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Doria Roberts
Acoustic / Folk Rock / Pop

back to basics



Atlanta, Georgia
United States

Profile Views:  220897




Last Login:  7/3/2009
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   Doria Roberts: General Info
Member Since7/25/2005
Band Websitehttp://www.doriaroberts.com
Band MembersDoria Roberts - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric ukulele, midi keyboards, vocalist, songwriter, composer

On the new record (and sometimes live): Khari Simmons (bass), Debra Killings (bass), Melvin Baldwin (drums), Tom Knight (drums), Zack Odom (violin, viola, electric guitar), Nakayo (flute, percussion), Julie Dexter (background vocals on Master Plan & Love is Dying), Angela Motter (background vocals on Simple Life).

On older records (and sometimes live): Latonya Peoples (violin, current), Okorie Johnson (cello), Enrique Coley (drums), Becky Shaw (drums, harmonica), Alan Barnes (bass), Dede Vogt (bass) Just live: Lil' John Roberts (drums), Jen Lowe (drums), Wayne Glass (drums), Siggy (drums), Joe Lee (drums)

Influences

MUSIC I LISTEN TO: Cassandra Wilson, Billie Holiday, Brothers Johnson, Segovia, Rickie Lee Jones, Maceo Parker, Chris Whitley, Patti Smith, NINA SIMONE, Odetta, Bjork, Patty Griffin, Holmes Brothers, Shuggie Otis, Rachmaninoff, Jeff Buckley, Angelique Kidjo, Bob Dylan, Public Image Ltd., Cat Power, Dayna Kurtz, Prince, Janis Ian, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Shriekback, Michael Jackson, John Coltrane, Jason Moran, Outkast, Saul Williams, Fishbone, Leo Kottke, Rufus Wainwright, Yo Yo Ma, Most Opera

POETS I ABSORB: Federico Garcia Lorca, Audre Lorde, Patti Smith, Raicho, Letta Neely, Nikky Finney, Nikki Giovanni, Anne Sexton, June Jordan, Classical Japanese Poets (Haiku, Tanka), Shakespeare, Milton, PLATH

AUTHORS I ADORE: Mishima, Octavia Butler, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, John Irving, Dorothy Allison, Jerzy Kosinski, Sam Shepherd, Jeannette Winterson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Phillip Pullman, Kurt Vonnegut, Burroughs, Woolf, Tolkien, Shakespeare

BOOKS I LOVE: TAO TE CHING (everything is here), most political theory/commentary (Arundhati Roy, Simone Weil, Gore Vidal, Ayn Rand-'the primitive' and 'the romantic manifesto' are about as lean as Ayn gets, Angela Davis), autobiographies, biographies and memoirs (Angela Davis, James Frey-before the oprah thing and maybe afterwards-, Augusten Burroughs, Che Guevara, Simone Weil), sci-fi (Vonnegut, Butler & Pullman), "somewhat-trashy-i'm-on-this-plane-for-seven-hours-and-i-don't-want-to-think-about-dying" stuff (DaVinci Code, Harry Potter), Change your perspective fiction ("The Alchemist", "Fall on Your Knees", "Bee Season", "Life of Pi", "The Secret Life of Bees", "The Group", "Trash", "The Fountainhead", "Atlas Shrugged", "To the Lighthouse", "Cockpit" and too many others to list here)

FASCINATED BY: languages other than english, political science, daylight savings time, child prodigies, childbirth, religion/philosophy, us interstate system, flight...

Sounds Like

Record LabelHurricane Doria Records
Type of LabelIndie


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   Upcoming Shows ( view all )
Aug 5 2009 8:00P
Michigan Womyn’s Festival (www.michfest.com) Hart, Michigan
Aug 23 2009 7:00P
Doria’s 9th Annual Birthday Party Show Atlanta, Georgia

Doria Roberts's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

Volunteers & Donations Needed  (view more)

blues for odetta  (view more)

Doria in NYC THIS FRIDAY, JUNE 5 @ The Living Room!  (view more)

Calavino's Soul Kitchen  (view more)

White House Blog Part I - WTF  (view more)

[View All Blog Entries]

   About Doria Roberts


I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V3.6!

