Rob Keedy, Music teacher at Gold Trail School and drummer for Red Dirt Ruckus, was born and raised in New Mexico, where he earned a Masters in Percussion Performance. He followed the beat of his own drum to California, making a living performing and teaching music in San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento, and, finally, Placerville. As a good drummer keeps the tempo for the band, music provides the structure for Rob’s life. It was music that reunited him with some old friends—now bandmates—from New Mexico, and it was music that brought him to Placerville. “It’s fascinating to me how those two worlds kind of intertwined,” Rob says. “Those friends managed to stay in my life, and now we’re all together in Red Dirt Ruckus, and I’m teaching the guitar player’s kids.”

Rob was living in Sacramento when, in the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, he was offered the position at Gold Trail School. He jumped at the opportunity to serve a community that he had already come to know and love over his ten years playing with Red Dirt Ruckus. “In San Diego or Oakland, these big sprawling cities, I just didn’t feel as connected as I do here,” Rob explains. “It’s such a beautiful place for the kids to go to school and for me to go to work… There is something really powerful about being in a community like this.”

As the successor to Gold Trail’s legendary Music teacher Glen Cain, who retired in 2019 after 36 years of teaching, Rob had big shoes to fill. “It was super intimidating,” he laughs. “But it was definitely inspiring. He built this whole program, and he got the community to buy in. Programs like this don’t exist in a lot of places.” Four years after the passing of the conductor’s baton, Rob has shown himself to be a worthy recipient. There are the big achievements, such as Gold Trail beating out dozens of larger programs at schools throughout California for first place at the annual Six Flags Music Festival. Then there are the quieter successes, the moments that Rob treasures: “When they come in at lunch because they want to learn something new, or they’re excited to show me how they can play their B-flat scale, it’s exciting to me because I can see that they’re starting to enjoy and explore music on their own. That’s the best part for me.”

Rob developed his own love for music at the same age and in the same circumstances as his students: in junior high band class. “Playing music is kind of my safe space,” Rob says. “It’s a big stabilizer for me.” In Red Dirt Ruckus, the unofficial house band of the Coloma-Lotus and Placerville communities, Rob’s love for music, teaching, and community are in harmonious arrangement: “Being able to work all week and then have a couple shows on the weekend with my best friends brings a lot of balance to my life.”

Performing with Red Dirt Rucks also brings a powerful dimension to Rob’s teaching. “Actively playing and being on the other side of it, instead of just conducting, definitely helps my teaching—especially when I’m asking the kids to take risks,” Rob explains. “It’s scary to put yourself out there like that, but they trust me and I trust that they can do it. They don’t always believe it, but I’ve been able to show them what they’re capable of.”

For Rob, the chance to share his love for music with audiences and students is a reward in itself. “I am so grateful and so fortunate to be able to teach something that I’m so passionate about in a community and school district that is so supportive of music.”