Robert Lee Castleman

Born to a career military father, Robert Lee Castleman spent his early years moving between multiple locations. Before settling in Nashville with the goal of establishing himself as a songwriter, he earned a living driving trucks while also working in a guitar shop and performing in bars and folk clubs. The track “Sneakin’ Around” served as the title song for Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed’s 1991 collaborative album, and Castleman contributed rhythm guitar to Atkins’s 1994 release Read My Licks. Additional session work with Suzy Bogguss and Eric Johnson eventually led to an introduction to Alison Krauss through her husband and his friend Pat Bergeson. Krauss selected his composition “Forget About It” for the title track of her 1999 album and set up an audition with Rounder Records, the label that signed Castleman and issued his debut, Crazy as Me, in August 2000.