Former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin celebrates the release of his new album, "Rio," with a Q&A and signing on Friday, Oct. 6 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame But the guitarist and composer -- who was responsible for the iconic prog rock group’s sole No. 1 hit, “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” in 1983 -- has not spent much time IN the Rock Hall itself.
Rabin’s parents were musicians and artists -- his father was an attorney and lead violinist for the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra -- and he began studying piano at five years old. Rabin became an active studio session player as a teenager and even flirted with becoming a conductor while studying orchestration at the University of Johannesburg.
That never panned out but Rabin joined forces with Yes’ Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye initially as Cinema but eventually they reformed Yes -- which had been on hiatus -- with the addition of the group’s original vocalist Jon Anderson. Rabin recorded four albums with Yes as well as another solo album -- “Can’t Look Away” in 1989 -- but another career path beckoned via a chance meeting during 1994.
“I’ve had this urge to sing and play some prog/rock type of things,” Rabin acknowledges. “Last year I decided, ‘OK, I’ve got to stop screwing around...and actually do it.” The result is “Rio,” his first vocally-oriented song album in 24 years, a stylistically diverse 10-track set Rabin recorded mostly himself, in his home studio in California, with percussion help from his son Ryan and “Jacaranda” contributors Lou Molino and Vinnie Calaiuta, plus some backing vocalists.
“These things have all just kind of happened...and I’m certainly grateful,” he explains. “Y’know, I love doing film scores. It’s a huge passion for me. I feel like I started that only a couple of years back and it’s like, ‘Omigod, where did the time go?’