Rob Scallon

Scallon was born on August 26, 1990, and was raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois.[7] As a child, he and his friends would visit their local Guitar Center and play instruments, although would never actually buy any due to lack of money. He was gifted his first guitar, a nylon-string classical, from his friend's father. He used it to write his first solo songs, and it was featured on many of his early videos.[8]

As a teenager, Scallon played drums in a metal band called Gas Mask Catalogue.[8]

Scallon began uploading to YouTube in February 2007,[3] and began to develop a following in 2008.[6] His popularity launched as he began to cover metal songs with folk and country instruments.[3] Most notable are his renditions of songs on banjo, including "Raining Blood" by Slayer,[9] "Master of Puppets" by Metallica,[10] and "Psychosocial" by Slipknot, the latter featuring a cameo appearance by Corey Taylor.[11] His videos have featured collaborations with Andrew Huang, Boyinaband, Davie504, Jared Dines, Leo Moracchioli, Mary Spender, and Sarah Longfield.

Scallon has released several solo albums. While most are self-released, his EP Anchor and LP The Scene is Dead are sold through DFTBA Records.[12] His releases have featured instrumentalists such as Jeff Loomis, Rabea Massaad, Ola Englund, and Pete Cottrell. He plays drums in the band Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers, and their debut album Incongruent peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart.[13] He is also part of a collaborative project with Andrew Huang called First of October, a novelty band that records an album within one recording session on October 1.[14]

Scallon has a signature series of guitars released by Chapman Guitars.[15] Three more guitars were added to his line in 2020.[16] Several instruments in Scallon's personal collection are custom made through collaborations with other content creators.[8][17]

Scallon, in partnership with Sweetwater Sound, received a Guinness World Record for the largest guitar effect pedalboard in 2019. The rig included 319 individual pedals, 34 pedalboards, and over 500 feet (150 m) of cables.[18]

In 2016, MetalSucks placed Scallon 23rd on a list of "The 25 Most Important People in Metal".[19] In 2020, Ultimate Guitar placed Scallon 11th on a list of "25 Best Guitarists Who Broke On the Scene After 2010".[20]

On January 1, 2021, Scallon launched GuitarQuest, a paid online course to teach people how to play guitar.[21][22] Later that year, he released the song "MudHook" featuring Unearth drummer Nick Pierce.[23][24]

Scallon's younger brother, John, also played music as a teenager. He left his instruments behind to Rob when leaving for college.[8]

Scallon married his wife Tamara Chambers in November 2020.[25] They have collaborated on various projects, such as a 2012 Good Mythical Morning episode introduction[26] and a 2014 cover of Pharrell's "Happy".[27]

• Rob Scallon at IMDb