A Valley resident since 2013, Kaye set to appear in four-woman concert Thursday, Aug. 7, at Lost Chords Guitars
By Pamela Dozois
Contributing Writer
Robbie Kaye is creativity in motion. As an artist, composer, classical musician, photographer, and former gymnast, she has never stopped exploring the myriads of ways of bringing beauty into this world. Kaye has performed and composed music for many years in New York and Portland, Oregon, before she transitioned into photography and painting. Kaye’s work has been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries and has been featured in numerous publications such as LensCulture, Lenscratch, Gourmet, and Marie Claire magazines. She has a permanent exhibit at the University of California, some pieces of which have been stolen. Her work is also in the hands of private collectors throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Three years ago, Kaye returned to her music roots after receiving a box of her old cassettes and started writing and recording again. She will be performing at Lost Chord Guitars in Solvang on Thursday, Aug. 7, in a Songwriters in the Round event with Arwen Lewis, Toni Land, and Emily Zuzik. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the performance will start at 8 p.m. Lost Chord Guitars is at 1576 Copenhagen Drive, Ste 101, Solvang.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she says her first experience of life consisted of tall buildings and cement parks until her parents sent her to summer camp at the age of 5. It was then that she said she took her first breath of fresh air, experienced nature in all its glory, and realized that she was destined to replicate the wonder and beauty she had experienced in those summer months. They were the foundation for her love of art and all the elements of nature.
As a child, she studied gymnastics and was trained in classical piano. After graduating from high school, she attended a college in Georgia because it had a good gymnastics program, and as a gymnast, she wanted to compete collegiately.
“It was a life-changing experience,” she said. “I went from being a popular student in New York to being a social outcast. I quit the gymnastics team because I didn’t feel like I fit in in general. I had a hard time living in a rural setting and in such a different culture. And being a sensitive person didn’t help. I was extraordinarily shy, even to this day, although people I know will laugh at that statement.”
She eventually found her tribe and returned to gymnastics, but competing was no longer in her future.
“During spring training, I landed incorrectly and hurt my back,” she said. “Since I couldn’t do gymnastics any longer, I turned to my other love, which was music. I had been classically trained in piano in New York, so I took music courses instead. When I returned to New York for Christmas vacation, I was immediately put into the hospital for back surgery. I had a herniated disc and never returned to school. Georgia was really character-building, to put it mildly, but I eventually found my niche.”
Instead, she applied to Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying jazz and majoring in composition and piano.
“The first band I was in was a country band where I played piano. It was at a venue called Swampland,” she said.
After a year and a half at Berklee, Kaye returned to Long Island and joined a rock ‘n’ roll band in 1979.
“We made a 45 record, performed in New York City, got on the radio, and, like most bands, we broke up,” she said. “At the ripe age of 22, I moved to Manhattan and pursued a music career by collaborating with other musicians. In the interim, I tried working 9-to-5 jobs, but I just couldn’t handle it for very long. I’d hang in there for four months, and then I had to move on to the next job. I even wrote a song about Manhattan.
“My grandmother wanted me to be a paralegal and go to secretarial school. She would take me shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue and buy me power suits. So, by day I wore a power suit to work, and by night I wore black leather pants, performing in shows in Greenwich Village.”
In the early 1990s Kaye had her own band, five girls and one guy, called Reverend Tribble & the Angels. Kaye’s journey as a songwriter is rooted in a deep love of music and a dedication to her craft.
“I started writing my own songs when I was 16, when my parents told me they were getting a divorce. It was a means of expressing my sadness at the time, and I continued writing lyrics for my own music,” she continued. “I also had the good fortune of being signed to Warner Chappell Music as a staff songwriter. The following year, one of the songs I co-wrote was for Disney Records, and the following year, the same song was placed in a Disney film.”
A change in her personal life meant a change in location.
“I married and moved to Portland, where I recorded a CD called Two Separate Worlds and formed my own group, and as a duo we performed both on the east and west coasts for a few years,” she continued. The marriage didn’t last, but we have remained friends.”
During the millennium Kaye decided to change course and return to school.
“I quit the music scene for the first time in 2000 and went back to school to study creative writing and literature. I continued writing and recording but got out of the business side of it,” she continued. “I moved to the Oregon coast for six months, where I traded music for my room and board. While I was there, I took writing classes through Portland State University in Cannon Beach, Oregon, then moved to Santa Cruz to continue studying and got a job at UC Santa Cruz while attending school there. I then moved to Santa Monica and worked for the Dean of Admissions at USC while continuing my studies. I registered for a new semester at USC and took my first photography and poetry class with the California Poet Laureate, Carol Muske-Dukes who I later collaborated with for the 125th anniversary of USC in 2005. We created a poetry/photography book for the occasion focusing on the school’s architecture and landscapes. I pursued a photographic career, and in 2009 I traveled the country interviewing women who were in their 70s and older at their weekly beauty parlor appointments and created a photographic book called ‘Beauty & Wisdom.’”
In 2013, Kaye moved to the Valley, launched her book, and started painting motorcycle tire treads on T-shirts, sweatshirts, and on canvas, selling them in a business she started. She said it was then that she became interested in resin.
“I continued with my photography and transitioned into abstract expressionism, painting trees for a collection called ‘Naked Trees’ and another called ‘All Dressed Up & Everywhere to Go,’ which can be viewed and purchased at Helen’s Hair Studio in Santa Ynez,” said Kaye.
Kaye’s new single, “Clear Blue Sky,” was released Aug. 5 on Spotify and all listening platforms, and she is presently writing and recording songs for film, TV, and ads.
Over the years, Kaye said she has had the honor of co-writing with remarkable songwriters, including the legendary Doc Pomus, respected hitmaker Clay Mills, multi-award-winning producer Elliott Lanam, Mark Cruz, and Julian Cassia. She has also demonstrated her versatility by scoring the music for two musicals: “Afterlife” by Bob Fenster and “The Continuing Adventures of Anne and Jack” by Josh Goldman. Robbie’s song, “Big Red Truck,” has been played on NPR Radio and national daytime television.
She has since remarried in 2006, has an art studio in Santa Ynez, and is continuing to be a creative force of nature.
For more information, visit www.robbiekaye.com or email robbie@robbiekaye.com.
