Robin’s News

Mid Winter 2007

We ended the last update in mid-July.  Robin had booked a gig at the Caddy Shack the (Walden Golf club restaurant).  She liked the place so much that the next Monday she went back and applied for a waitress job.  She got it, 4 days a week in the evenings.  She became the “singing waitress” and never got a regular booking after that.  They let her have weekends off so that she could make other singing engagements.  She worked this job until just before Christmas.  She learned about fine dining and food preparation with mixing the butter for the evening meals, one of her favorite things to do.  She also enjoyed the “wine tasting events” and learned about the different kinds of wine, getting the bottles open and serving to the customers.                                                                                                                                                     

The next big thing for August was the American Idol Auditions in San Antonio, TX.    Arriving Thursday morning at 4:AM to register, get an arm band and a seat number turned out to be the easy part.  We walked in, and finished the process in about 3 minutes.  We went to eat breakfast before going to the motel and were told that the motel where we had reservations was in a “bad” part of town and if we wanted tires on our car we should find another place.  With 8000+ in town to audition, finding a room was a chore but we did find a nice place near the airport about 20 miles north of town.  We took Thursday to go sight seeing, have lunch on the River Walk and do a little shopping.  Everywhere we went there were lots of other American Idol hopefuls doing the same thing.  To bed early Thursday night so we could get up and get to town, parked and in line hopefully by 4:30-5:AM Friday morning. What a crowd, about 8 people wide and wrapped around the Alamo Dome.  Not long there after we were in line, still dark, someone taps Robin on the shoulder and ask her if she can sing. When she says yes, this guy flips on the video lights and hands her a microphone and tells her to “sing”.  Once seated inside the dome, we learned that the arm band and number really meant something.  The ones passed out on Wednesday went first so we were in the last third and you could tell it was going to be a long day.  On the floor of the Dome, from one end to the other were 24 6’ folding tables about 10’ apart.  There were 2 chairs at each table.  They took groups of four and made a line in the middle of the dome on the floor and sent each group of 4 to stand in front of a table.  They were about 10 rows deep in front of each table.  Two judges sat in the chairs and the person on the left side of the row in front of the judges started singing.  Each contestant was asked to have two songs ready to go.  Each person got about 20 seconds and the judge would point to the door.  It was amazing, because when they got the system working, they were going out of the door just as fast as they were getting in line to go to the judging table.  They only used 22 of the 24 judging stations and when it became lunch time, they just quit and left people standing in line.  If the judges liked you, then you might get to sing part of the second song.  If they still liked you, you would get the “Golden Ticket” and went out of the dome with a police escort and an Idol official.  Robin was the last one in her row and they asked to sing 3 songs. Her judge told her I like you, but I just don’t know what to do with you.  She got the Golden Ticket and went to the back. I got the cell phone call about 45 minutes later to meet her as she was headed out the door.  In back, it was fill out forms, photography’s, interview and sign the “don’t talk to any press form”.  She got a notice when and where to report for round two.  When a person received a Golden Ticket, those in the stands would cheer and the group I was sitting in kept a close watch to see how many were getting the Golden Ticket. It was an hour before we saw the first one. It turned out that we actually counted about 2 an hour for the first six hours.  When we left it seemed that there were only about 2-3 hours left to audition.  At that rate there should have only been about 20 +/- to come back for the second round.  Well there were about 70 at the second round. Go Figure.

Round Two was at the convention center and all of the “kook”s  had made it through.  Superman, Simon Angel, and it goes on – you saw the previews.  The waiting room was full of cameras and Robin sang several times for them, alone and with the group she was seated with.  The introductory talk from the show’s owner, Simon’s boss?, was very informative. He told what it takes to become an American Idol and having the best voice just won’t get it.  We were there about 7 hours and there were very few left to audition when we left.  Same deal, you go into a room, behind the double wood doors and sing for 4 judges, not the real ones.  I don’t believe we saw more that 15 Golden Tickets come out of the room but there must have been a lot more than that.  This time the ticket was a pass to round three, the next weekend with Simon and the crew.  We watched the San Antonio show on TV and they say that 20 got a pass to go to Hollywood.  We did not recognize but two from round two on the show on TV.  There is always next year.  The judge’s comments to Robin were that “her songs were too old and she should get some modern music.”

