Robert Rochefort, PebbleRock Band Bass Player
Howard Brodbeck
PebbleRock Band member and PebbleCreek resident Robert Rochefort started playing bass guitar at age 16. He did so on a dare. Nobody in his family had ever played music, but one summer his best friend started a band and someone threw down the gauntlet to him to be the bass player. According to Robert, they played badly for themselves and friends, and by the end of summer most of the band had quit playing.
But Robert was hooked. He kept at it. He became a fan of bass players Geddy Lee, John Entwistle, and John Paul Jones. He played in a number of inconsequential high school bands for the next few years, but when he was a sophomore in high school, he played for the annual school musical showcase with the best musicians in his school. After the show, one senior who was an Elvis impersonator approached him and asked Robert to join a band he was starting to play in Quebec City area shows. It was quite the contrast from the hard rock Robert was playing but it was an opportunity to continue his journey as a bass guitar musician so Robert accepted. It turned into a popular act and they played lots of shows. This new music (to Robert) forced him to develop new techniques and ways to approach the bass and add to his repertoire. As a result, Jerry Scheff (from Elvis’s touring band) had a huge influence on Robert’s playing.
Like many promising musicians, as Robert transitioned to college he had a hard decision to make. Would he pursue a career as a professional musician or a more traditional way of earning a living? Robert took the plunge and decided to give music a try. The Elvis impersonator, with a few of his musicians including Robert, moved to Las Vegas to make it big. They found local players to complete the band and played a few venues, but it became clear to Robert that being a professional musician was not what he had expected. After nearly a year Robert headed back home to enroll in college, but he didn’t give up playing bass.
While in college, he played in the house band of a Christian-revivalist movement and toured the province where they played to large crowds, including a packed Montreal Forum and Quebec City Colosseum. But Robert continued focusing on his college studies and music was on the back burner. After graduation, Robert moved to Montreal and started his software engineering career. Busy with work, he played in occasional jams and company talent nights but those were his only musical outlets. He met and married his wife Lucie Trepanier during this time and they focused on building their lives together.
In 2000, they moved to Colorado where Lucie found a job at a small startup. Four members of the startup played in a band. After jamming with Robert, they asked him to replace their bass player. Robert accepted and started playing in a horn heavy band (Tower of Power, Blues Brothers, etc.). Robert discovered he had an affinity for playing that sort of music and added even more diversity to his growing list of influences (Rocco Prestia, Donald Duck Dunn). The band continued until “the inevitable split.”
For 20 years in Colorado Robert played in several bands, shows, weddings, bars, covers, original music, you name it. He even did some studio sessions, and considered himself a musical weekend warrior. He was asked a few times to turn pro and travel, but he replied that he liked his life exactly as it was.
Robert and Lucie moved to PebbleCreek during COVID, Lucie in part to pursue ballroom dancing and Robert to play golf and softball. Musically everything was shut down. Robert met a few community musicians, and then PC resident Phil Lubman asked Robert to join his ShowTime rock ‘n’ roll production and a few months later, Robert played bass on stage for six sold out live shows.
At an afternoon garage jam session Howard Brodbeck had put together, Robert met the other three members of PebbleRock Band who asked him to join. He came out to hear them play first at Augie’s and then he was sold.
Robert is one of the most talented bass players I have had the privilege of working with, and playing drums in sync with his complex grooves has been a challenge with huge rewards. Follow PebbleRock Band on Facebook and on the PebbleCreek Residents FaceBook Group.