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BIO
Robbin Ahrold is a singer-songwriter who brings a lifetime of experience and deep understanding of the art and craft of songwriting to a repertoire that spans more than 50 years.
His early work as a songwriter and performer includes such Washington area nightclubs as the legendary Cellar Door in Georgetown and Bixby’s Warehouse on Connecticut Avenue. He formed and managed several ensembles including Georgetown jazz fivesome Billy Zietler’s Quintet, and dance bands that played for events in elite venues throughout the Washington, DC area. Following almost a decade reporting and writing on popular culture for Time Magazine, his path transitioned into the business side of the music business as an executive with HBO, RCA Records and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI). He resumed songwriting, recording and performing in the 2010s, both in New York City and northern Virginia. He shares his time between apartments in Manhattan and Paris and a family home in Alexandria, Virginia.
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His songwriting repertoire falls into two periods, 1960-1975 and 2000-present. Previous albums include Permanent Decisions (1975), Sunday Afternoons (2002), and Halcyon Days/Sacred Nights (2018). His current release is Two Journeys/Deux Voyages, a two-CD set in English and French. His work evokes the joys and pain of life fully lived, love for family and friends, the thrill of peak experience and the heartache of loss. The center of gravity of his work is using a great lyric to tell a compelling story.
Robbin served for more than 20 years on the Songwriters Hall of Fame Board of Directors and as a Governor of the Recording Academy. He was a co-founder of the Washington DC chapter of the Recording Academy and of its annual “Grammys on the Hill” Congressional event. He is a voting member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is member of the Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board and has served as its chair for the past three years. He works closely with the National Endowment for the Arts and has made significant contributions to the work of the music department of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American and the Smithsonian-wide “Year of Music” in 2019. He has been honored by the Jazz Journalists Association and the Recording Academy for his work in supporting artists and composers. In northern Virginia, he has served as a juror for the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest (MASC) and has spearheaded fundraising for the Songwriters Association of Washington (SAW).
His career in senior management at HBO, RCA Records, and BMI has afforded him the unique opportunity to work with some of America’s most successful and admired musical artists in genres ranging from rock to pop to country, jazz, classical and musical theater. Bilingual in French, with a deep affection for French culture and artists, he composes in both English and French.
Robbin is a BMI affiliate, and publishes his music through his music publishing company, Little Nest of Robbin Songs.
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