This week’s guests, from “Rockin’ Robin” are the remarkable duo of Buffalo Music Hall of Fame Inductee, Robin Grandin and Jackie Volk.
From learning bass in two weeks to handle six-hour sets on tour, to lighting up stages from Bemus Point to Nashville, Robin’s multi-instrumental talents have always shone.
After a storied career starting at age 19 and heartbreaking seven-year hiatus following her husband’s passing in 2010, Jackie reunited with Robin in 2017 to form their powerhouse duo.
Jackie and Robin visited the Flamingo Lounge on a very rainy September evening (Sept. 3, 2026).
JACKIE VOLK
I was raised in a very musical family. We always had music playing in our house. My mother met my dad when he was entertaining at a wedding. My dad played several instruments, including drums, which his father also played. Both my parents had really beautiful singing voices and both played piano. My dad al-so played drums, trombone, and guitar. He was put in Special Services in WWII and led a big band, just as Glenn Miller did, on war bond drive tours. He made records, toured with Tyrone Power and Cesar Romero, and appeared on the Eddie Cantor radio show several times.
In 1967, my younger brother, Allen, and my future husband (Bill Volk) started a band. I hung around rehearsals and harmonized in the corner. They let me come up on stage at their gigs and sing harmony on a couple of songs. As the “couple songs” became more, I became part of the band. We got a great male lead singer, and I did a few lead songs, but mostly harmony.
In late 1968, we changed some personnel (not my brother or Bill) and became “Tossed Solid” (not sal-ad!). We had a different male lead singer—one who had a remarkable voice—and added a girl keyboard player. Somewhere in late 1967 or early 1968, Tom Barone became our bass player. Tom would in later years become the biggest booking agent in Buffalo and eventually owned the Tralf, but he played with us for 9 years before going on to play with “Big Wheelie and the Hubcaps” and others.
At the very end of 1969, we again changed personnel, and the four of us—Allen, Bill, Tom, and me—became “Monolith” until 1976. We quit whatever jobs we had and decided to go full-time into music. We were what you might call a “heavy metal band,” playing mostly Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc. Very high energy. We had managers in Rochester, and for most of those years (1970–1975) we played everywhere and anywhere in the Rochester/Syracuse area. Most thought we were a Rochester band, but we always lived south of Buffalo in Western NY. Around 1975, we left our management and came back to Buffalo, playing at the Barrelhead every Wednesday for a time.
By this time, and no longer having a male lead vocalist, I was learning to be the front person for our group. Previously, I’d always been more in the background with the male vocalist taking the lead. This was a big learning experience for me.
As we got into 1976, my brother, Bill, and I felt ourselves getting a bit older and the audiences seeming younger (we were 26–28 at the time!). We wanted to stay in music but felt we needed something with more longevity. At the advice of a trusted and respected friend, we left “Monolith” and went into country music as the “Country Melodeers.” The expertise that my brother and Bill had obtained playing challeng-ing music like Zeppelin, when applied to country music, seemed to put us a step ahead, and we wound up leaving the area. Also, this change of music gave Bill more opportunity to play other instruments, which he did very well: saxophone, mandolin, bass, and country fiddle. We first played mostly in Canada, where we could play 6 days a week, and then went cross-country for many years. We covered most of the United States and a big part of Canada for a long time. We had two maxi-vans outfitted with bunk beds behind the front seats so someone could sleep while the other drove. One year alone, we drove coast to coast 12 times and played in between. We were fortunate that we kept working most of the time, and when we were between bookings, we stayed with family in San Diego. We had agents in Sacramento, Reno, Ohio, and Atlanta that kept us working. Much of our time was spent in Nevada in casinos. They would typically book you in for 3 weeks at a time, so we got to sit still for a bit. However, it was grueling work—6 hours a night, 6 nights a week. It was very tough on a vocalist, and we all sang. By this time, Bill and I had married.
In 1986, we lost our bass and keyboard player and needed to fill the position. We asked a friend, Robin, if she would consider joining us. We knew she had been in bands all over Western NY, sang great, and did some playing, but she had never played bass before, and we had only two weeks before we were con-tracted to play in Nevada. Unbelievably, she memorized enough on the bass to fill 6 hours with us and wound up being a huge asset, playing keyboards, bass, guitar, and flute, and singing her butt off.
Then in 1991, we amicably went our separate ways. Bill and I came back to Western NY and formed our duo, “The Volks.” We played from September through June at the Riveredge Hotel in Alexandria Bay, NY (Thousand Islands area) for 16 years, and from June to September at the “Italian Fisherman” in Be-mus Point, NY, for 18 years. Robin stayed and played in Las Vegas for a year, then moved to Nashville, TN, for 16 years, playing and traveling. She eventually came back to Western NY and married my other brother, Dave, so Bill and I added her back into our act to become “The Volk Family Band.”
