Rob Tognoni

Rob Tognoni is a blues guitarist and singer from Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia, born in 1960. He is known for a forceful, physical stage presence and for a playing style rooted in blues, blues rock and classic rock, with clear influences from artists such as B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC, Cream and Grand Funk Railroad. He also uses the nickname “The Tasmanian Devil”.

Career

Tognoni begins performing in the 1980s and goes on to build a long international touring career, with more than three decades of stage work across Europe and elsewhere. He opens for or shares bills with Roy Buchanan, Lonnie Mack, Joe Walsh, Peter Green, Sting, ZZ Top and Bo Diddley. He also represents Australia at the royal wedding celebrations for Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson in Denmark, and performs at a FIFA World Cup match in Kaiserslautern.

His live work ranges from prison performances in Australia to appearances at Mozart’s House in Vienna and major festivals including Sweden Rock Festival, Leverkusener Jazztage, Midtfyns Festival and Kwadendamme Blues Festival. He also appears on radio and television sessions, including a BBC 2 session for the Paul Jones Show and a Swedish National Radio broadcast of his Sweden Rock set.

Bands and early work

Born Robert John Tognoni, he starts playing guitar in the 1970s after hearing artists including B.B. King, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Hendrix, Grand Funk Railroad, Tony Joe White, Elton John and Slade. After leaving school in 1976, he works in a series of jobs before forming his first band, Skidrow Boys, in 1983 in Tasmania. He later moves to Melbourne, then to Nambour in Queensland, and forms The Outlaws. He begins singing because the band cannot find a singer, and the group wins three categories at the 20th Annual Queensland Rock Awards: best guitarist, best drummer and best band.

The Outlaws later relocate to Melbourne, change their name to The Desert Cats, and record “I Got You - You Got Me”, which is included on The Angels’ release Dogs Are Talking. That release reaches gold status and the associated tour produces sell-out shows. He is also approached about forming Baby Animals with Suze DeMarchi, but turns the offer down.

Recordings and labels

Tognoni’s first international recording deal comes through Provogue/Mascot Records in the Netherlands, helped by Australian slide guitarist Dave Hole. His 1995 album Stones & Colours is produced by Dave Hole and leads to his first European tour. He later releases a run of albums including Headstrong, Live at the Twilight, Monkeygrinder, Retro Shakin’, Shakin’ the Devil’s Hand – Live in Europe, The Ironyard and Capital Wah.

Across his career he releases around 20 albums over more than two decades through labels including Provogue, Dixiefrog, Blues Boulevard, Electric-Renegade and Music Avenue. His recordings include studio albums, live albums, compilations and various artist releases. He also records a limited internet-only edition of Retro Shakin’, later reissued, and Capital Wah is later taken up for worldwide release by Music Avenue/Mausoleum Records.

Style and reputation

Tognoni’s guitar playing is described as energetic, inventive and explosive, with strong blues and rock elements and traces of harder classic rock. He is known for sustained, high-intensity live performances and for combining loud power chords and driving riffs with more subtle blues phrasing. Reviews quoted in the material emphasise his stamina, precision and technical skill, and several performances highlight his command of the Stratocaster and his fast solo work.

His songs and performances include tracks such as “Jim Beam Blues”, which he writes in 1977 and later keeps in his live set, as well as live favourites such as “Dark Angel” and “Bad Girl”.

Selected later milestones

In 2004 he opens the Rock N Royal Festival in Copenhagen in honour of the Danish royal wedding celebrations, playing the Australian national anthem in a guitar duel with D-A-D guitarist Jacob Binzer, while Binzer plays the Danish anthem. In 2006 he performs for Australia at the FIFA World Cup in Kaiserslautern. His 2003-2005 period includes a new band line-up with German musicians Christian Schöbben and Albert Zander, European festival appearances, and live recordings broadcast nationally in Sweden.

Tognoni remains identified with hard-working international touring, rooted in Australian blues rock but drawing on a wider rock and blues tradition.