Bob Gramann

"song writing filled with wit and rare intelligence... poignant imagery with local themes" --Chris LaSonde, Potomac News

As a folk music presenter, Bob Gramann likes songs that say something new or look at something old in a new way – songs that make the listener think, feel, and connect the dots. So his own songs have to have that spark of insight, that “Aha!” of listener satisfaction. His fourth CD Granddad Planted Trees (lyrics), just released, includes some of his favorite topics of insight: science, politics, and human priorities. Gramann draws together unexpected aspects of life, using familiar frames with sharpened images within. The title song, for example, is both politically astute and comfortably traditional in sound. It draws the listener into a melodic and comfortable nostalgia that is torn by the need to reconcile persistent images many years after 9/11.

Over the past 16 years, Gramann has earned respect as a songwriter, presenter, and guitar maker in central Virginia. His Fredericksburg Songwriters' Showcase series, begun in 1993 with Peter Mealy, brings performers to the historic town eight times a year. For more information, contact Bob by e-mail. If you want to perform there, click here. His handmade guitars, seen at Picker’s Supply in downtown Fredericksburg, at Acoustic Axis in Alexandria, VA, at NERFA, and here, boast a list of celebrity compliments. His open back banjo, completed in 2003, is especially useful for songs with political themes.

Bob was voted Fredericksburg’s Best Acoustic Act for 1995 in the Free Lance-Star’s music poll. His song “Sara Sing” is included on the FOCUS compilation Capitol Acoustics III CD. Among other honors are a surprise WAMMIE nomination and play on NPR’s Car Talk. Sing Out Magazine called him “witty and insightful.” The Washington Post’s Eve Ziebart saw him as “a where’s-my-Whole-Earth-catalogue sort of New Guy who’d rather be kayaking than fighting the good lawn fight.” His four CDs (Granddad Planted Trees, Mostly True Songs, That Squirrel Song, and See Farther in the Darkness) are available in select record stores (including Picker's Supply, Roxbury Mills, and Griffin Bookshop & Coffee Bar) and from his website. Gramann maintains his notoriety by performing songs with local and historic settings several times a year in Fredericksburg and throughout the mid-Atlantic states. 

An avid canoeist and conservationist, Gramann is especially proud that his musical urgings raise public awareness of river and environmental issues. Sometimes it is a long process, but he is patient and philosophical. “Rappahannock Running Free” first called for the removal of an aging dam 12 years ago. In February, 2004, Gramann had the pleasure of singing this song to a crowd of thousands just minutes before two major explosions breeched the dam’s foundation. “I performed for the world,” says Gramann of the CNN and network coverage of the event.

His CD, Mostly True Songs , combines Bob's storytelling lyrics with solid acoustic composition. His songs "Rappahannock Running Free", and "the Ballad of Bob Whaley" deal with river and paddling themes. "Ghost Train" tells the story of the failed Piedmont, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad and the suburbs' encroachment on the old right-of-way in a growing area. "The Barns" and "Ghost Train" each made it as far as semifinalist in the 1993 Annual Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. His folk songs are often built around humorous themes. "You're Nothing But a Pack of Neurons" honors Francis Crick's work on human consciousness while mocking the human search for our meaning in the universe. "Virginia Songwriter's Grant" provides another way of looking at the State lottery. "Peace Dividend" is a solution to the unemployment resulting from the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

His first tape, Mostly New Songs , introduced original material. A local bumper sticker proclaims "Don't Fairfax Fredericksburg!" Bob addresses this issue in "Traffic Light" and "The Barns". ("Traffic Light" was broadcast on Car Talk in the fall of 2001.) Both lament the loss of rural character. Every folksinger has to write a song about his father. The Battle of the Squirrel and the CEO mocks the frustration of his retired parents attempting to block birdseed stealing squirrels from their feeder. Homemade Beer commemorates his father's first effort at beer production.

The CD That Squirrel Song (lyrics) is now available from Bob or at Picker's Supply and at Roxbury Mills in Fredericksburg, VA. This recording includes "The Battle of the Squirrel and the CEO," "The Barns," "Kids Talk," "After They Came Home," "Best Friends," "Out of My Mind," "Pretty Soon," and many other original works. Bob's son, Mark, helps on the string bass and vocals. Marc Carraway provides mandolin. Laura Lengnick plays fiddle. Sing Out! (Summer 2001) described this CD as "16 witty and insightful originals from Virginia Songwriter."

His third CD See Farther in the Darkness (lyrics) . This CD contains some of his greatest hits from the earlier CDs as well as five new songs including "All for Loving You," "Turn Out the Lights," "Try to Change It," "The Taylor Catalog Song," and "When I Grow Up."

You can see Bob perform at the Friends of the Rappahannock Concerts in Fredericksburg, infrequent restaurant gigs, the Fredericksburg Songwriters' Showcase , and at folk coffee houses in the Washington, D.C. area.

In 2005, Debbie Klein interviewed me for her series CRRL Presents.  A DVD of this interview is available at the Central Rappahannock Regonal Library.  Here is a clip from that interview of me performing "Traffic Light":  http://www.librarypoint.org/crrl_presents/wmv_bob_gramann.html

Contact information:

E-mail : bob@bobgramann.com
Phone : (540)898-0611
US mail : AAGMNNR Recordings, 122 Laurel Avenue, Fredericksburg,VA 22408
(AAGMNNR is pronounced "Gramann" - rhymes with "Brahmin"-"AAGMNNR" is "Gramann" spelled aphabetically.)

visits since 9/30/06

updated 4/4/08