Rob Joass

About Rob Joass

“Black and White” is Rob Joass’ 2nd solo album, coming a mere 18 years after his debut release “Rainlovers”. In the interim he hasn’t been totally idle, having toured extensively with both Hobnail and The Shot Band. Hobnail has released 5 albums, and The Shot Band has released 1 full-length album and 2 EP’s. Rob has also recently been touring with Too Many Chiefs, a songwriting showcase also featuring Laura Collins, Wayne Mason and Andrew London.

Rob has earned praise for his songwriting throughout his career, and has had songs covered by bands in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, with Edmonton’s Captain Tractor including “Maria’s Last Words” (from the Hobnail Boots album “On With The Show”), on their album “North of the Yellowhead”. Christchurch’s Katie Thompson also recorded “Dead in the Water” for her most recent album. Hobnail Boots’ album “The Fortune Horses” was a finalist for Best Folk Album while Rob has twice been a finalist for Best Country Song at the NZ music awards.

“I called it Black And White because I set out to keep the arrangements relatively minimal. Relative to my usual love of layering sounds, that is. I’ve always been a big fan of lots of harmony and adding textures to arrangements, but in the last couple of years I have been playing solo quite regularly and have been enjoying hearing the songs unadorned.
Less can be more. Of course more can be more as well. It’s just a matter of working out where to draw the line on a particular song.