Before being dubbed "Uncle Rock" by his nephew, he went by his given name of Robert Burke Warren and performed as a bass player in many rock and roll bands, including international garage rock titans The Fleshtones. He also spent a year portraying Buddy Holly in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story in London's West End. Soon thereafter, he released an acclaimed debut CD ...to this day, cited by The World Cafe’s David Dye as “a gem of an album.” This led to co-writing with Rosanne Cash on her Grammy-nominated CD Rules Of Travel.

Many of the catchy, rhythmically propulsive songs on Uncle Rock's Here We Go!, Plays Well With Others, and Uncle Rock U. were born at his day job as a teacher’s assistant for preschoolers, where he landed after four years as a stay-at-home dad to his son Jack (who joins him on many songs). Warren’s Uncle Rock persona draws inspiration from the likes of Maurice Sendak, The Ramones, The Beatles, Woody Guthrie, James Brown and Shel Silverstein. While there are plenty of celebratory, goofy singalongs, the material doesn't shy away from shadowy elements of life, often showing how music can help one to face the dragon in the closet.