Alasdair Roberts (musician)

Alasdair Roberts
Alasdair Roberts at a concert in Berlin, May 2008
Background information
Also known as	Appendix Out
Origin	Callander, Scotland
Genres	Folk, indie rock
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Drag City Secretly Canadian Rough Trade Room40 Rif Mountain
Associated acts	Will Oldham Jason Molina
Website	www.alasdairroberts.com
Notable instruments
Guitar

Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish folk musician. He released a number of albums under the name Appendix Out and, following the 2001 album The Night is Advancing, under his own name.

Roberts was born in Swabia, Germany, the son of former folk guitarist (and partner of Dougie MacLean) Alan Roberts and his German wife Annegret. He was raised in Kilmahog, a hamlet close to the small town of Callander, near Stirling in central Scotland, where he started playing the guitar and writing music. He has been based in Glasgow for over ten years.

In 1994 Alasdair Roberts formed 'Appendix Out' with school friends Dave Elcock and Kenny McBride and started playing small venues. Roberts was also a classmate of Ladytron's Helen Marnie. While attending a Will Oldham concert in 1995, he offered a demo tape to the American singer, and a contract with US label Drag City soon followed. The band's first release was a double A-side single, "Pissed With You/Ice Age", and the band released its first album around a year later.

Between 1997 and 2001, Appendix Out released three albums, two EPs and some limited-edition recordings that were never widely distributed. They recorded a session for John Peel's BBC radio show in 2001. The line up of the band changed frequently, with Roberts the only constant member.

After three albums with Appendix Out, Roberts recorded his first solo album, The Crook of My Arm. This album consisted almost entirely of solo vocals and guitar in marked contrast to the occasionally experimental sound of the Appendix Out records. All the songs are traditional, and Roberts credited the singers from whose performances he'd learnt the songs (these included his father, Alan Roberts, and Alan's sometime musical partner, Dougie MacLean).

Since then, Roberts has released two further albums of traditional folk songs – No Earthly Man and Too Long in This Condition – plus three albums of original songs – Farewell Sorrow, The Amber Gatherers and Spoils. A fourth, A Wonder Working Stone, was released in January 2013.