Stone got started early on his harmonica-blowing odyssey. At age 18, he slipped into a blues joint in his native Boston to check out harp legend Charlie Musselwhite and was instantly transfixed. He bought his first harp the very next day. Before long, Rob was playing with rockabilly legend Sleepy LaBeef and learning the finer points of his instrument from ex-Muddy Waters harp man Jerry Portnoy. Relocating to Colorado in 1990, he got his feet wet on bandstands around Colorado Springs. Then in ‘93, Sam Lay rolled into town. He invited the young harpist to sit in, and he must have liked what he heard: Lay hired him the next year. James and Rynn were the bedrock of Sam’s band, and the three forged an unshakable bond touring top blues clubs and festivals internationally. “We had a lot of shared experience that made us connect like brothers,” says Rob.
Stone left Lay’s combo in 1998 and formed his own band, the C-Notes. They made their self-produced debut CD, No Worries, that year, earning considerable critical acclaim. Then in 2003, Rob and the C-Notes hooked up with Earwig to release Just My Luck, the disc benefitting from Earwig’s international reach to spread the good news far and wide that Chicago has itself a fine young harpist who enthusiastically embraces the ‘50s blues tradition without copying it slavishly.
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