A career in music for RTZ was inevitable. It's in his heart, his soul -- and his very DNA, in fact.

RTZ is Robin Taylor Zander, whose father -- as you might surmise from the name -- is the founding frontman for iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Cheap Trick. RTZ is now part of the group, too, a utility player (on guitar, bass, drums and backing vocals) who's been dubbed "Cheap Trick's secret weapon" by Rolling Stone. It's a testament to his range and versatility -- and, as RTZ readily acknowledges, it's a pretty great gig.

Rest assured, however, that he is very much an independent artist with his own path and his own sound, all readily evident on his debut album, The Distance.

"This is definitely my own music," RTZ explains. "I don't try to sound like anything. I'm not really going for 

. A lot of people try to put all sorts of labels on your music, but I feel like my stuff is just whatever I'm doing at the time. There's a lot of music I've listened to that's influenced me, but everything starts inside me and isn't planned or plotted out."

The 11 tracks on The Distance reflect musical lessons well-learned, however. Comprising song written between 2015-2019 -- some dating back to RTZ's tenure in Nashville with the band Smile -- the album is a rich sonic immersion into rich pop melodies, awash in smoothly textured instrumentation and soaring, layered vocal harmonies. It puts the influence of the Beatles and Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, the Move and the Who and so many others, into a blender, pouring out aural masterpieces such as the first single, "High and Low,” “The Distance,” “What Am I To Do," "Ize on the Prize," "In Front of Me" and more. Melody and muscle are tightly intertwined, a classic case of making music that's greater than the sum of its parts.

"It's so sophisticated, and the fact that he played every instrument on the record except for the brass is incredible," says Jack Douglas, the legendary producer (John Lennon, New York Dolls, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick) who was introduced to RTZ through his father. Douglas signed him to his label Confidential Records NYC after mixing The Distance. "As I was getting material I was just amazed by the talent and thinking, 'Man, if there's anything I would love is to get on my label, it's this.' I want to be part of putting him on the map."

RTZ's own musical journey goes back to when he was just three years old, growing up in Safety Harbor, Florida. That's when he got a ukulele, graduating to guitar when he was five, and then learning drums, bass and piano as well as singing in his school chorus. Music was, of course, all around him -- instruments, recordings, memorabilia -- and frequent trips on the road to see his father play. Joining his dad on stage for some of his solo shows further stoked his own musical ambitions.

"All throughout school I figured once I was out I would do something in music," RTZ says. "I was an introverted music nerd at a pretty early age. When I was little I would take a record and try to learn the bass part or the guitar part, then the next day try to learn the drum part and piano part. Then I'd sing it and I'd be able to record it in my own 'cause I knew everything. That's where my love for music really came from. There wasn't anything else I even thought about doing."

While he learned instruments by ear, RTZ did fall in for some formal music education after high school. He studied performance at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, then recording production at Full Sail University in Florida ("So I could record on my own and didn't have to pay someone else to do it," he says) as well as taking classes at Florida State University. The next stop was Nashville in 2015, where RTZ and his Smile partner John Keach "kinda wrote songs and shopped them around." None were ever released, but the four-and-a-half-year stay was a fertile training ground for RTZ.

"It's a competitive city, but it's inspiring," he recalls. "There are so many really good songwriters, good musicians. It's a place people come to do music, so I think it hardened me and made me even more determined."

Planning for The Distance,  even as he toured with Cheap Trick, RTZ recorded the album during two weeks with Kenny Siegel at Old Soul Studio in Woodstock, N.Y. The process was arduous but exciting, and the result is a convincing first statement in what's poised to be a long and prolific career. "There's a bunch of songs that have not been used, too," he says, "a lot of unfinished material that stays unfinished until I feel inspired to finish it. But I'm always coming up with song ideas."

For now, however, RTZ is focused on planting his flag as a solo artist. Live dates are being booked, a band is being built, videos are being filmed. Giving his formidable history he's ready for all of it, and if he's learned anything since picking up that ukulele 25 years ago it's that there's always something to prove, whether it's in the studio or on stage. As RTZ readily acknowledges.  "The one thing I know is this is exactly what I want to be doing -- and what I've always wanted to be doing."

Robin Taylor Zander

Elly was voted Creative Loafing’s “Best Musician New to Atlanta”. She has songs featured in the movie Nicole (available for streaming on Tubi and Prime Video), and is also featured on a national commercial for USA Swimming.

Elly has co-written with Big Machine’s Sara Davis (who co-wrote a #1 Billboard hit with GAYLE the single abcdefu), a song with Nashville Artist Scott Mulvahill (co-writer with R&B artist H.E.R.) as well as Hayes Helsper (Man Underground) and Raoul Klokow (Joe Kelly Band).

Her singing career began after a cross country stint as tour manager for a band from Savannah, GA. She began writing and playing open mics with friends and musicians in Savannah, where she was working at a café downtown when she met legendary music producer Jack Douglas, who was in town attending the Savannah Film Festival.

Jack recalls walking into the café and loving Elly’s vibe, “I asked her if she was a singer. To which she replied “yes” and I thought “wow!” She sent him demos and he was very impressed. Douglas describes her music as having a modern sound in a “Earthy, bluesy, Georgia kind of way.”

Douglas, who has engineered and produced many Aerosmith’s albums, and also worked with Patti Smith, Cheap Trick and John Lennon recently started a new record label, LA Confidential and Elly was the first artist signed to his record label.

Thrilled to have someone as talented as Jack Douglas involved, Elly has made several trips to LA to work with him in the studio recording her debut EP set to be released early next year.

Since moving back to Atlanta Elly has performed with Angie Aparo, Eliot Bronson, and opened for the lead singer of Harvey Danger, Sean Nelson. She has performed at Eddie’s Attic, Vinoteca, 37 Main, Smith’s Olde Bar, Bogg’s Social, Union in EAV and Abe’s on Lincoln, El Rocko in Savannah.

Elly Low

The Detroit Youth Choir (DYC) was founded in 1996 to service young people between the ages of 8 to 18 throughout the Detroit metropolitan area. The DYC teaches and develops students through music education, dance, and theatrical arts. It has performed at various events nationally and internationally as well as around the Detroit metro area, and it was the runner-up on Season 14 of AMERICA's GOT TALENT. Among its other achievements are performances at Carnegie Hall, joining the U.K.'s The Go@ Team on stage and appearing in the IMAX film AMERICA's MUSICAL JOUNEY. The choir, which has won several Detroit Music Awards, will be the subject of the Disney+ docuseries "Choir," slated to air during 2023.

Detroit Youth Choir

Classified documents on artist activity. Read with caution. 

The Distance

ROCKSPELL is the debut release from Confidential NYC Records, the label co-founded by Grammy Award-winning producer Jack Douglas (John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Patti Smith and more). It pairs the Detroit Youth Choir, runner-up on Season 14 of AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, with a rhythm section of hall of fame-caliber Detroit musicians and a song list that ranges from Motown to Classic Rock to reggae, putting a fresh feel to eight songs that only underscores how timeless and continually relevant they all remain.

ROCKSPELL featuring Detroit Youth Choir

first single off the debut album "The Distance" 

High N Low

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