Rob Ickes is a Dobro player from Northern California. He has won the IBMA’s Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year award 15 times, more than any other player. He was a founding member of Blue Highway in 1994 and played with the band for 21 years. Since 2013 he has worked as a duo with singer and guitarist Trey Hensley.
Why Ickes matters
Ickes held the Dobro award for most of two decades. He won it 15 times between 1996 and 2013. Jerry Douglas, with ten wins, is the only other player close to that count. Ickes also took the Dobro outside bluegrass. He has made jazz records and blues records as well as bluegrass ones.
Life and career
Ickes moved to Nashville in 1992. Two years later he joined Tim Stafford, Wayne Taylor, Shawn Lane, and Jason Burleson as a founding member of Blue Highway. He was the youngest player on The Great Dobro Sessions (1994), produced by Jerry Douglas and Tut Taylor. That album won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.
He made solo albums for Rounder, including Hard Times (1997), What It Is (2002), and Big Time (2004). With Andy Leftwich and Dave Pomeroy he formed the trio Three Ring Circle. He recorded an album of jazz with pianist Michael Alvey. In 2014 he made Three Bells with Jerry Douglas and Mike Auldridge.
Ickes left Blue Highway in 2015. With Hensley he has made four albums for Compass Records. Before the Sun Goes Down earned a Grammy nomination. The others are The Country Blues (2016), World Full of Blues (2019), and Living in a Song (2023). The duo has also recorded with guitarist Tommy Emmanuel.
Playing style
Ickes plays Dobro in bluegrass, jazz, and blues. Three Ring Circle and his album with Michael Alvey are jazz projects. His records with Hensley lean toward the blues, as the titles The Country Blues and World Full of Blues show.
Influences and legacy
Ickes has worked beside some of the best players in bluegrass. He toured with Alison Krauss and played in the Tony Rice Unit with Tony Rice. In Blue Highway he stood next to Tim Stafford for two decades. When he left, Gaven Largent took his place in the band. Largent named Ickes as one of his idols.
Signature tunes and songs
Scrapin’ the Barrel, his own tune on The Great Dobro Sessions McHattie’s Waltz, a Kenny Baker fiddle tune he played on the same album.
Essential recordings
The Great Dobro Sessions (Sugar Hill, 1994) Hard Times (Rounder, 1997) Big Time (Rounder, 2004) Three Bells, with Jerry Douglas and Mike Auldridge (Rounder, 2014) Before the Sun Goes Down, with Trey Hensley (Compass)
Awards and honors
IBMA Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) Grammy nomination for Before the Sun Goes Down, with Trey Hensley Featured player on The Great Dobro Sessions, which won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album at the 1995 ceremony.
Watch and listen
Ickes plays the hymn The Old Rugged Cross on Dobro.
What to learn from Ickes
Ickes recorded McHattie’s Waltz, a tune Kenny Baker wrote for the fiddle. Pick a fiddle tune you know well. Work it out on the Dobro one phrase at a time, and keep the melody plain before you add slides. Then try a slow hymn such as The Old Rugged Cross and let each note ring.
Sources
Rob Ickes, Wikipedia Ickes, Rob, BluegrassBios.com Blue Highway, Wikipedia The Great Dobro Sessions, Wikipedia Gaven Largent to Blue Highway, Bluegrass Today Awards by Category, IBMA
Related players
See the Dobro players hub and the Dobro guide. Jerry Douglas won the award before and after Ickes’s run. Gaven Largent followed him in Blue Highway. Trey Hensley is his duo partner.