Robert Stead's introduction to the free reed world happened when he purchased a Hohner Marine Band harmonica in the fifth grade. He taught himself how to play and was entranced by the timbre of the instrument. A year later he was at a car wash with his father. Next to this place was an accordion school. His father asked him if he would like to visit the school. Within the hour, Robert walked out the door with a 12 bass student accordion. In a very short time he stepped up to a 120 bass accordion and joined the school's accordion band. He took private lessons for several years and played with the accordion band as well as in recitals. His parochial K-8 school did not have a music program, but his parochial high school in Detroit, Michigan had an outstanding band which, of course, has no place for an accordion. The band director let him try out several instruments and discovered a natural affinity for the flute. Thus, the accordion was put down and the flute was taken up.

Robert played in the high school band for four years and then went on to Wayne State University (Detroit) playing flute in various WSU bands and majoring in Instrumental Music Education. Upon graduating he taught music and general education classes in a private school for a few years and then became a manufacturer's representative selling machine tools to the automotive industry in Southeastern Michigan. As is often the case, hard times hit the auto industry in the early 1980's. As the saying goes: when the country catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia.

Robert had to make a career shift and he decided to work with and to teach others how to work with the personal computer—a tool that was just entering the business scene in the early 80s. In 1985 he was hired by a government run data center that provided computer support for Wayne County (Detroit area) schools. During his 31 years of service with this agency he taught school personnel how to use productivity software, supported software applications, and provided instruction on the development of web sites.

Although Robert did not play the accordion for almost 50 years, he never lost his love of the sound of the free reed instrument. In 2003 he decided to visit the Castiglione Accordion Company in Warren, Michigan. John Castiglione (now deceased) was somewhat of a legend in the Detroit area. During the visit Robert purchased a Castiglione accordion and, over a period of 10 years, he purchased a Titano, an Excelsior 980 free bass, a Roland FR7 virtual accordion, and had an Italo-American (1945 vintage) rebuilt.

In 2004 Robert's computer world and the free reed world merged. It was in that year that he met Henry Doktorski on the internet. Henry created The Classical Free Reed, Inc website and was looking for someone to host and maintain it. Robert agree to take it over. He was the webmaster from 2004 to 2024. In addition to hosting and maintaining TCFR, Robert has written several articles for the site. In July 2024 The Classical Free Reed, Inc returned to Henry's domain (henrydoktorski.com).