Celebrity Profile: Rob Thomas, The WAG, October, 2008

Westchester's Rocker-in-Residence

Rob Thomas and his wife, Marisol, bring their own brand of cool to (914)

By Catherine Censor

It’s a beautiful afternoon when I meet Rob Thomas, the solo artist and lead singer of the
hit rock band Matchbox 20, and his wife, Marisol, at an outdoor café in Mt. Kisco, not
far from their Bedford home. Rob, wearing jeans and a shirt unbuttoned just one too low for
conservative taste, almost fits right in. The shirt is apparently one of those dreaded wardrobe
malfunctions, because he suddenly glances down and apologizes for what he calls the
“Saturday Night Fever” look. His wife, however, gorgeous but relaxed in an embellished tank top and olive green pants, fits right in. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine her as one of the
other moms out this day pushing children in strollers. As we tuck into some light snacks, I observe that while this is a slice of sunny suburban heaven, it’s not the kind of place one expects a rock ‘n roll couple to call home.
     “Are you kidding?” Rob demands incredulously, “It’s very rock ‘n roll! DMX lives right around the corner!”
      Marisol isn’t so sure. First of all, she notes, DMX isn’t a rock star, he’s a rapper, and whether he lives around the corner these days is somewhat debatable. When last we checked, he was fielding legal complications in Arizona, Florida, and who knows where else.
     So it’s official. Aside from David Letterman sidekick Paul Shaffer (again, a dubious nominee for the category but we’ll let it pass), Westchester is an officially rock star-free zone. Which begs the question: What is Rob Thomas, with a string of hit singles—including the Grammy award-winning, platinum-selling, Carlos Santana-collaborating “Smooth”—doing here?
     As it turns out, he’s here for the same reasons as the rest of us. “It’s not good to be giving and receiving information all day, every day,” Rob says, “and in Manhattan, you can’t get away from it. Here, there are times when I just sink into a daze and three hours just slip by before I even know it.” Marisol concurs. “I was in the city all day yesterday and driving home, the smell of the air changes and it just decompresses you. In the city, it was too wild all the time.”
    For Rob, who was raised in South Carolina and Florida, the suburbs are familiar, comfortable turf. And for Marisol, who was raised in Queens, Northern Westchester seems almost rural, a peaceful sanctuary to raise animals (rescued animals are one of her passions) and children. Like most Westchesterites, Marisol and Rob factored in the area’s quality schools and child-friendly amenities when choosing a home. Rob has a 10-year-old son by a previous relationship and he and Marisol are looking forward to welcoming their first someday.
    Westchester is also where Rob does much of his work, writing and recording songs for himself or any of the many other artists he works with. To judge from his discography, Rob was
clearly one of those kids who plays well with others. In addition to Santana, Rob has written songs for and/or recorded with Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, John Mayer, Marc Anthony, Pat Green, Robert Randolph, Taylor Hicks, Travis Tritt, and Chris Daughtry of American Idol fame.
     It’s this kind of genre-busting that accounts for his across-the-dial dominance. Rob Thomas songs can be found on radio stations broadcasting pop, adult contemporary, rock, country, and “lite” FM—sometimes simultaneously. “Everywhere except R&B,” he says with a smile, “and we’re making a rap record next week so we’ll dominate that, too.” One gets the feeling he might not be joking. After all, the rhythm section on his last solo record, Something to Be, included bass guitarist Mike Elizondo, who works with Dr. Dre and Eminem, and drummer Gerald Hayward, who works with Mary J. Blige
and Beyoncé. The album debuted at the top of the record sales charts, a first for a male artist from a rock or pop group. (“Take that, Phil Collins and Eric Clapton!” Rob says with a laugh.) 
     The commercial success is really a reflection of Rob’s artistic success and ability to remain inspired, both by his collaborations with other artists and by life itself. When asked
which artist he’s worked with has inspired him most, he grows thoughtful and says, “Willie Nelson. He’s just one of the greatest American songwriters out there.” Marisol laughs: “That was
just the most star-struck and geeked-out I’ve ever seen you! The most inspired I’ve ever seen you, though, is with Carlos [Santana].”
     Rob nods in agreement. “He’s become a family friend and he comes over a lot. Carlos and I talk a lot of sh-t. By the end of the night, we’re drunk on wine and he’s talking about putting a band together: ‘It’ll be me, you, and Eric Clapton—everyone will have to get the f-ck out of our way!’ ” 
     When all is said and done, however, Rob attributes his songwriting success to his ability to express an emotional truth that’s anchored in his own experience. “If you’re successful, how do you write songs about angst? Well, I couldn’t believably write songs like that about my career. My career is going pretty well, so I couldn’t write a song about what it’s like to be a young songwriter who can’t make it. But my mother passed away and that was really painful. Your job can’t save you from that or from feeling old or from all the other issues you have to face. Having money makes it easier to bear sometimes, but you still have to face these things.”
     As Rob worked on his last solo album, one of those “things” was Marisol’s sudden illness. “I have an autoimmune disease that’s a connective tissue disorder,” she says. “It’s very rare, so perhaps the best way to describe it is that it’s a cousin of lupus. It doesn’t manifest itself until you’re in your 20s. I was always getting sick when I was younger and no one knew why. Finally when I was 23,
symptoms started showing up. At first, they were manageable and we got through it. Then, when he was doing his solo record, I got very, very ill and no one knew what it was. We saw every top doctor and I was in the emergency room constantly.”
