A virtuoso guitarist and composer with a fast, classically proficient fingerstyle technique, Lawson Rollins rose to popularity in the early 2000s as one-half of the guitar duo Young & Rollins, whose cross-genre aesthetic brought together elements of Latin jazz, Brazilian music, Eastern music, flamenco, and rock. He also launched a successful solo career, scoring several Top 20 Smooth Jazz Airplay hits, like "Moonlight Samba" off 2010's Espirito, "Island Time" off 2017's 3 Minutes to Midnight, and "World of Wonder" with 3rd Force off 2018's Airwaves. He has continued to explore sounds from around the globe, collaborating with artists like Israeli singer Idan Raichel, virtuoso guitarist Buckethead, and as on 2021's RISE, Haitian vocalist Jeff Pierre and longtime associate Danish violinist Mads Tolling.