With his perpetual bedhead, trademark wool sweater and easy smile, Robbie’s observant and gentle nature draws his audience in like a warm fire. His music and live shows are a conversation. His words carry over landscapes of mountains, crunching snow, and starry skies; his melodies meander. Steeped in the traditional music of the countries of the north sea and their migration west, his songs of sadness and hope are modern and old all at once and deeply rooted to a geography of moment and place.

Robbie has played in houses, streets, halls and bars across Canada and Europe and his music has been featured in film and radio across the globe. He has released the album “Foothills” (2017) and the EP’s “The Way My Feet Fall” (2020) and “Through February Snow” (2015). He has a masters degree in Traditional Music from the University of South East Norway and a diploma in organic agronomy from the Sogn School of Agriculture and Horticulture. He lives in the town of Parson BC.

Long Version:

Robbie Bankes emanates coziness. With his perpetual bedhead, trademark hand knit wool sweater, and easy smile, his observant and gentle nature draws his audience in like a warm fire.  Robbie has completed both an undergraduate and masters degree in folk music and dance in Rauland, Norway. It was this opportunity for learning traditional music in addition to his adventurous spirit, fostered by an upbringing in the Canadian west, that landed him in an uninsulated log cabin on a goat farm in rural Norway at the age of 19. 

In the very first moments of his new EP “The Way My Feet Fall”,  the marriage of Robbie’s spontaneous and deliberate natures are evident. The album tells stories of small town living in a foreign land, balancing the perils and beauty of intimacy and space. Robbie delivers his songs with a conversational air, his words carrying over reflective landscapes of vast mountains, crunching snow, and starry skies. As always, Robbie’s lyrics are earnest and observant, layered with experience and questions.

Outside of music, Robbie can be found following the paths of mountain goats, carving soft wood with sharp tools, and falling asleep on the couch with a book on his chest. Robbie has released the album “Foothills” (2017) and “Through February Snow” (2015) which was nominated for a Canadian folk music award. He works on farms, cuts and plants trees and has a 2 year diploma in Organic Agronomy. He has played houses, streets, halls and bars across Canada and Europe and his music has been featured in film and radio across the globe.