     While Marisol went from doctor to doctor seeking an answer, Rob stayed by his wife’s side, retreating occasionally to their home studio to work on his album. “Everyone just assumed he went away and did this album, but he was at the doctor’s with me four times a week and checking on
me whenever he couldn’t be there,” she says. During this same tumultuous period, Rob and Marisol were starring in and producing a documentary, My Secret Record or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Biz, chronicling the making of his album. It was intended to be a “behind the
scenes” look at the music business, but it ended up revealing quite a bit more. 
     “There was this one scene where I was with John Mayer and I looked like sh-t. I had just gotten off phone with Mari [Marisol] and I was really worried about her,” Rob says. Despite the strain, Rob, with the help of Mayer, managed to crank out the upbeat, radio-friendly “Streetcorner Symphony.” “I wrote that so I’d have a single,” Rob remembers. While the radio version was a happy, everybody-get-up-
and-dance kind of tune, “the demo version is kind of sad.”
     The new album, Rob promises, is more genuinely sunny. In fact, Marisol and Rob are in a very happy place these days. Marisol has learned that her condition is not degenerative and she is tapering off the last of her medication. And the two of them are busier than you would think two people
without day jobs ought to be. Three weeks before our interview, Rob was on tour with Matchbox 20. In March, he plans to release his second solo record. And as we speak, three musician friends are waiting for him at home. “We’re doing some three-piece gigs in the Bahamas and Minneapolis. I just thought it’d be fun to go out and play without a big production—it’ll be like sitting on a porch and telling jokes and doing some spontaneous covers.”
    The gigs, Marisol reminds him, are also raising money for their charitable foundation, Sidewalk Angels, a not-for-profit organization that provides funds and support to grassroots groups working on behalf of animal care and welfare, the environment, children, the impoverished, and the homeless. Marisol’s latest project on behalf of the foundation is an October 25 gala at the Saw Mill Club in
Mt. Kisco to benefit Pets Alive, a no-kill animal shelter in Middletown that takes in horses, farm animals, and exotic birds, as well as dogs and cats. Pets Alive also advocates against carriage horses and all forms of animal abuse. The organization was recently involved in the closure of an infamous puppy mill.
    Marisol is definitely an “animal person” who loves her “babies” (two mixed breed dogs, Sammy and Tyler) and talks animatedly about the work of Pets Alive and her own rapport with animals. She recently had an encounter with a newborn foal. “I was the first human he’d ever seen and he
went right up to me and kissed me,” she says proudly. “I’m the one that the animals go to, they know I love them and they get this look …”
    “The same thing happens when you go into Barney’s,” her husband says with a mischievous laugh. But scratch the surface and you learn that he’s as much an animal lover as his wife. “The first thing you see when you enter our studio is a painting of one of our dogs,” Rob admits. His dogs have starred in his music videos, had their images plastered on tour passes, met Chris Martin (the lead singer of Coldplay), attended a Jennifer Lopez concert, and even posed in Rolling Stone alongside their master.
(The other members of Matchbox 20 subsequently referred to the magazine as Dog Fancy.)  
     So when Marisol says she’s been working tirelessly on a gala to benefit a no-kill animal shelter, well, you can bet it’s going to be something special. To start, Rob and Marisol called on friends and tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. “They’re going to be at the benefit and they’ve
allowed us to auction them off,” Marisol reports. “The very next day, the winning bidders will have the opportunity to play tennis with them.” To add a rock ‘n roll spin to the proceedings, Rob
has called on Daughtry to attend and perform with him. How does Rob know Chris? Apparently, he got to know him the same way everyone else did: He saw him on TV.
     “I was watching American Idol every week,” Rob says. “Ryan Seacrest is a really close friend of ours. We knew him back when he was a DJ in LA, and Ryan and I would be texting each other during commercial breaks after this guy would be on. We were both so excited! And Randy [Jackson] would call me up and go, ‘Hey, dog, did you just see that?!’ Well, I read that Daughtry was thinking about being the front man for a band called Fuel, and I was talking to a friend of mine who owns WPLJ [the
New York radio station] and I said I didn’t think that was a good idea. He said, ‘Why don’t you call into the show tomorrow and tell him? He’s going to be on.’ So that’s what I did.” Chris and Rob visited in person and have been close ever since.
     Marisol admits she’s been planning the Pets Alive gala, “A Furry Tail Evening,” for months and she’s chosen all of the details with care. “The Saw Mill Club is the best place to do this. Not only is it at the heart of everything up here, especially for tennis, but it’s in an area where a lot of people have
horses and pets,” Marisol says. “They need to know about this organization and this event will bring some awareness. Pets Alive has the potential to be an educational resource for the area and not just a shelter. I can imagine schools taking trips there to learn about the responsibilities of pet owner-
ship and compassion for animals.”
     Of course, Sidewalk Angels does far more than help animals. Blythedale Children’s Hospital and even individuals, who, like Marisol, have faced baffling and expensive medical conditions, have been the beneficiaries of the nonprofit. I mention that Marisol and Rob are a good example of the “young, hip, and generous” new philanthropists that The WAG will profile in our next issue. Rob, who is approaching 40, laughs. “I feel neither young nor hip,” he says. But as he graciously signs an autograph for a 10-year-old fan and Marisol gets an affectionate hug from the restaurant’s general manager, it must be said: In this part of the world, they don’t come any hipper than Rob and Marisol.