Alex Roberts

It must have been the most bizarre juxtaposition of lifestyles, sharing the same space. On one side of the barbed wire fence lay a British Army training area, teeming frantically with squaddies, barking their orders, running all directions and rolling about in the Dorset mud, all to the jarring soundtrack of army life. On the other side, yet a world apart, was the makeshift tipi that had become the temporary home of song-writer Alex Roberts.

Having recently released his acclaimed debut album, “The Giant Killer Sessions”, the Dorset- dwelling Alex had made the decision to follow his calling and quit his day job in favour of becoming a full-time musician. Naturally, money, or the lack of it, quickly became a key issue, therefore making the luxury of living in a flat somewhat untenable. So Alex, quite logically, chose to go native and live in a tipi. This made things like service bills, bank accounts and all the other ‘essential’ trappings of modern- day existence rather irrelevant to Alex. He began to carve out a lifestyle free of all these unnecessary distractions, leaving him alone with his music. Within the country, without the system.

It would be here, beside the MOD’s training ground, deep in the otherwise peaceful Dorset beauty spot of the Isle of Purbeck; here in the unfettered surroundings of his makeshift home, and in its attendant isolated, state-free existence, that Alex Roberts would write the songs that came to form his second album, “By The Ley”.

Alex’s path as an itinerant troubadour was mapped out at an early age. Alex’s childhood was spent being shuttled from one home to another across the south of England, before settling in the Isle of Wight and beginning his dabblings in performance with bands during his teenage years. Music was already in his blood, his mother being an accomplished folk musician, taking the infant Alex far and wide on her travels. At age two he even experienced his first visit to Glastonbury festival! It was never going to be long before he picked up his mother’s old guitar to learn on. He still uses it in live performances to this day.

Nowadays, Alex Roberts represents all the best aspects of the songwriter’s craft. A casual observer of the world that surrounds him, he draws on its roots, its past and present; he is a story teller in the age- old tradition, a balladeer, poet and writer of impressively prolific output. His songs are shaped, sculpted and coloured by the myriad experiences of his life, from his time spent backpacking and absorbing various cultures across Europe and the Indian subcontinent, which gave birth to “The Giant Killer Sessions”, to his hermit-like lifestyle in Purbeck. His is a craft well learned, yet invested with a depth of emotion and worldly wisdom that is totally unique.

2009 will, as usual, be a busy year for Alex, with not only shows across the UK, but also Ireland, Canada and Barbados later in the year. September will see the release of his second LP, “By The Ley”, on London based independent label Villainous Records. This recording displays a wide variety of influences and genres, crossed, spliced and cultivated into something completely his own. He continues to push forward and explore new lyrical territory, as well as the diverse textures of different instruments. It is this uniquely organic relationship of discovery and learning with the classic medium of song, combined with his formidable talents for writing, performance, and the mastery of his instrument, that sets him apart from his peers.

Alex Roberts represents the archetypal bard or traveling troubadour; both an attentive student and experienced master of song, blending and bending genres from baroque to blues; his inimitable style the effortless symbiosis of voice and instrument.