Press Kit

Richie “Robot” Steighner–a prismatic performing artist, writer, producer, and program director. Winner of America’s National Harmony Sweepstakes and two-time finalist on NBC’s The SingOff, Richie has performed and collaborated with platinum artists and writers from Sony and Warner on dozens of albums as well as hundreds of self-promoted shows and releases. He’s performed in over 70 countries, toured with the Backstreet Boys, collaborated with major artists (Flo Rida, Sara Bareilles, Ben Folds, Pentatonix), and produced hundreds of tracks and music videos for young artists. He is the founder of Well Versed, a program to provide music equipment and education programming worldwide as well as the Global Music Collective: an organization dedicated to cross-cultural collaborations and sustainable arts programming globally. He is the producer of Wordplay–a global initiative to connect develop English language packages with music lyrics with American English and The US Dept. of State. 

Through numerous American Music Abroad tours, Arts Envoys, and self-written grants, Richie has worked with dozens of US Embassies, Consulates, and NGOs using music to bridge cultures and provide opportunities to emerging musicians. These tours have been with The Exchange, Freedom’s Boombox, The Invisibles, and as a solo artist. He also works as a tour manager through American Voices as a liaison between touring AMA artists and Embassies.

Richie’s critically acclaimed solo all-vocal music has won numerous awards, including Best Original Song and Best Hip Hop Song (CARA Awards).

Richie has won best beatboxer (Vocal Asia), best arrangement (MHVJ), and best score for the short film Sacrifice from HIMPFF, among dozens of other awards across the music industry. Richie has also co-founded the Fusion Music Academy in Melbourne, Australia.

He studied architecture and psychology and pursued music as a hobby. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to found a furniture company, a music app, a digital design company, and several concert series. After dozens of projects, Richie began an intense focus on music production as a means to reach the most people. His mission to encourage people to reach their highest potential is disguised as interactive beatboxing performances. Meticulously tailoring his craft for over 15 years, Richie has become well-known as an entertainer, speaking through rhythm instead of words.