Rob Quist

Rob Quist (January 5, 1948 - ) is an American singer, guitarist, banjo player and award-winning songwriter. His songs have been recorded by artists Michael Martin Murphey and Loretta Lynn among others. He is known as a Musical and Cultural Ambassador for the state of Montana and was appointed to the Montana Arts Council by Governor Brian Schweitzer. He has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan.

Born January 5, 1948 in Cut Bank, Montana, Rob began playing banjo and singing at a young age. As a high school senior he led the Cut Bank Wolves to the 1966 Class B Boys State basketball championship under coach Willie Degroot before playing basketball at the University of Montana and joining the Jubileers singing group. While in the Jubileers he met Steve Riddle, and the two decided to form a band which eventually evolved into the Mission Mountain Wood Band.

The Mission Mountain Wood Band were primarily responsible for bringing Woodstock-style happenings to Montana. The group toured nationally and appeared with many notable acts of the era. They were featured in TV spots for Hee Haw and the ABC Cheryl Ladd Special. After the band broke up in 1982, Rob joined with fellow members Terry Robinson and Kurt Bergeron to form the Montana Band, which continued to tour relentlessly and took first prize in the Willie Nelson country challenge. Rob, however, decided to take some time off the road to pursue a songwriting career.

Rob formed a backup band called Great Northern and now tours and performs as "Rob Quist and Great Northern." He periodically reunites with the surviving members of the Mission Mountain Wood Band for a small number of concerts.

Rob Quist and Great Northern have performed his original music with the North Dakota State Symphony, the Fairbanks Alaska Symphony, the Glacier Orchestra as well as the Billings, Butte, Helena and Missoula Symphonies. He has written and recorded national television and radio ads for Levis 501 Jeans, AMTRAK’s Empire Builder and Original Coors. His original song, “Blue Jean Love Affair” was heard in the Top 20 Country Music Markets.

During a stint in Nashville, Rob forged a songwriting partnership and enduring friendship with Michael Martin Murphey. Their partnership culminated in their song "Close to the Land" which became the theme song for the American Public Television program "America's Heartland." The song went on to win Song of the Year at the Texas Music Awards. His original song "America...Pass It On" and video featuring Jack Gladstone won a Finalist Award at the International Wildlife Film Festival for National Geographic, and is receiving airplay on Public Television and is currently featured at many Interpretive Centers throughout the United States. He has released 15 CDs of mostly original music about the lives and history of the people of Montana and the West, placing his songs on Billboard and Independent Charts. Rob is receiving airplay in Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Switzerland. He has shared the stage with many musical giants such as Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, Heart, The Allman Brothers, and Jay Leno, to name a few.

Rob has been featured on CBS National News in a segment called “Country Comes to New York”; he was a guest artist on the Riders in the Sky national radio show “Riders Radio Theater” as well as Montana Public Television. He composed original music for the Montana Repertory Theatre Production “Voice of The Prairie” and currently writes original songs for a new production about rodeo in present-day Montana, tentatively titled “Cowboy Up.”

Rob was one of the first honorees to be inducted into the University of Montana School of Fine Art’s “Hall of Honors”, saluted as “a celebrated Montana musician and composer who has captured the spirit of the West in his music, an evocative and versatile artist whose gift of song has touched the hearts and souls of his countrymen, an eloquent proponent of the history and beauty of the West whose legacy in song will be embraced by generations to follow.