Back to reality.  Robin signed up for the fall semester at the Montgomery County College close to The Woodlands.  She had classes every day of the week and got home just in time to change clothes and go to work.  She loved her teachers and made good grades.  Her favorite class was Philosophy.  That scares me.  She had great arguments for her views and opinions and I am proud that she can carry her own in discussions with friends and family.  Robin has moved to Denton, TX for her 2nd semester in college.  Again, she loves her classes and teachers.  I think History is the favorite class for now.  She hasn’t found a job in Denton, but is helping out at a local recording studio.  She has recorded “In God We Still Trust” written by Bill and Kim Nash.  I can’t wait to hear the recording.  Hopefully she will be able to work on a new CD.

Check the Schedule Page.  While she is trying to get bookings in the Ft. Worth / Dallas area, Robin is traveling to Houston for paying gigs.  Thank you to Ray Carter, owner of RLC Productions helping Robin get exposure in the Houston area. 

If you need WEB SITE help, please contact David Taylor, the web-master of this site. His link is at the bottom of this page.

Until Next Time:

Bob Fitch, Manager

RNF Entertainment, LLC

Robin's News

Midsummer 2006

High school is now history.  Graduation from The High School for Performing and Visual Arts was a major accomplishment.  Other BIG changes include moving out of the city and back to the country to a new house on Lake Conroe.  Where to put all of the clothes and stuffed animals, with seven full boxes still in the garage? 

June was busy starting off with a concert in The Woodlands for the City of Shenandoah at the Porta Fina Mall.  Robin asked Jimmy Nash to join her for the show and they left the crowd wanting more. 

Robin traveled to Nashville, mid-June to record four new songs.  The songs were written by Bill and Kim Nash, who produced the songs for her at the Trinity Broadcasting Studios in Hendersonville, TN.  She also performed Sunday Morning, at the Nashville Cowboy Church on “Father’s Day”.  The service is broadcast on AM-radio and several other stations.  

A highlight of the trip happened when Robin was able to meet, for the first time, her grandmother “Shelia”, from Michigan who had recently moved to Florida.  Just by chance Shelia was traveling to Michigan and stopped by Nashville to visit friends and they were able to visit the Cowboy Church to see and hear Robin. Lunch at the crowded Cracker Barrel followed with the Nash Family, Shelia, Gary and lots of friends.

Do you need your picture taken?  Check out www.denniscarney.com  Robin was very lucky to get an appointment with Dennis.  The idea was to get some new “head shots”, about an hour’s worth.  Seven hours and 1355 pictures later, the fun began. What do you discard?  Dennis put them on a big monitor and gave Robin and her mom about forty-five minutes to cut them to 9 or 10.  He recently shot 4000 pictures of Dolly Patron and she cut them down to 3 in less than thirty minutes.  They were only able to get down to 115 pictures and took them back to the motel to work on during the night. The next morning they had thirteen favorites and when we left town Dennis had retouched and printed nineteen. Some of these will be posted to the web site, used for an album cover and sold at shows. 

The last week of June found Robin preparing for camp. In fact check out www.championskidscamp.org. Robin was asked to help Bill and Kim Nash, founders, with the camp music program.  This is a life changing experience and a very worthy cause.  These kids are survivors of life threatening problems and attend on camp scholarships. There were about 130 campers this year.  Tax deductible donations can be made for next years camp and the form can be found online at the above listed website.    

Robin has hit the streets meeting with club and restaurant managers, booking gigs. Friday night the 14th, she played at the Caddy Shack in Walden on Lake Conroe.  It was a great 3 hour show.  This show was booked just 3 days after her meeting with the club managers so we sent out a fan email to notify you of the event.  Sorry for the short notice.  We are getting new software that will allow the Robin Fitch web site to be updated from home, so please check the schedule often to see where she is playing.

Until next time, we thank you for your support.

Bob Fitch, Manager
RNF Entertainment, LLC

P.S. - If you like the changes to the web site, and need help with yours, be sure to contact David Taylor, his link is at the bottom of the home page.