Robert Locke said most of the musicians he’s interviewed probably don’t realize that he’s also a musician.

As founder of ShindigMusic, a media and music entertainment company focused on Arkansas musicians, he’s talked to plenty of local and touring musicians over the years. However, his own singing career is something of an open secret.

He admitted to being reluctant to share his latest project as singer for the Joe Holmes Band. Just last month, the group led by guitarist Joe Holmes with Locke on vocals, released their first song, “Cross Eyed Stare” featuring Robert Trujillo of Metallica and Suicidal Tendencies (on bass, of course) and Mike Bordin of Faith No More on drums.

“Even posting it on Facebook feels like I’m rubbing [it] in for some people,” he said. “I don’t want to be that dude.”

The song is the first single for a forthcoming album. The second single is due later this month.

“We’re not the most tech savvy folks, so we do rely quite a bit on the media to really get this out,” Locke said of the new songs recorded with Joe Holmes Band.

Locke first started working with Holmes in 2011 for a band called Farmikos. At the time, Locke had just returned to Fayetteville after touring with the band Laidlaw, which had the self-described alternative kid as the front person for a Southern rock band opening for the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top and Van Halen.

“I got to learn how the business actually operates. Learn what not to do and how to not be a dumb *ss musician on the road,” he said. “I always took the method of keep my head down, my mouth shut, and just absorb and learn.”

In 2011 Locke received a call saying that Joe Holmes, the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, was interested in working with him after hearing a recording of Locke singing with Laidlaw.

At first Locke didn’t believe it could be true. He didn’t recognize Holmes’ name from any of Ozzy’s liner notes, so he went to the library to do some research. He learned Holmes had toured with Osbourne after he released the album, “Ozzmosis” in 1997. A couple of years later, Black Sabbath started doing reunion shows and Holmes left to do his own thing.

He had also played guitar for David Lee Roth prior to joining Osbourne’s band and was a student of another guitar legend, Randy Rhoads, who also worked with Osbourne. Playing in Osbourne’s band connected him with Trujillo and Bordin and many others. The guitarist had a band, but things didn’t work out with the first singer, so he recruited Locke.

Locke said that the wide-ranging influences he heard in Holmes’ music surprised him.

“He played me a bunch of songs, and some of it was heavy, some of it was light and ethereal, and I was seeing a really cool mix of sort of thrash and detuned metal, but also stuff that kind of sounded like Radiohead,” he remembered of those first conversations. “I was like, ‘I’m in!’”

In 2015, Holmes released the self-titled Farmikos record with songs written by himself, Locke and lyricist Brent Hoffort, who also wrote the lyrics for “Cross Eyed Stare.” The first record also featured contributions from Trujillo and Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion and Avenged Sevenfold.

The album was recently put on steaming services for the first time in 10 years as the newly formed Joe Holmes Band recorded new songs at the Mouse House in Altadena, Calif., with Rich Mouser. Since the band members are miles apart, Trujillo and Bordin recorded their parts in a separate studio used by Faith No More.

Once again, Locke is learning from the best. He’s working with the lyricist to deliver his vocals just right while emailing with band members to make sure they are all on the same page as they get ready to release more music.

 “They got endless days of confidence, which gives me more confidence than I already have. That might be a bad thing, but I’m down for the challenge,” Locke said with a laugh. “I know it’s gonna be hard, but it’s the fun part about it. I’d rather come out tough as [nails] on the other side and be a better musician and a better singer than not.”