Cleveland’s "Best Vocalist 2009" almost wasn’t. Last year, that city’s acclaimed "white chocolate" neo-soul singer-guitarist Robin Stone canceled eight weeks of national tour dates due to hoarseness, exhaustion and mental confusion. After months of analyzing her lengthy, bizarre set of symptoms, doctors told her she had damage to her vocal chords caused by a very rare autoimmune disease. They said Stone, who has charted in the CMJ Top 30 and shared bills with Bonnie Raitt, America, Jewel and Lyle Lovett, might never sing again.
Stone’s response: I said, ‘I don’t think so!’
Sure as sugar, here it is: Robin Stone’s fifth album, Bad Girl, (Little Fish Records) offers 15 new songs that take her voice from low, sexy growl to soaring rhapsody with nary a hint that the singer had "one foot in the grave" as recently as January. That’s thanks in part to the encouragement of Stone’s drummer Darrell Williams, who offered to co-produce the album at his house so the singer could put her money toward an alternative therapy that has worked wonders on her health. Within a few months, the therapy eased Stone’s most severe symptoms and her voice began to return.
I was ecstatic,
because when we started the record
I was barely fit to stand up,
let alone do any kind of work.
We started it three times.
I count it as a total miracle that we finished.
Recording in Williams’ living room brought its own challenges: That’s his little daughters singing backup on the first single, "Get Up," their reward for sitting silently through hours of vocal takes. In fact, "Get Up," became something of a mantra for Stone.
That’s a personal song for me.
No matter what life throws at you,
it’s going to give you good and bad,
but you’ve got to get up and keep going.
Putting her words into action, Stone is back on the road this summer and the new CD Bad Girl is in stores now. In the end, Stone’s illness served as inspiration for the energetic "Bad Girl." The CD is full of positive, joyful and racy tunes that echo Jill Scott and Anita Baker.
It also taps the audience interaction that’s a key part of the 150 live shows Stone plays each year with her world-class band of veteran funk and soul players: bassist Derrick Davis (Original P Funk, Faith Evans); drummer Darrel Williams (Kirk Franklin, Clarke Sisters); lead guitarist Erique Troi (the original sound of infamous Grammy winners Milli Vanilli); and keyboardist Brandon Scarborough.
I decided to go ahead with the CD
in spite of my illness because music is the
only thing that inspires me, and hopefully it
can inspire other people. A lot of the fans
actually made the record possible -
they came to my aid with donations and held benefits.
The record is a dedication to them.
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Sure as sugar, here it is: Robin Stone’s fifth album, Bad Girl, (Little Fish Records) offers 15 new songs that take her voice from low, sexy growl to soaring rhapsody with nary a hint that the singer had "one foot in the grave" as recently as January. That’s thanks in part to the encouragement of Stone’s drummer Darrell Williams, who offered to co-produce the album at his house so the singer could put her money toward an alternative therapy that has worked wonders on her health. Within a few months, the therapy eased Stone’s most severe symptoms and her voice began to return.
because when we started the record
I was barely fit to stand up,
let alone do any kind of work.
We started it three times.
I count it as a total miracle that we finished.
Recording in Williams’ living room brought its own challenges: That’s his little daughters singing backup on the first single, "Get Up," their reward for sitting silently through hours of vocal takes. In fact, "Get Up," became something of a mantra for Stone.
No matter what life throws at you,
it’s going to give you good and bad,
but you’ve got to get up and keep going.
Putting her words into action, Stone is back on the road this summer and the new CD Bad Girl is in stores now. In the end, Stone’s illness served as inspiration for the energetic "Bad Girl." The CD is full of positive, joyful and racy tunes that echo Jill Scott and Anita Baker.
It also taps the audience interaction that’s a key part of the 150 live shows Stone plays each year with her world-class band of veteran funk and soul players: bassist Derrick Davis (Original P Funk, Faith Evans); drummer Darrel Williams (Kirk Franklin, Clarke Sisters); lead guitarist Erique Troi (the original sound of infamous Grammy winners Milli Vanilli); and keyboardist Brandon Scarborough.
in spite of my illness because music is the
only thing that inspires me, and hopefully it
can inspire other people. A lot of the fans
actually made the record possible -
they came to my aid with donations and held benefits.
The record is a dedication to them.
<- Back to Projects
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