They said ‘there is always room for improvement‘… It can be said that this has been the driving force for New York based guitarist Rob Balducci. While continuing to improve not only as a player and performer, he has continued to grow not only as a writer, but as an artist with a truly unique voice, sound, and vision. Raised in an era when chops and image were far more important than substance and taste while absorbing the necessary influences of the day, somewhere along the way, Balducci carved out a truly identifiable style far deeper and wider than those of his peers or predecessors. Having played guitar for the past 27 years, Balducci would go on to win a local contest sponsored by Guitar For The Practicing Musician proclaiming him as “New York’s Best Guitarist.” Balducci furthered his six-string education, earning a degree in Music performance and Theory from Five Towns College and releasing his debut CD, 1995’s BALANCE which reaped unanimous praise from press and guitar enthusiasts alike while heralding Balducci as a promising new talent to watch for. After his debut CD Balance, Rob continued working on new material and shopping his music to various record companies before signing to Steve Vai’s record label Favored Nations Entertainment and releasing Mantra,The Color Of Light and Violet Horizon CDs worldwide. Vai noted; “There are two things that make an effective musician, one is the technical ability to perform on the instrument and the second is an emotional investment in what you are playing. Rob has a really good equilibrium for the technical side of things and the emotional investment” For a better part of the last decade, Balducci has been performing major concerts at leading venues and presenting clinics for many of the leading manufactures all over the globe (Ibanez Guitars, Intellitouch tuners, D’Addario Strings, Dimarzio Pick-ups, George L’s cables, Morley pedals, Keeley Pedals, Xotic pedals, Dunlop, Maxon, Floyd Upgrades, Studio Devil and Majic Box Pedals) from Los Angeles to London, Tokyo to Trenton, Rob has earned rave reviews, major distribution, and support from the musical community, who have taken notice of this guitar giant’s talents, with scores of global publications loudly singing his praises (most notably Guitarist UK, Guitar World, Young Guitar, and Burn). This has all now culminated to the release of his most personal record to date, “821 Monroe Drive”. As personal a statement as any artist could make, this is the album in which Rob Balducci comes full circle and shows us just how deep that well of inspiration he draws from can be. Brimming with all the staples you have come to expect from Balducci; infectious melodies, stunning musicianship and gorgeous tones all shaped to take you, the listener on an aural journey that will not only surprise, excite and thrill you from the first note to the last, but leave you wondering ‘How did he do that?’ Here’s 821 Monroe Drive, in Balducci’s own words: ” This CD is a very special one for me, the address of the title is from a house that has been in my family for over 50 years. My mom grew up the this house with her 10 siblings. When I was a young kid I would spend my summers at this house. I started playing guitar at age 11 and I remember going to 821 and spending time on the instrument for hours upon end. The inspiration for the songs on this CD are related to this house in one way or another because at the age when I started learning all my musical influences come from the music I was listening to growing up. This CD represents things in my life from when I was born until the present. 821 Monroe Drive marks another important milestone because all the guitar parts were recorded in my home studio Blue Buddha. I had time to spend on getting individual tones for each of the songs.”
