Rob Fetters has a personality that’s so rare to find in everyday life. From his trademark wavy hair to the Vans shoes that often adorn his feet, everything about him screams rockstar. He’s a father of four, a husband to a loving wife, Susan ‘Swany’ Swanson, and a lifetime learner fascinated by history, meditation and the human condition all while maintaining his relationship with music since he was a boy.
While the 70-year-old frontman of bands such as The Raisins and The Bears celebrates the career that afforded him moments such as having a cup of joe with Frank Zappa and opening for legendary rock band Kiss, over the last two decades, he’s created a bond with his music that he hadn’t found when he was chasing stardom 50 years ago.
“I just think that’s why I’m here, I’m supposed to be a musician,” he said while reflecting on a lifetime of strumming strings and singing songs.
That lifetime began in a suburb of Toledo called Sylvania, where he was born the son of a graphic artist mother and an insurance salesman father who took him to a Jimi Hendrix concert in the eighth grade that would forever change his life.
After a short-lived romance with an acoustic guitar, Fetter’s supportive parents bought him a Fender Musicmaster in 1966, the electric guitar that opened up a whole new world for the then 12-year-old, the world of rock ‘n’ roll.
Aside from a short stint at college, he spent most of his youth playing in different bands and driving to Detroit to see big names play before forming one of his first serious bands, The Raisins.
The Raisins afforded Fetters his first record deal as well as the 1983 hit song, “Fear is Never Boring,” a success on the local charts and perhaps the most notable of his career.
Rob Fetters, in many ways, is an enigma. He came close to achieving his youthful dream of being a mega rockstar like the idols he’d seen so many times playing on the big stage in Detroit, but never became bitter when it didn’t quite go as he hoped.
And he did it with love. Love for Swany and the kids, and love for music.
When Swany was pregnant with their firstborn, Sam, Fetters had to make a decision about his career, and made one that would trade a life of touring and studio gigs for a life as a composer that allowed him to be home each night for dinner with the kids and a dependable paycheck.
Aside from the fans, who didn’t take the news too well, the monumental life change was a much easier transition than he had expected, and composing became a new obsession. With no prior experience, Fetter taught himself on the fly, spending late nights in the studio learning all the tools and equipment until it became second nature.
“I didn’t get what I wanted, I got something better,” he said.
Rob Fetters plays his guitar inside of his small home studio where he makes most of his albums.
Whatever you do, don’t call Fetters a jingle writer (seriously, he hates it), but his time as a composer spawned two of Cincinnati’s most notable jingles of the last two decades, the 347-1111 and 444-4444 songs for LaRosa’s Pizza and Blake Maislin, respectively. And although jingles may have been the smallest part of his composing career, he still managed to create songs that became part of the city’s pop culture with a lifespan worth bragging about.
“I called him and he says, oh my gosh, this phone number sings itself,” Maislin said about the interaction that led to not only the song but the kinship he found with Fetters during their time together working on the song, citing how easy it was to work with him..
Eventually, the time came, and he felt that he needed to escape what became a repetitive and monotonous career, so, at the behest of a counselor, he left to have more time for the things he loves.
With the life of a composer behind him, he’s running more, a habit he’s maintained since he was a young man, completing 29 marathons in the process, and reading more, mostly classic literature with a mix of history and fiction.
Between the running and reading is the music, the ever-present mistress in his life and the only thing that’s been around longer than his beloved wife.
Fetters writes solo albums and releases them on his own schedule between going on the road as a solo artist or playing reunion shows with old bandmates.
He’s found that his relationship with performing has evolved, and celebrates that he’s been able to foster a relationship with fans who want to see him perform the songs he’s excited to play, whether it’s on stage or at a cannabis farm in British Columbia, like one of his past shows.
For him, the shows are the place where he’s most in his element, where he can experience an almost zen-like feeling.
“When I really play, I am so lost in my head. I’m just playing for the angels, you know?,” Fetters said.
When asked what he’s most proud of in his 50+ year career, he replied, “I’m not proud, I’m grateful. I’m grateful that I have been fortunate enough to have been born into a world where I could do something as ridiculous as to be a musician.”
Rob Fetters poses for a photo with his guitar.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rob Fetters of The Raisins talks music and more
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