Folsom Bassman
Robert Elmore was born in Bakersfield, CA. He lived with his parents in Southern California until his father, William was transferred by his company to Casper, WY where he lived until 1968 then returning to Southern California with his parents. In 1969 Robert took guitar lessons from Dales Music Center (long since gone) in Los Alamitos CA. Robert chose to take up the bass guitar buying an early 1960s Framus Bass Guitar. During high school at Los Alamitos High School, Robert joined a band with his high school buddies Wes Patterson, Steve Rogashenko, Doug Freeman and Ken Lamar. The band “Beckett” played numerous weekly gigs around Orange County.
Robert was married in 1976 to his wife Teri, with two children both boys Michael and David.
Robert built a studio in Norwalk, CA during the 1970s in his garage prior to his move to the Bay Area in 1981. During the 1980s after moving to Pittsburg, CA, Robert did little musically other than playing along with records and CDs due to the age of his children and the resulting shift in priorities.
Following a move to Folsom, CA in 1988, Robert became active again in music starting with a stint with the Weekend Warriors program at Skips Music in Sacramento. During this program, other players were contacted and a band was formed. The band at first played mostly 1980s cover tunes, later slimming down from 7 members to 4. A power trio with a female lead singer C4 played a hard rocking melodic style all over the Sacramento area opening shows for 80s acts such as Warrant and Great White. Close to the end of C4s run Robert hooked up with a producer of a large horn/soul/tribute band. For a time he was playing in both bands.
When the C4 band broke up Robert dedicated himself fully to the All Star Soul Express. This band played in many larger venues, such as the California State Fair, Feather Falls Casino and others. The All Star Soul Express eventually became a supporting act for oldies acts through a relationship with Mars Talent www.marstalent.com supporting acts such as the Crystals, Pat Upton, Al Wilson and Terry Sylvester. Unfortunately the founder of the Soul Express Tom Whitecloud decided to leave California and move to Austin TX.
Following this, Robert has been involved in two projects, both with former members of the Soul Express. The Michael Doughton band centers on the original music of Michael Doughton who writes with a very eclectic style, from rock to fusion jazz www.michaeldoughton.com . Also Robert connected with two other alumni from the express, Chris Saint and Bob Turak, along with Mark Herin of the band "Mere Mortals" to start a tribute to the Who called “whodunit?” www.who-dunnit.net .
Influences
Robert has a varied list of influences, many from earlier years of Rock. Influences include:
John Entwistle
Greg Lake
Chris Squire
Geddy Lee
John Paul Jones
Jack Bruce
Pino Palladino