Career
Bob Hartman learned to play guitar when he was 13 years old, teaching himself from books and watching other people. He has said that one of his major influences was Joe Walsh, a member of The James Gang at the time.
Hartman converted to Christianity when he was 20. When he was 21, he joined a Christian band called Rapture with John DeGroff. During this time, he wrote some of the songs of the first Petra album. He also studied at Bowling Green State University, earning a B.A. in Psychology.
When Rapture broke up, DeGroff moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana to attend Christian Training Center (a school based in a church there). Hartman was already jamming with guitarist Greg Hough and they both moved to Indiana to attend the same school. Upon meeting drummer Bill Glover there, they formed Petra. Hartman became the principal (and most of the time, the sole) songwriter of the band, writing the lyrics and music for almost all of their songs.
In 1995, he felt he needed to take a break from touring but remained as the band de facto leader, songwriter, and producer. He also continued to play guitars on all of the albums despite not being featured on the album pictures or promotional material of the subsequent four albums - No Doubt, Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus, God Fixation, and Double Take.
Amidst the struggles in the band during the late 90s, Hartman decided to officially return in 2001 for the release of the band's third praise album: Revival. In 2005, after much praying, he decided to retire the band after 33 years of ministry.
After Petra's retirement, Hartman started working with former Petra singer, John Schlitt, as II Guys from Petra in an album which was released in January 26, 2007 titled Vertical Expressions.
In 2010, Hartman and other members of the early line-ups of Petra, reunited under the name Classic Petra. They released an album titled Back to the Rock and have been touring since.
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