Homeless teenager living for his music
Reporter HIS has not been a life easily led - at just 19 Robbie Crown ives in a homeless shelter and has suffered devastating loss.
But when he starts to sing, those difficulties simply vanish.
A talented singer, guitar player, and songwriter, he says music “gets me through absolutely everything”.
And through all his struggles, he has never abandoned his conviction that he is meant to share his songs.
Robbie’s life took a turn when his grandad, who he had lived with and who he “loved to bits”, died while he was taking his GCSEs.
The shock hit the teenager hard, and he took refuge in his music.
“I started a band, and that was keeping me ok,” he said. “It was nice to see when I went to gigs people were singing my songs, I felt a part of something, and that was when I realised that all I wanted to do with my life was music.”
But when he was off stage, Robbie’s life was beginning to fall apart. Living with his dad in a three-bedroom home to seven people, he was unable to practise in peace, and he began “doing a disappearing act”, going out with friends and to gigs.
He said his dad often had no idea where he was. His school work suffered and though he walked away with some qualifications, they weren’t as strong as he’d hoped and he’s not managed to go back to school since.
Eventually, his dad announced he wouldn’t be able to live with him any more. Though the pair still have a strong relationship, and Robbie says his dad is “very proud” of his music, he can’t offer him a home.
With nowhere else to go, Robbie managed to get a room in a hostel for the homeless on Westgate Road.
Moving into the hostel was terrifying at first. Even now he’s more used to it, he says it’s still a million miles away from a safe, secure home.
He said: “If you’ve never lived in a hostel before, you don’t know what it’s like. It’s not a nice environment, definitely not home. I would do anything to go back to my grandad’s.”
But turbulent changes in his life, as well as romantic heartbreak, meant changes in his songs, and he found he was able to touch more people with his writing than before.
Everything he writes now is about his life – about living in the hostel, about Newcastle, about a relationship which recently ended.
He said: “My songs are different now – they make me feel something, and other people say they feel something when they listen to it. I’m proud of it.
“I’ll catch friends signing something and they’ll say ‘Robbie that’s one of yours, it’s stuck in my head again.’ “When I play my songs, I feel like I can get my point across – I feel like I’m really heard.” Although he’s not been able to find a job, the self-taught musician is able to make a little money by performing. Playing his beloved guitar left to him by his late grandad, his busking Robbie Crown wows passers-by, who are often surprised to learn genuinely homeless.
“Every time I busk there are people standing around watching – people have given me £10 notes before,” he said.
But although the young musician is convinced his talent is meant to be shared, he says the thought of trying to put his music before a wider audience, and failing, is terrifying.
He said: “The amount of times I’ve heard ‘you should be on X Factor,’ people always say I should try it.
“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do but I’m also afraid to take that risk. I want to make a living out of this, I don’t just want to be that guy who goes on TV once.”
But he believes the break he needs is out there somewhere.
Robbie said: “I’ve got this strong feeling that I will make it, and one day people will hear my music.”
Listen to Robbie perform his song ‘Bottles’ at chroniclelive.co.uk