KC Roberts

Artist Information

Biography

KC Roberts & The Live Revolution (KCLR) are proud purveyors of beautiful vintage music (funk, jazz, rock), with an artistic obligation to shift all that's sacredly funky and soulful into the current phase of popular music (hip-hop, house, electronic, Drum n' Bass). Essentially an original 9-piece funk band, KCLR is well-known for its energized live performances winning the 2007 Toronto Independent Music Award for best live act. torontomusicscene.ca writes, “Their live shows are absolutely mind-blowing; the band is something entirely unique and influenced by atypical genres.” Matt Bauer of Exclaim! Magazine writes, “If one needed proof of the vitality and authenticity of new Canadian funk music, they need look no further.”

In late 2011, KCLR launched pre-sales of their upcoming double LP, Parkdale Funk 2 (SIDES). Offering an array of incentives for fans to order the record early, KCLR earned over $26,000 in pre-sales, which will be used to fund the creation of the album. KCLR's series of promotional cover videos has reached 30,000 views in 2 months. Following the success of our first two independent releases, Good Life (2010) and Parkdale Funk 1: The Pillage of Bloor West Village (2009), KCLR is heading back into the studio in early 2013 to begin work on Parkdale Funk 2.

Formed in 2004, KCLR have enjoyed consistent success both on stage and in the studio. In 2005, the band placed in the top 5 in Chartattack.com’s North by Northeast report card reviews. Later that year they opened for the Black Eyed Peas at Molson Amphitheatre, making such an impact that they were invited back in 2006. Since then, KC Roberts and the Live Revolution have established themselves as a high-energy live act and have become mainstays at large festivals including the Distillery Jazz Festival (2007), Beaches Jazz Festival (2007, 2009-2011), Fairbank Streetfest (2010) and Wasaga Beachfest (2009) among others.

Instrumentation

KC Roberts - Vocals, Guitar
Jon Challoner - Trumpet
Chino de Villa - Drums
Matt Fullbrook - Bass
Christian Overton - Trombone
Jared Welsh - Saxophone
Kirsten Rea - Back Vox
Matt Giffin - Keyboard.

Discography

Summer 2012: Parkdale Funk 2 (SIDES)

2010: Good Life - 9 track LP

2009: Parkdale Funk 1: The Pillage of Bloor West Village - 11 track LP

2007: Festival Pre-Release 2007 - 11 track LP

2005: KC Roberts and the Raw Blue; The Red Album - 5 Track EP, It All Went Down - 12 Track LP

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• MySpace
• YouTube

Audio

• Good Life
  Listen   Download
• Had a Dream
  Listen   Download
• Love Enough
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• Far Away
  Listen   Download
• Revival 2010
  Listen   Download

Video

KC Roberts - Drift Away (live July 2010)

Heart Shaped Box (Nirvana tribute) - Live Feb 2010

Photo Gallery

Press

• Review of Parkdale Funk 1: The Pillage of Bloor West Village [+ Show ]
  

  KC Roberts and the Live Revolution Parkdale Funk 1 By Matt Bauer Toronto, ON-based septet KC R...KC Roberts and the Live Revolution
  Parkdale Funk 1
  By Matt Bauer
  
  Toronto, ON-based septet KC Roberts and the Live Revolution throw down some wickedly contagious grooves on their debut offering, Parkdale Funk 1. They charge right onto the dance floor with the electric one-two punch of "Far Away" and "The Pillage of Bloor West Village," two vibrant slices of up-tempo, acid-jazz-tinged funk fuelled by truly smoking J.B.'s- and Tower of Power-inspired horn charts, some sick guitar soloing and colourful keyboard touches, with Roberts' clean vocals on top, often recalling the effortless cool of the Average White Band's Alan Gorrie. The band dig even deeper into the funk with the seriously on point attack of "Too Late," the best track of the set. There are smatterings of Afrobeat, drum & bass, hip-hop and folk influences throughout, and although it's not an entirely seamless blend, everything gels on "The Road To Dar Es Salaam," a ten-minute-plus drum & bass meets Afrobeat excursion that builds from a minimalist trance-like groove into a fully fleshed out piece of intoxicating exotica. If one needed proof of the vitality and authenticity of new Canadian funk music, they need look no further than Parkdale Funk 1.
  
  You've developed quite a following with your live shows. How much of the energy and vibe of your shows have you tried to capture on the album?
  Lead vocalist and guitarist KC Roberts: The approach that I was taking was that I wanted to write songs that sound good with these musicians. I wanted to capture the whole energy of the band. Even in the mastering process, we had to pull it back a bit because we wanted the live feel. I wanted to hear the way my drummer hits that snare differently every time. I think a lot of the tracks on the album capture that more than others, like "The Road To Dar Es Salaam," in which the saxophone solo was dropped in one take. That was pretty magic.
  
