Bob Gramann - Folksinger and Guitarmaker
Now
on CDBaby
"song
writing filled with wit and rare intelligence... poignant imagery with
local themes" --Chris LaSonde, Potomac News
Bob Gramann likes songs
that say something new or look at something old in a new way
– songs that make the listener focus, reflect, and
react. His songs aim for that spark of insight, that
“Aha!” of listener satisfaction. Current
events and human priorities give him ample material for reflection,
humor, and satire. 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.”
During the past two
decades, Gramann has earned respect as a songwriter, presenter, and
guitar maker in central Virginia. He was voted
Fredericksburg’s Best Acoustic Act for 1995 in the
town newspaper’s poll. Gramann maintains his notoriety by
performing songs with local historic settings and political barbs in
Fredericksburg and throughout the mid-Atlantic
states. He’s played at the Central Ohio
Folk Festival as well as the prestigious Washington Folk Festival in
Washington, DC. Among his honors are a surprise
WAMMIE nomination and play on NPR’s Car Talk. His
song “Sara Sing” is included on the FOCUS
compilation Capitol Acoustics III CD.
Gramann makes
the instruments he plays, and boasts a list of celebrity compliments
for his steel string and classical guitars. He sells his
handmade guitars through Picker’s Supply in downtown
Fredericksburg, at the House of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, MD,
at musician’s gatherings, and on his website. He
branched out into banjos when he wrote a song that required banjo
accompaniment.
Five CDs of
Gramann’s original songs (Mostly True
Songs, That Squirrel Song, See Farther in the Darkness, Granddad
Planted Trees,
and ...Mostly Live) are available in select record
stores and from his website. The most recent, ...Mostly Live, was recorded at some of his
concerts in 2008 and includes many of the stories and introductions
that accompany his songs.
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. His song
“Rappahannock Running Free” first called for the
removal of an aging dam in 1993. It voiced the dreams of
fishermen and paddlers since the dam was built. In February,
2004, Gramann had the honor 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. The removal of the dam
exposed 4 rapids, allowed the upstream migration of anadromous fish for
the first time in 150 years, and demonstrated the power of folk music
when coupled with plastic explosives.
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.
Bob and Peter Mealy
founded the Fredericksburg
Songwriters' Showcase
in 1993. It is a monthly concert series featuring
original acoustic music by Fredericksburg area, regional songwriters
and "name acts", both resident and traveling through. The Showcase
provides a forum for this exciting and creative art form. It offers a
varied program on the last Friday of each month. After 20
years, Bob handed off the showcase to Tres Seaver at the end of 2013.
For more information on the showcase, go to Tres Seaver's page.
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.)
since 9/30/06
updated 9/10/15
