Robert Ellis Orrall has spent the past 35 years in the arts, as a songwriter, painter, music producer, and owner of rock label Infinity Cat Recordings and its Visitor’s Center and Gallery.
Orrall started his music career in the rock clubs of Boston, legendary venues like The Rat, The Paradise, and The Orpheum. Part of a new wave of Boston artists that included The Neighborhoods, Mission Of Burma, and "Til Tuesday, Orrall signed with RCA in 1981. His three critically acclaimed albums, "Fixation", "Contain Yourself", and "Special Pain" (which included his first Top 40 Pop hit) were recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales with producer Roger Bechirian (Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Squeeze), and supported with tours opening for U2, The Kinks, NRBQ and countless others.
After moving to Nashville, Orrall focused on songwriting and producing, writing five Number One songs and producing albums for Warner Bros., Sony, RCA and many others.
In 2006, he co-produced Taylor Swift’s 10X Platinum debut and her 2007 follow-up release “Beautiful Eyes”, attaining both the number one and number two albums on the Billboard chart in the same week.
In the oughts he began painting stories from his childhood, about which the Nashville Scene said “Orrall is a painter of skewed autobiographical narratives that combine naïve renderings with keen observations that are at once confessional and absurd. His work is shot through with a genuine zaniness”. His work has been exhibited by Zeitgeist Gallery, TAG Gallery, Estel Gallery and others. (orrall.com)
Orrall has produced hit albums for Love and Theft, be your own PET, Cake Bake Betty, Taylor Swift and many others, and he has over 300 cuts as a songwriter, crossing all formats as evidenced by cuts like “Ultimate” (Lindsey Lohan), “Si Quieres Mi Amor” (Patricia Monterola), “Wrong Baby Wrong” (Martina McBride), and songs in films like “The Bourne Identity”, “Hannah Montana” and “Freaky Friday”.
In 2012, Orrall and his sons Jake and Jamin celebrated the 10th anniversary of Infinity Cat, named #10 on “Billboards Top Fifty Indie Labels in America” and “Nashville’s Best Record Label” by the Nashville Scene. (infinitycat.com)
Today, he spends his time between his recording and painting studios in Massachusetts, Tennessee and Florida.