Five Firsts: Bob Irwin of My Fair Planet

NAME: Bob Irwin
BAND AFFILIATION: My Fair Planet
INSTRUMENT: guitar, guitar, guitar

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … “Something New” by the Beatles, in my local Coxsackie grocery store…

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … I’ve always called it the “Bob Irwin, Sr. 10-minute Rock Concert Experience” – my parents took me to Saratoga Performing Arts in 1969 (I think) to see Blood, Sweat & Tears. We arrived on the lawn while the band was already playing – lying on the ground next to us was a couple in a sleeping bag having a spectacularly naked time. My father looked at me looking at them and said “We’re outta here.” And that was my first – a 10-minute concert experience, courtesy of my dad.

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … An uber-cheap, cheese-grater acoustic guitar acquired by my parents for free when they purchased a new washing machine. I was six years old, it was impossible to play… but the bloody-finger perseverance was a testament to just how very much I wanted to be a guitarist… I mean, even my parents took notice…

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … CCR’s “Fortunate Son,” in front of the fifth and sixth grade class “dance”.

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … Cherry Sundae, performing “Fortunate Son,” in front of the fifth and sixth grade class “dance”!

Guitarist Bob Irwin and his bandmates in My Fair Planet bring their blend of funk, jazz and rock to Valentine’s Music Hall in Albany at 8pm on Saturday, opening for Schleigho. When he’s not onstage with the band, Irwin is a freelance record producer and the owner-producer of the Sundazed Music label in Coxsackie.