About Rob

I’m not famous, and I’ve never pretended to be a star. I’m a singer and songwriter who plays guitar, bass, keyboards, piano and drums, and I’ve been making music for people in the Tampa Bay area since 1991. I grew up in a suburb of Boston under the heavy influence of RUSH, Kansas and Styx — RUSH is the reason I became a musician — and from 1983 to 1985 I played bass, keyboards and sang lead vocals in a band called After Image. We were starry-eyed kids who actually intended to grow up and become RUSH. We got a track, “Position High,” recorded in a real studio, and it got airplay on the local hard rock station. As a young teen, it was quite an exciting time.

I moved to the Tampa Bay area in 1991, and HERO, an all-original progressive rock band formed in 1994, was how I entered the local music scene. I then went on to develop Idiot Symphony, which remains a work in progress. Since 2001 I’ve fronted a string of local cover bands, including BLAST, a power trio that played a couple hundred shows, and the Rob K Band. I spent two years as bassist for Betty’s Not a Vitamin, the “official party band of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” and played on six tracks of their debut CD. I also served as Music Director for the TV show Next Level T.V., writing the main theme and music for half a dozen complete episodes. Along the way I’ve made records of my own — i, Aspiring Eights, Airside C, Traveler’s Tales, Plainly Stated and Spark — and worked on projects with friends like Keith Leedham and Phil Traynor.

These days I average over 150 shows a year on local stages — solo, as the Rob K Duo, or with a full band — playing everything from classic and alternative rock to power pop, pop-punk and ballads. You’ll often find me at The CURRENT Hotel, Hula Bay (with the Rob K Duo), Green Iguana Westshore and Capt’n Jack’s Waterfront Grille. My voice has a warm, rich quality that suits pop, rock and ballads alike, and I’ve been lucky to play for a lot of people — I was on track for 181 shows in 2012 alone — and I’m grateful for every one of them. My son Ryan plays drums, and we’ve recorded together, including a song with my friend Keith Leedham. If you’ve heard me somewhere around Tampa Bay, thank you for listening. If you haven’t yet, I’d love to see you out at a show.

In Rob’s own words (the original bio, as archived)

Well known in Tampa’s local music scene, Rob Kosinski’s voice is very strong with a warm, rich quality that lends itself well to pop, rock and ballad alike. Between his solo, duo, and full band schedule, Rob averages over 150 shows per year spanning many genres including classic/hard rock, alternative rock, powerpop, metal, pop-punk, progressive and post-grunge. Born in the northeast United States, Rob’s musical origins started in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, under the heavy influence of progressive rock bands like RUSH, Kansas and Styx. Moving to Tampa in 1991, he entered the music scene with the all-original, progressive band HERO . Rob then moved on to develop Idiot Symphony, which remains a work-in-progress. Between 2001 and the present, he fronted various local cover bands while stopping along the way to spend two years as bassist for national recording artists and “official party band of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers”, Betty’s Not a Vitamin . Rob performed on six tracks of the band’s debut CD. During this time Rob also did a stint as the Music Director for Next Level T.V., supplying original music for the show’s main theme and half a dozen complete episodes.

In Rob’s own words (the original bio, as archived)

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