solo at a music showcase at Dry Dock/90 Broadway in Newburgh in MAy 2012.
Music drifted away again after 2012. Life does that sometimes.
Then 2020 happened. With the world shut down, I picked up the guitar and didn’t put it back down. In December 2020 I started performing nearly every week thanks to Open Mic with Gundy — a virtual open mic hosted by Shawn “Gundy” Gunderson that ran until things returned to some version of normal in 2022. Additionally, I once again collaborated with Scott Clark and contributed guitar and vocals to a few tracks on Reverie, an EP from his project at the time, The Furry Turtles. From there I moved to real stages: open mic nights throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley, the Third Thursday Showcase at the Rosendale Theater, the Marigold Theater in Easthampton. Additionally, I kept in touch with Buck Hipshake, formerly of The Woodcocks, and have been allowed to sit in with his band Lucky House whenever the opportnity presents itself.
In 2025 I started booking and playing solo acoustic shows — the 68th Annual New Paltz Library Fair, the 2nd Annual Newburgh Porchfest, The Wherehouse, Obercreek Brewing in Wappingers Falls. I’m currently performing regularly at Mahoney’s Irish Pub & Steakhouse in Poughkeepsie, Iron Furnace in Verbank, The Wherehouse in Newburgh, The Shamrock Tavern in Cornwall, and more lined up every month.
What you get when you book me.
I perform solo acoustic — guitar and vocals, with my own PA. My sets run 45 minutes to three hours depending on the booking, and I build them around songs people actually know and want to hear: classic rock, folk, country and alt-country, Americana, pop, and jam band material. I read the room from the first song and adjust as I go.
I also run three internet radio stations under the Treble Ahead Productions umbrella — Yacht Rock Radio, Boardwalk Radio, and A Classic Christmas — all hand-programmed and curated, no algorithm involved.
Instruments
Acoustic guitar (primary)
Mandolin · Lap steel
Ukulele · Bass · Vocals
Genres
Classic Rock · Folk
Alt-Country / Americana
Country · Pop · Jam Band
Venues
Restaurants · Bars · Wineries
Craft breweries · Taprooms
Festivals · Private events
Setup
Own PA · No house sound needed
Sets from 45 min to 3 hrs
Arrives early · Sets up quietly
Short bio.
Rob Johnson is a Hudson Valley-based solo acoustic musician performing throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley and surrounding region. A Newburgh, NY native, he has been playing and performing music since the early 1990s — first with the Newburgh-based acoustic band Something Fell…, and later as a solo artist building a regular presence on the Hudson Valley live music circuit.
Rob performs acoustic guitar and vocals, specializing in classic rock, folk, country and alt-country, Americana, pop, and jam band material. He brings his own amplification and can provide his own PA if necessary and is available for restaurants, bars, wineries, craft breweries, festivals, and private events. In addition to live performance, Rob has curated and programmed three internet radio stations — Yacht Rock Radio, Boardwalk Radio, and A Classic Christmas.
Booking inquiries: treble-ahead.com/booking
Let’s connect.
Whether you’re booking a performance or just want to tune in — there’s a way in.