ANNA MARIA – Seventy-year-old pianist, composer and part-time Anna Maria resident Rob Grant released his debut album, “Lost at Sea,” in June and it went to number one on the United Kingdom’s Official Charts in the Classical Artist Albums category.
Twelve of the album’s 14 nautical-themed songs are instrumental compositions featuring Grant on piano and additional orchestration composed and recorded by Luke Howard. The soothing, ethereal and somewhat haunting instrumentals include “The Poetry of Wind and Waves,” “Setting Sail on a Distant Horizon,” “The Mermaids Lullaby,” “Song of the Eternal Sea” and “Reflections of Light on Water.”
The songs “Lost at Sea” and “Hollywood Bowl” feature Grant’s daughter on vocals, 11-time Grammy nominee Lana Del Rey. The two singles featuring Del Rey charted in the top five of the UK’s Official Charts and a techno-inspired remix of “Lost at Sea” created by the Brazilian DJ “Anna” is doing well on various music streaming services.
Grant and his wife, Patty, bought a home in Anna Maria 20 years ago and have been seasonal residents since, with their primary home still in the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York.
Grant recently discussed his music, his love of the water, his well-known daughter and his successful entrepreneurial career while piloting his 19-foot Parker powerboat around Egmont Key.
“Being out on the water is what inspired the album. We came out here and anchored the boat by this beautiful sandbar with the breaking waves in the background and shot several promotion videos. We had this huge school of stingrays sweep in under the boat and it made for a really cool video,” he said.
Grant began playing piano as a teenager but didn’t pursue a music career. Instead, he worked as copywriter for a major advertising firm in New York City where he came up with the “Thank Goodness It Fits” marketing slogan for Playtex bras.
“That became a $100 million advertising campaign,” he said.
Before burning out in the hyper-competitive world of advertising, Grant transitioned into his current role as a real estate broker. In the 1990s, when the internet was still in its infancy, he was also an early and highly successful worldwide investor in then-unused internet domain names related to the auto industry, education, music, publishing and especially real estate. Years later, he sold the TorontoRealEstate.com domain for $140,000 and he just recently sold the TampaRealEstate.com domain.
LOST IN MUSIC
“I never had a piano lesson. I can’t read sheet music and I play entirely by ear. I begin to hear chords and notes that I like and I’ll intuitively put them together to create an interesting composition. Often my music has been described as almost sad and haunting, but it’s very relaxing,” Grant said.
Grant and Del Rey wrote their first song together in 2021.
“I was in the living room of Lana’s house and I was just randomly playing a song I was improvising. She came down and said do it again. She asked if could create a bridge so I fooled around for a minute, created a bridge and she began to sing. Within 35-40 minutes we had written ‘Sweet Carolina,’ the last track on her ‘Blue Banisters’ album,” Grant said.
Released in 2021, “Sweet Carolina” earned Grant a songwriting credit and he played piano on the recording.
Seeking feedback on some of his other compositions, Grant sent five instrumental songs to Ben Mawson and Ed Millet at the TAP Management firm that manages his daughter.
“I didn’t really have any intention of doing a record deal, because I didn’t think I could do a record. A day later, Ben called and said, ‘Rob, this is beautiful. I can get you a record deal.’”
He then signed a two-record deal with Decca Records, which is affiliated with Interscope Records, the label Lana is on.
“The song ‘Lost at Sea’ happened when we were in the Henson recording studio, where Jim Henson recorded the Muppet movies. I was recording with Jack Antonoff and Laura Sisk and Lana’s watching me through the glass. Lana told Jack to get a microphone out and she began to sing. As I’m playing, she’s improvising these lyrics and within an hour we’d written this beautiful, hypnotic song,” Grant said. “The way I play, which is essentially improv and spontaneous, is essentially the way Lana creates lyrics. When you put us together, you get this fascinating chemistry.”
The “Lost at Sea” music video features Grant and Del Rey on a 55-foot sailboat in the Pacific Ocean and includes old VHS footage of the Grant family.
“Hollywood Bowl” was composed in Del Rey’s Los Angeles home and includes the lyric “Twice I sang at the Hollywood Bowl and my dad plays just like Billy Joel.”
Regarding that song, Grant said, “I told her I’ve got this new song I wanted to play for her. She’s got a baby grand in her living room. I sat down and began to play and right away she got a mic and began to sing. She looked around her living room and saw an old picture of the Hollywood Bowl. She incorporates that into her lyric. And then, what rhymes with Hollywood Bowl? Billy Joel,” Grant said.
Joining the interview by phone from Los Angeles, Del Rey said she hasn’t yet performed “Lost at Sea” or “Hollywood Bowl” in concert yet, but she hopes to perform “Hollywood Bowl” someday with her dad on piano. “I think him sitting in would be really fun,” she said. “Hollywood Bowl would probably be a fun one to do.”
“With a song like ‘Hollywood Bowl,’ I heard him play a few chords and I was looking at my old black and white picture of the Hollywood Bowl and I just started singing everything that was on my mind,” she said.
The lyrics for “Lost at Sea” include the lines, “I was lost at sea ‘til you found me … Happily, I was found, lost at sea.”
“Maybe there’s an element of making lemonade out of lemons by choosing some of those words,” Del Rey said. “Also, he is out on the ocean so much of the time. Water really is his happy place. As a realist, I also think it serves as a warning to not isolate.”
Del Rey treasured the extra quality time she got to spend with her dad while writing and recording “Lost at Sea” and “Hollywood Bowl.”
“At first it felt kind of like an extension of everything we do, because we’ve done so many little non-musical things together. It could just be playing a song or taking a walk, because no time spent together is ever lost on me. So, that was very special. And Dad’s had the wind at his back. He’s had a better experience putting out a record than anyone I know,” she said.
Del Rey has a new album out, “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” and she’s headlining the Coachella music festival in California in April, 10 years after she first played it.
In closing, Grant said he takes great pride in the fact that he embarked on this musical journey later in life. “I hope my story gives inspiration to other people my age who have hidden talents they never pursued. I would encourage anyone who’s got artistic ability, and hasn’t pursued it, to go do it.”
The “Lost at Sea” album and CD, and the “Hollywood Bowl” single are available at Amazon.com, the Decca Records website, the Interscope Records website. You can also visit RobGrantMusic.com.
