sunday 10 july | 14:00

Perhaps the rustic earthliness of Alasdair Roberts' music comes from his growing up in the small Scottish town of Callander. From here he produced his debut offering as Appendix Out, a 7" called Ice Age. The single was released on Palace Records, Will Oldham's label. Roberts' relationship with the Bonnie 'Prince' rose to the fore again this year with the album No Earthly Man (Drag City), on which Oldham plays and takes on production duties.

Not long after Ice Age, Roberts moved to Glasgow, where Appendix Out became a band and continued to record for labels such as Creeping Bent and Drag City. During this period, Roberts' interaction with Jason Molina and Songs:Ohia was initiated with an Appendix Out/Songs:Ohia split 7" and Roberts' appearance on a number of Molina's recordings.

2001 saw the dawn of Roberts recording under his own name. He began with the solo voice and guitar of Crook Of My Arm (Secretly Canadian), a haunting and tender revisiting of British folk milestones made great by the likes of Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs and Dick Gaughan. He returned to the band format for Farewell Sorrow (Rough Trade, 2003) and the aforementioned No Earthly Man.

Roberts continues to remix timeless folk tales into contemporary alt-rock operas, always with a voice drunk on longing, lust and loss.