Sadly, my husband passed away in 2010, and I stopped singing for 7 years. Then Robin, who had con-tinued playing all around our area, asked me if I would consider joining her in a duo, and we’ve been “Rockin’ Robin” since 2017, playing at various places in Western NY. I never dreamed when I started at age 19 that I would still be singing almost 60 years later.
ROBIN GRANDIN
Inheriting an old acoustic guitar and a Peter, Paul and Mary songbook at the age of 9, Robin taught herself to play.
“I was totally mesmerized.” Robin says, “I learned 3 chords and ended up writing dozens of songs! I still have all those notebooks – all those songs and so many more notebooks.”
After completing a college degree in music, she went straight to the stage with the band Pepperwood Greene and continued to write original, progressive, R&B, and funk music while performing in local venues across Western New York. Venues like The Old Tralfamadore Café, After Dark, McVans, The Circus Bar, Bona Vista, The Purple Moose, Uncle Sam’s, Stage One, Salty Dog, The Barrelhead, Mickey Rats, Bayview Beach Club, just to name a few.
“My first gig ever was at the old Tralfamadore Café – in the basement on Main Street in Buffalo.” Robin remembers, “Those were creatively great years. The songs just flowed…. I was writing 2 maybe 3 songs a day”.
In the spotlight with Pepperwood Greene, Clockworks, Ice Nine, Songbird, Prime Suspects, and The Touch she was known for her strong vocals and solid musicianship on acoustic guitar, electric rhythm guitar, keyboards and flute.
The rock n’ roll road in WNY led her to open for several hot local bands including Talas, Rodan and 805. She even opened for Weird Al Yankovic.
During “The 80’s or the Buffalo Years”, Robin got the opportunity to record a number of originals and radio commercial/jingles at Select Sound, Loft Studio and Trackmaster (GCR Audio) and various other recording studios.
“Round and Round” a song written by Tony Genovese and Robin was placed on the 105 PHD Homegrown Album #3.
Joining the touring band Rainbow in 1986 she toured extensively throughout the US and Canada performing at some of the largest casinos and showrooms in Las Vegas, Laughlin, Dallas, Reno, Alberta, Edmonton and even right here in Buffalo at the annual One M&T Plaza event.
“Rainbow gave me the opportunity to play ALL the instruments that I loved – including bass guitar. I had 2 weeks to learn how to play the bass and go out on the road to play a 6 hour show at one of the largest casinos in Nevada! Talk about pressure!”
In 1991 Robin made the move to Nashville, Tennessee – “Music City”, the home of country music. She was a signed artist on an Indie record label, Rotation Records performing with her band Hurricane Jane.
Robin teamed up with drummer Lisa Romeo to become one of the founding members and the original bass player for Nashville National Recording Artists Mustang Sally.
Mustang Sally was one of Nashville’s premier Country recording acts playingthe top CMA venues and fairs nationwide in front of audiences of thousands, and sharing the stage along-side the likes of country legends George Jones, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless, Little Texas, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tracy Lawrence, Aaron Tippin, Confederate Railroad, Collin Raye, Sawyer Brown, Toby Keith, Delbert McClinton, Lorrie Morgan, Sammy Kershaw, Highway 101 and many more.
“What an honor to stand right next to the legendary George Jones and sing “Rockin’ Chair” with him and his band! It was amazing experience!”
Mustang Sally showcased for RCA, Warner Brothers, and Atlantic as well as performed at The Long Hall in Printer’s Alley, Barbara’s, The 16th Avenue Café, and the Opryland Hotel, Nashville Hall of Fame, The Grizzly Rose in Denver, Colorado and Boomtown in Las Vegas, Nevada just to name a few.
She frequented The Project Room Studio and other local studios in Nashville laying down tracks for original songs and using top session players including: Herb Shucher (Randy Travis) Penn Pennington (Jack Greene) and Jerry Webb (Jett Williams, Little Jimmy Dickens, Neil McCoy).
Returning to Buffalo in 2006 and reuniting with two members of her former band Rainbow, Robin “Rocked the Deck” at the Italian Fisherman in Bemus Point, NY with The Volk Family Band (2006-2010) and her own Rockin’ Robin band (2010-2017). Her powerful vocals, acoustic and bass guitars, mandolin, tin whistle, and flute became her trademarks.
“My passion for playing and writing music has led me all over the United States and Canada and has brought me around full circle – back home to Buffalo and Western NY.”
Robin’s passion for music has taken her down many roads. As a professional musician, she was inspired to give back to the caring facilities that helped her mom during her journey through Alzheimer’s. The 2018 release of Robin’s single “Memories of the Heart” was written in memory of her mother.
Her non-profit, Music to Remember WNY became a partnered program with the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame and helps to provide Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, Veterans, and their families with the healing power of music. Most recently, she’s heading up a new program for the BMHOF, “Hall of Fame Heals” hoping to reach out to a larger portion of the WNY Community.
~ Written by Paula D’Amico