Grammy award-winning drummer Forrest Robinson to perform at alma-mater, UTC

Grammy award-winning drummer and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga alumnus Forrest Robinson returns to Chattanooga to present a drum clinic and performance with the UTC Percussion Ensemble on October 3.

Since leaving Chattanooga in 1994, the former music major has been busy making music a major part of his life and worldwide career.

As a drummer and pianist who can play hip hop, heavy metal, new age, and alternative rock, it is not surprising Robinson has traveled the world as a musical performer and recording artist with India Arie, Victor Wooten, Arrested Development, TLC, The Crusaders and Angelique Kidjo, to name a few.

While Robinson said he received the "finest instruction of all things percussion, particularly in the concert and orchestral genres" from UTC percussion department head Dr. Monte Coulter, for him it all began long before he found his way from Memphis to Chattanooga in 1988.

"I knew I was a performer when I was four years old. I will always remember the first time I heard the band Kiss in the 2nd grade. I was blown away by that really big drum kit and all the antics on stage," Robinson said. 

Coulter said it was apparent from the first day the two met that Robinson was truly gifted.

"At first I thought his technique looked sort of funny, but when he started to play and his technique was actually so clean and beautiful that I never said a word about it. He was able to do things I've still never seen any other student do, and without formal training," Dr. Coulter said.

The Voyage to India

In time, that raw talent was recognized by Grammy award-winning blues and soul artist, India Arie. According to Robinson, the two met in Atlanta after Robinson left Chattanooga, and became a part the "Groovement" scene in the mid-90s where young African American poets, singers, rappers, and hip hop artists collaborated and created new ways to express themselves to new audiences.

Arie liked the fact that Robinson could easily shift gears on drums to suit the style, according to Robinson, "loud and ferocious or subtle and soft."

The two went on to win a Grammy in 2003 for "Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the single "Little Things" from Arie's second studio release, "Voyage to India."

The Road From Memphis

Robinson said of all the wonderful musicians he has been blessed to play with, he still counts his stepfather as one of the best.

"He is still the most incredible musician I've ever played with. He was really someone who was truly 'inside the music,'" Robinson said.

Robinson said he absorbed his stepfather's emotional and spiritual intensity concerning music as far back as playing together at the Williams Temple Church of God and Christ in Memphis when he was just 6 years old.

While a student at Whitehaven High School in Memphis, Robinson won the chair for the All West Tennessee Jazz Band, directed by Anthony J. D'Andrea.

D'Anrea was also the director of bands at UTC and encouraged the young musician to attend college in Chattanooga.

"I had been sent a letter of acceptance from Berklee College of Music in Boston when I was in the 10th grade, but was nervous about moving so far from home at the time," Robinson said.

Eventually, he was offered a scholarship at UTC and stayed enrolled from 1988-1991. For personal reasons he was unable to complete his courses and earn a degree, but was already well on his way to becoming the success he is today.

"It was my mentor at UTC, Dr. Roland Carter, who said to me 'You are an artist. You are young and its obvious you want to play music. Go out there and play. Go out there and get that dream that has been burning at you since you were four years old,'" Robinson said.