Sam Roberts

Infobox musical artist
Name = Sam Roberts

---

Img_capt = Sam Roberts singing at Lollapalooza in 2007.
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born = Birth date and age|1974|10|2|mf=y
Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada
Died =
Origin = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Instrument = Vocals
Guitar
Bass
Violin
Genre = Rock, Indie Rock
Occupation = Singer-songwriter
Years_active = 2000 - present
Label = Secret Brain
MapleMusic Recordings
Universal Music Canada
Cordova Bay UK
Pony Canyon Records (Japan)
Lost Highway Records (USA)
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://samrobertsband.com samrobertsband.com]
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Sam Roberts (born October 2, 1974) is a Juno Award winning Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose 2001 debut release, "The Inhuman Condition", became one of the bestselling independent releases in Quebec and Canadian music history.

Biography

Born in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, to South African parents, he attended Loyola High School and McGill University. Roberts formed the band that was eventually known as "William" in 1993. The band's name was changed to "Northstar" in 1996. Although the band gained some notice in independent rock circles, they couldn't break through to a national audience, and broke up in 1999. Roberts' bandmate George Donoso went on to significant success in indie rock circles with The Dears, but Roberts struggled for several years afterward.

After disbanding Northstar in 1999, Roberts promptly recorded the full-length and now very collectible independent debut "Brother Down" at home. In 2001, Roberts recorded and released a six-song EP, "The Inhuman Condition", independently. The EP sold slowly at first, but following a re-release of the EP in the summer of 2002 on MapleMusic Recordings, his first single "Brother Down" became one of the biggest Canadian hits of the year, and the second single, "Don't Walk Away Eileen", followed suit in the Fall.

Roberts then signed to Universal Music and released his full-length major label debut, "We Were Born in a Flame", in June 2003. That album's singles, "Where Have All the Good People Gone?" and "Hard Road", received a large amount of success, though mainly just in Canada.

The band's second album, "Chemical City", was released in Canada on April 2006. In Canada, the first single was "The Gate" which quickly shot to number one on Canadian rock radio. The second single in Canada was "Bridge to Nowhere". "With a Bullet", the third song used to promote the album on Canadian radio, received little attention and no video was made for it.

Roberts most recent album, "Love at the End of the World", was released in May 2008. It debuted at the number one position on the Canadian album chart [cite news|url=http://torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2008/05/30/5718566-sun.html|title=A whole lot of love for Sam Roberts |date=2008-05-30|accessdate=2008-06-01|publisher="Toronto Sun"] , a first for Roberts. The lead single, "Them Kids", debuted on iTunes on March 4, 2008.

Sam Roberts is trilingual, speaking English, French, and Spanish. He married his high school sweetheart of 13 years, Jen, and they have a baby girl, Miriam Rose Roberts (born January 2007).Fact|date=July 2007

Band members

The members of the Sam Roberts Band as of 2008 are:
* Sam Roberts (lead singer, guitar)
* Dave Nugent (lead guitar)
* Eric Fares (keyboard, guitar)
* James Hall (bass)
* Josh Trager (drums)

Past band members or roles:
* Corey "Cuddy" Zadorozny (drums 2001-2005)
* Dan Roberts (keyboards 2001-2002)
* Dave Nugent played bass until James Hall rejoined the band in 2002
* Eric Fares played lead guitar until James Hall rejoined the band in 2002

Discography

Albums

*"Brother Down" (2000) [not commercially available]
*"The Inhuman Condition" (EP) (2001)
*"We Were Born in a Flame" (2003)
*"Chemical City" (2006)
*"Sympatico MSN Live @ The Orange Lounge" (EP) (2006) [digital release only]
*"Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2006" (EP) (2006) [digital release only]
*"Love at the End of the World" (2008)

ingles

For the following, only "Where Have All The Good People Gone?" was released as a commercial CD single. An edited version of the "The Gate" was made available for download from iTunes and other online retailers.

From "The Inhuman Condition"

*"Brother Down" (2002) [radio and video only]
*"Don't Walk Away Eileen" (2002) [radio and video only]

From "We Were Born In A Flame"

*"Where Have all the Good People Gone?" (2003) [commercial single with video]
*"Hard Road" (2003) [radio and video only]
*"Dead End/Every Part of Me" (2003) [double radio-only]

From "Chemical City"

*"The Gate" (2006) [radio, video, and digital only]
*"Bridge to Nowhere" (2006) [radio and video only]
*"With a Bullet" (2006) [radio only]

From "Love at the End of the World"

*"Them Kids" (2008) [radio, video, and digital only]
*"Detroit '67" (2008)

Previous releases with other bands

*"Piranha" (1997) [EP released on 7" yellow vinyl with the band William]
*"Northstar" (1998) [self-titled EP released on CD with the band Northstar]

Awards and nominations

Notable Performances

*July 31, 2003: Opening performer at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, otherwise referred to as Sarstock, promoted to mitigate the economic downturn in Toronto following a limited outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
*June 12, 2003: National Hockey League's (NHL) NHL Awards ceremony main performer
*November 16, 2003: Canadian Football League's (CFL) 91st Grey Cup halftime show in Regina, Saskatchewan.
*July 2, 2005: Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario.
*January 1, 2008: AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic, outdoor ice hockey game in Buffalo, New York.
*July 2008: Opened for The Eagles in Moncton, New Brunswick

ee also

*List of Quebec musicians
*Music of Quebec
*Music of Canada

References

External links

* [http://samrobertsband.com Sam Roberts Band] - Official site
* [http://www.myspace.com/samrobertsband Sam Roberts Band] - The band's MySpace website
* [http://chemicalcity.ca Chemical City] - "Chemical City" official site
* [http://loveattheendoftheworld.ca Love At The End Of The World] - "Love At The End Of The World" official site
* [http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/sro/default.asp Sam Roberts Maple Music] - Official Maple Music site
* [http://umusic.ca/samroberts/index.php Sam Roberts Universal Music Canada] - Official Universal Music Canada site
* [http://main.losthighwayrecords.com/artist.aspx?ob=ros&src=lb&aid=188 Official Sam Roberts Lost Highway Artist Page]