  Could you tell me what the inspiration was behind that song?
  I went to Kenya and it was my first time outside North America ? huge culture shock. We got on this bus and started driving from Mombasa, Kenya to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. It was a 12-hour ride and most of it was on this dirt road; it was the roughest road and impossible to sleep. I think I was sitting there feeling so far away from home. The song itself represents the entire journey. (Independent)
  

• Review of Parkdale Funk 1: The Pillage of Bloor West Village [+ Show ]
  

  I can't remember how I first heard of KC Roberts And The Live Revolution, but from the moment I firs...I can't remember how I first heard of KC Roberts And The Live Revolution, but from the moment I first saw them I was blown away by their self-proclaimed "Parkdale funk."
  
  Roberts and crew combining groovy jazz, soul, horns and a fierce rhythm section on The Pillage Of Bloor West Village to create another daring, dashing album that embraces the best of funk and rock 'n' roll. This record took over a year to create, which won't come as a surprise to anyone able to recognize the intricacies of the layers and rhythms in each song.
  
  Roberts' vocal talents shine brightest on songs such as "Kiss Me Goodnight." He shares harmonies with the soulful Dionne Wilson on tracks "Too Late," the striking 10-minute, 31-second "The Road To Dar Es Salaam" and slower R&B jam "Hop For The Hip."
  
  The time, passion and heart that went into this record is undeniable and will blow your mind whether you peruse Toronto's Parkdale or Vancouver's Granville.
  
  http://www.chartattack.com/reviews/74633/kc-roberts-and-the-live-revolution-parkdale-funk-1-the-pillage-of-bloor-west-village
  

• Toronto Funk Hip Hop Rock n’ Roll - Doing it Right in the T Dot [+ Show ]
  

  "...Finally, the stars of the evening, KC Roberts and the Raw Blue were a sock rocking experience - ..."...Finally, the stars of the evening, KC Roberts and the Raw Blue were a sock rocking experience - a force to be reckoned with. The first thirty seconds of their opening song already showcased the bands enormous talent – needless to say the remaining 40 minutes allowed the band to rip it up and have a blast doing it. On top of putting together an evening of fantastic music, KC Roberts’ simply rocks. Just over a year ago, he decided to bring onboard the Raw Blue – which just may be what is needed to propel his music into rightful stardom. What is mind boggling about this group of musicians is how perfectfly they compliment one another, while each person is able to maintain a very strong stage presence and seduce the audience. Together, the band has developed a sound that will likey withstand fads which change at the drop of a hat because their music is strong enough to stand on its own. If time and space allowed, each musician in the KC Roberts and the Raw Blue would absolutely deserve their own mention to describe their impact on the evening’s success. KC Roberts decision to bring together a collective of musicians that are passionate and excited for one another’s music – makes their vibe astounding and urges fans to get on the KC Roberts and the Raw Blue’s train.
  
  Toronto Funk Hip Hop Rock n’ Roll not only was a ‘bumping’ evening of amazing music. Honourable mentions go out to Matt York and KC Roberts and the Raw Blue –two missing links (among others) needed to rejuvenate the sometimes lack luster Toronto music scene, has been found."

• On par with Ivana Santilli and Remy Shand, with some extra value. [+ Show ]
  

  Overall Grade: 89/100 Finally! A female on stage (I was getting sick of the blatant boys-only lin...Overall Grade: 89/100
  
  Finally! A female on stage (I was getting sick of the blatant boys-only lineup) And, what's this I hear? Something other than the standard indie-rock fare? KC Roberts performed his catchy, hook-laden funk by sashaying his way across the stage. You wanted to be up there with them.
  
  We were all reeling from their infectious groove and ecstasy-esque energy. Their spirited auras refreshed the crowd. Boom-chicka-boom-boom-boom.
  
  Thank goodness the music made this group sexy, because unfortunately, there wasn't anything particularly eye catching about them. Blue jeans and opened shirts were the standard, and background vox wore clunky high-heeled shoes from 1995. But I gotta give them props for their ability to work a crowd into a frenzy.

Setlist

Typically, we play a 1 hour - 1.5 hour set for headlining shows, or 2x 1.25 hour sets for gigs where we are the only act. Set list will draw heavily from our recent records with some selections from older and/or newer original compositions.

Basic Requirements

Calendar