Professor Robbins (left) with two of his band members
Robbins credits one of his accounting
students with sparking his interest
in playing guitar again. The student
told Robbins he was helping pay for
his tuition by playing guitar in a band.
Robbins asked him the secret to playing
lead guitar and the student replied, “the
pentatonic scale.” Robbins did learn the
scale and ended up meeting another
musician who asked him to start a band.
He agreed, and they started looking
to put the band together — that was
in 2009.
They eventually found a drummer,
bass player, keyboard player and
female vocalist. They now have seven
band members, most of them in their
60s, but the bass player is in his 20s.
Once they got the group together, they
began meeting at church to practice.
They still meet every Monday night
to practice.
The next step was to come up with
a name. Weeks turned into months,
then after friends and family kept
asking Robbins if they had a name
yet, his response was, “'fraid not.”
And that is how the band became the
Frayed Knots.
They mostly play at weddings, parties
and events. Robbins says that is fine
with him.
“We just have fun, and that’s all that
matters” he says.
Although Robbins has been playing
in the band for five years, he still
teaches accounting after 33 years at the
Culverhouse College of Commerce.
“I will continue doing this long after
retiring from teaching,” Robbins says
about his passion.
"It was like I died and gone to heaven," says
Robbins of the purchase of his red 1966
Mustang Fender electric guitar.
