Krieger was born in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family. His father, an engineer, was a fan of marching music, and much of young Robby\'s early exposure to music was classical, including Peter and the Wolf, which was the first music that captivated him. When he was seven, Krieger accidentally broke his record player, but the radio introduced him to the likes of Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, and the Platters. At the age of 10, he tried the trumpet but found it was not for him. He began playing the blues on his parents\' piano with much more success than the trumpet.\n', '

While Krieger was a boarding student at a private school called Menlo School in Menlo Park, California, there was study time at night that allowed him to teach himself to play the guitar. He began by first de-tuning a ukulele to the bottom four strings of a guitar and mimicking a record he had. Later, in the mid-1960s, Asian American scholar Frank Chin taught Krieger how to play the flamenco guitar. During a Christmas break, Krieger and two classmates took a vacation to Puerto Vallarta where he purchased a peg-tuned Ramírez guitar and took lessons for a few months. He bounced around genres, including flamenco, folk, blues, and jazz and played in a jug band—the Back Bay Chamber Pot Terriers—at Menlo.\n', '

After high school, Krieger attended the University of California, Santa Barbara. Krieger listed guitarists Wes Montgomery, Albert King, and Larry Carlton among the biggest influences on his style. Krieger\'s flamenco guitar playing can be found present in the song "Spanish Caravan".\n', '

Return to Robby Krieger Autograph Profile