Alasdair Roberts

Music Like a Vitamin presents:
Idlewild’s Rod Jones, Emma Pollock and friends

Launching a new collaborative album with:

James Graham (Twilight Sad)
Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit)
Jill O’Sullivan (Sparrow and the Workshop)
Karine Polwart
Jenny Reeve
Alasdair Roberts
James Yorkston

For 2 nights only; unique pairings and collaborations, live performance of new tracks and some more familiar songs, with limited edition copies of the CD (artwork by Aidan Moffat) exclusively available.

As part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival

Tickets £6
Fri 1st October
HMV Picturehouse
Edinburgh

Sat 2nd October
O2 ABC
Glasgow

Playing yesterday with Cork’s Michael John McCarthy on accordion and Stoke’s Ben Reynolds on bass guitar and harmonica.

Playing today with Ben Reynolds on bass guitar and harmonica, Richie Merchant on cornet, Shane Connolly on drums, Tom Crossley on flute, Rafe Fitzpatrick on fiddle. Trying versions of new songs.

We are interested in touring Masonic Lodges throughout the world. If you can help, please let us know.

This just in from Englishwoman NAOMI BEDFORD - Alasdair sang a duet of the song ‘The Death of Queen Jane’ (from the singing of Sheena Wellington) on her forthcoming album, produced by Gerry Diver in London, England:

“MY NEVER ENDING ALBUM HAS A RELEASE DATE….SORT OF …
I could have finished this album in 2 weeks, but due to money i have had no choice but to record for over a year….i have recorded about 3 quarters of the album but still have a way to go….ive been so lucky with the generosity of musicians who have helped me out and i dont know how to thank them all - but paying for studio is tough and ive contemplated prostitution to get me through! - only high class stuff mind you….if my mum is reading, that was a joke….but i think now that the album should be finished by christmas… and hopefully will be available soon after - i plan to play the album live too and do a wee tour of a few of our cities probably in march…..

The album is called ‘Tales from the Weeping Willow’…”

Also, more news about Dave Rotheray’s ‘Life of Birds’ album, ‘pon which Roberts sang - a wee bird told us the following:

Thought you might like to know that Dave will be talking about the album, which is due for release August 16th in the Sunday Times Culture section on August 2nd, there will be a track on the cover mount CD in the next edition of the Word, and is pre-recording an interview for Radio 4’s Today Programme which I’m told will go out sometime next week.”

The album is available to pre-order from muckle record shops and online cultural artefact retailers.

Charles Lembe. A gift from the great Sawa blues singer Muntu Valdo of Cameroon.

Just played some acoustic guitar on the soundtrack to the new John Landis (of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video fame) movie Burke and Hare about the Edinburgh bodysnatchers, along with friends fiddler Alastair Caplin, piper Donald Lindsay and a squad of London-based musicians. The score was composed by Joby Talbot.

Band for Green Man Festival will be:

Alasdair Roberts on guitars and voice
Shane Connolly on drums and voice
Rafe Fitzpatrick on fiddle and voice
Ben Reynolds on bass, voice and harmonica

Thanks to those who facilitated the band gig in Garforth and the solo trip to Madrid.

Coming up on Rif Mountain, with Donald Lindsay and others:

Ioy To The Personne
False Astronomy

Delphian Records of Edinburgh has just released a new CD by Concerto Caledonia called Late Night Sessions - Live at the Edinburgh International Festival. Recorded in August 2009, it features the group (Alison McGillivray, David McGuinness, David Greenberg and Chris Norman) along with guests Martin Carthy, Michael Marra, Bill Taylor, Patsy Seddon, Katharine Fuge and more - also, Alasdair Roberts.

Garforth tomorrow, change of plan: Shane Connolly will play drums rather than Alastair Caplin playing fiddle. Same songs, more or less.

MHA collaboration is finished. The tracks’ll be mixed next week and the record’ll be released later this year.

August: solo interventions at Morden Tower and CCA. Green Man Festival with band.
September: Moseley Folk Festival.
Beyond: continuing.

Roberts is halfway through a collaborative project with a load of Scottish musicians at Chem 19, Blantyre, for Mental Health Awareness. He’s contributing words and, separately, music to an album, also featuring such people as Emma Pollock, Karine Polwart, Jill O’Sullivan and more.

The Noble’s, Leith gig with Alastair Caplin was enjoyable and the Roberts/Oates instrumental tour singles, kindly produced by Lawrence English of Room40, Brisbane, Australia (but not sold on the Australian tour because of a pressing plant error) were rapturously received by the citizens of Edinburgh.

Continuing to work on new song material - wordage, melodism, arrangementality - and got a few collaborations and so on coming up. Watch this space.

Love