By: Chuck Workman, W.T.P.I. (107.9 F.M.) Sunday Morning Jazz Show Host, NUVO Jazz Critic

    Indy has been fortunate to have produced a line of outstanding guitarists.  Some of these players have gone on to become guitar icons, such as Wes Montgomery.  And then there are guys like Rob Swaynie who has been quietly performing and teaching the guitar for 34 years in this city.
    Swaynie runs his own guitar shop/studio, Indigo Music.  He also teaches a continuing studies class in blues guitar at IUPUI.  He has been a mainstay at the New Orleans House Restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights, playing solo guitar for dining clientele.
    Swaynie has just released his first CD and appropriately titled it Big&Tall  for his 6 foot 8 inch, 250 pound frame.  For a guy who looks like he should be playing tight end with the Colts, Swaynie is very quiet and sensitive, almost self effacing; but he has a lot to say musically on this album that reveals his musical character.
    Our interview with him reveals a very serious, pragmatic musician who has a quiet tenacity coupled with a wry sense of humor.

    NUVO: How do you see the music or jazz scene for the working musicians such as yourself here in Indy?

    SWAYNIE:  There are so many people crawling all over each other ( to play ), that it kind of makes it tough for the ones who are trying to make a living at it.  Music is not just music; there is an element of entertainment to it as well.  So I think when you go to Broad Ripple or someplace like that you see a lot of people.  That's obviously more entertainment than musical quality, but who's to define that, it's not my place.  We are being pushed out by people who know three chords, but every generation has thought that.

    NUVO:  What is your advice to young guitar players that seem to be coming out by the hundreds that seriously want to pursue a career on this instrument?

    SWAYNIE:  As crazy as it seems I would give them the same advice I got as a kid.  Get something whether it be engineering or whatever, to do because you can always play the guitar too!  Probably the people who are the most successful at music are the ones that made up their mind that they couldn't do anything else anyway, so they go straight towards music.  That's what I did and it's kind of rough, but teaching is what has gotten me through.

    Swaynies' album "Big&Tall" is as rangy as his stature.  What is especially notable are Swaynies' original compositions, from the buoyant title cut to the harp like sound of "My Angels" for his (then) wife and daughter.  He is backed up with emphatic support by bassist Chris McMahon, drummer Michael Gilbert and percussionist Tim Hoose.  From Miles Davis to Acoustic Alchemy to Erik Satie, Swaynie shows that he can serve up with good taste an appealing musical palette.  Dining with the sounds of Rob Swaynies' guitar at the New Orleans House Restaurant is an exceptional culinary and musical delight.