Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. (born October 31, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter who is the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices. In addition to his work with Guided by Voices, he continues to have a prolific solo career with 22 solo albums released so far. With nearly 3,000 songs registered to his name with BMI, Pollard is among the most prolific songwriters of his time. In 2006, Paste magazine listed him as the 78th-greatest living songwriter. In 2007, he was nominated for the Shortlist Music Prize. Early life and education Pollard was born in Dayton, Ohio, where he has lived all his life. During most of his childhood and adolescence, sports were his main interest. When Pollard began to show interest in music during high school, his father tried to discourage this. Pollard attended Northridge High School in the Dayton suburb of Northridge, followed by Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. As a teenager Pollard was in a heavy metal cover band called Anacrusis, and went to arena shows which he likens to those featured in the documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot. Pollard has said that much of the inspiration for his songwriting has come from time spent hanging out with his high school friends from Dayton, a group he calls "The Monument Club". Pollard said of his teenage years: Growing up, I didn't really have any musical talent. I could always sing, but that's it. So I started hanging around with all these weirdoes from Northridge who could play guitar. And I would just watch them, 'Wow, I've got to learn how to do that.' That song 'Hank's Little Fingers' (on Devil Between My Toes) – Hank (Davidson) is the guy that inspired me to play the guitar. He had a deformed hand with these little bitty fingers. After graduating from high school in 1975, Pollard bought a guitar with his graduation money. In college, he began singing in rock bands. Although throwing a no-hitter in college, he eventually abandoned athletics realizing that he wasn't quick enough to be a professional and that his character was too independent to be obedient to the strict athletic program. "I was sick of people snapping their fingers and expecting me to move." When he heard the news, Pollard's father withdrew his financial support, forcing his son to get a job washing dishes. Towards the end