As a child, Robbie was encouraged by his parents to pursue music through piano lessons, clandestine strums on his sister’s guitar, and by the gift of a drum set when he was in 7th grade. His middle and high school musical experiences saw him playing in bands with his friends, enjoying the occasional opportunity to play in a club, at church, or at the school talent show.

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He bought his first guitar in 1994, and took his first official guitar lesson while studying art at Young Harris College. He completed his degree in art education at the University of Georgia, and thrived musically in the creative hotbed that is Athens, Georgia. 

When he’s not working in his position as Professor of Art Education at East Carolina University, he plays music and makes art. He has had the opportunity to play in bands and perform as a solo artist at clubs, churches, and coffeehouses around the Southeast, including stops in Columbia, South Carolina, Montgomery, Alabama, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Greenville, North Carolina. He has shown his art in venues everywhere he has lived, and participates in invited and juried exhibitions.
Robbie’s work is eclectic, reflecting his varied interests in storytelling tradition, genres, and songwriting and his art is an exploration in multiple media.

He likes to make work that tell of his journeys in his faith and with his family, while revealing the joys and difficulties that lie along the paths of each. His popular educational music project, ArtSongs, combines his love of art, education, and music, and he often has the opportunity to play ArtSongs to the delight of children of all ages. He enjoys, most of all, using his music to lead worship at his church in Winterville, North Carolina, where he resides with his family.