Thursday 23 February 2017, 7.30pm
“His dextrous guitar accompaniments are a constant delight, his tunes seep into the brain like a warm sun on a winter’s day, his mournful voice nags your attention, his songs intrigue, mystify and entrance and his arrangements constantly surprise.” – fRoots
Glasgow-based songwriter Alasdair Roberts returns to OTO with his trio alongside guitarist Stevie Jones and Alex Neilson on drums.
“It is a rare talent – one who is now bordering on auteur territory - who can relate folk music with such scholarly authenticity, and penetrate on such an emotional level at the same time.” – The Quietus
Alasdair Roberts is a Glasgow-based musician – primarily a singer and guitarist – born in Germany and raised in central Scotland. Acclaimed by Folk Radio UK as 'one of our most talented, important and relevant songwriters and song-adapters', he has released several critically acclaimed albums of his music via Drag City Records since the late nineties.
Alasdair is known for his own idiosyncratic and evocative compositions and songs, as well as for his fresh interpretations of traditional songs and narrative ballads from Scotland and beyond. He enjoys a wide range of collaborations with fellow musicians, as well as with artists from other disciplines. He plays in the groups Furrow Collective and Current 93 and has toured extensively both in the UK and worldwide, both solo and with various musical companions.
Alasdair’s most recent album, Grief in the Kitchen and Mirth in the Hall, is a collection of traditional songs recorded entirely solo. April 2025 will see the release of Remembered in Exile: Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, a new album recorded in collaboration with Lewis-born Gaelic singer Màiri Morrison and Canadian producer/arranger Pete Johnston.
“Already a legendary free-drummer Alex Neilson has played with most of the musical underground’s heavyweights of this era. This one man folk renaissance movement has left a trail of recordings and thrilling live shows with Jandek, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Heather Leigh, Alasdair Roberts, and Richard Youngs in his youthful wake.
Always moving from project to project, Neilson brings a sense of exploration and independence to his playing. As one of the most energetic and ‘in-tune’ free players around, Neilson has a better grasp than most on trying to get across the nature of improvisation.” - stylusmagazine
Over the last 20 years Stevie has played as part of endless collaborative projects including; El Hombre Trajeado (with RM Hubbert among others) Rude Pravo (with artists Luke Fowler, Lucille Desamoury and Cara Tolmie), Sycamore with Friends (with Jer Reid and Shane Connoly) and Maxton Grainger (with Chris Mack of James Orr Complex). He’s also recorded and toured internationally as a guitarist, double bassist and pianist with groups including Arab Strap, Alasdair Roberts & Friends, Lord Cut-Glass, The Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan Band, Sophia and The Bill Wells Trio. He’s worked as a theatre sound engineer and designer with companies like NTS, Grid Iron, Corcadorca and EIF. He records and produces his own records as well as those by groups such as RM Hubbert, The One Ensemble, Trembling Bells and National Bedtime. Sound of Yell’s Brocken Spectre is the first project which Stevie has produced, written and arranged. The extended band is a collection of many of his favourite musicians .