BUY DORIA'S CDs HERE: http://www.cdbaby.com/hdrecords

DORIA ROBERTS PRESS QUOTES

"A searing sunset performance of intense, incendiary and eloquently literate folk and soul from one of Atlanta's busiest and brightest artists. While also internationally known as an activist and educator, Roberts' finest work is her intimate yet communal rapport with -- and command of -- an audience." (Creative Loafing - Atlanta)

"She is not the kissing, foreplay or complication of sex; she is the all-encompassing orgasm that leaves you breathless, shaking and ready for more. (Lambda Magazine - North Carolina)

"Roberts grafts the whip smart elocution of Ani DiFranco to the soul of Lauryn Hill". (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

"To see Doria Roberts on stage is to love her and to love her, if you are a straight male, is to walk away brokenhearted. The lady has chops and her live show, a spicy blend of passion, bohemian folk and jazz, will make you feel like you've been ridden hard and put away wet. She's angry, she's black, she's beautiful, she's smart, she swears a lot, she's sexy as hell, she plays guitar, she's intense, she's a lesbian and she's a killer lyricist." (Hippo Press - Weekend Arts Feature - Manchester, NH)

"No ordinary folkie, Roberts street wise sass and skilled but unpretentious guitar prowess immediately puts her step above the rest". (Creative Loafing Charlotte, NC)

"Songs straight out of the personal diary served with style and grace." (Creative Loafing)

"A delicious, almost indescribable but most definitely bohemian blend of folk, rock and jazz." (Flagpole Magazine Athens, GA)

"All acoustic based but with a fullness and variety that defies to categorize her music as simply folk, Roberts topical tunes are smoothly mellow, yet have a jazzy/bluesy bite which keeps you intrigued and entertained. Sexy, forthright and extremely talented". (Atlanta Press)

"Her lush, tightly woven songs communicate and breathe instead of resorting to the heavy handed proselytizing of some sociopolitical rock. This is music that gets under your skin." (Houston Voice)

"Her live album is a captivating canvas of intensely emotional songs anchored by a solemn but confident guitar and fueled by Roberts fiery vocal delivery and heart wrenching lyrics." (Weekly Planet Sarasota/Tampa)

DORIA ROBERTS BIO

Internationally touring, Atlanta based singer/songwriter Doria Roberts was born and raised in inner city Trenton, NJ but schooled in the neighboring yet decidedly more affluent Princeton, NJ. Her first introduction to music was her sisters vinyl record collection including the Brothers Johnson, Marvin Gaye, the Sugar Hill Gang and Ricki Lee Jones. A dancer from the age of 3, she was exposed to classical offerings during ballet class, ragtime during tap training and pop music in her modern jazz dance lessons. By age 10, she was starring in musicals in local childrens theater and choral productions once performing a lead role in Gilbert & Sullivans classic HMS Pinafore. At age 17, she produced her first event directing, staging, acting in, and even promoting the topically controversial play Laundry and Bourbon as part of her senior project.

By the time she was off to college, she had incorporated the likes of Public Enemy, De La Soul, and the uber literate hip hop of KRS One into her listening repertoire. While toiling away as a scholarship student at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in East Asian Studies (with side bars in linguistics, business and art history) and aspiring to be an executive art dealer in Tokyo, she discovered the power folk of the Indigo Girls, Bob Dylans and Joni Mitchells storytelling, the tortured brilliance of John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix, along with the quirky punk, tongue in cheek rebellion of Public Image Limited and black rock ska outfit Fishbone. And, like many women of her generation, she stumbled upon the rising star and fierce, feminist zeitgeist Ani DiFranco during an unplanned trip to a New York City dive.

However, Roberts was still only an observer and lover of music throughout college and didnt become a musician herself until senior year when a series of life changing events redirected her priorities. She picked up a roommates beer stained guitar for comfort and the lessons of the Tao Te Ching won over the Dow Jones. Eevntually, she embarked on her deeply personal though socially concious and committed musical path.

In 1999 (i.e. 6 years and 100 coffeehouses later), she won a slot to appear at Lilith Fair and was poised to sign a major label deal along with Atlanta based peers John Mayer and India Arie. However, a dubious piece of legislation changing copyright law in favor of the labels prompted the activist in Roberts to step away from potentially lucrative offers and release her own record. Though originally intending to simply wait out the storm, Roberts eventually found herself at the helm of her own label instead.

Since then she has released and self produced five independent and nationally distributed records on her imprint Hurricane Doria Records, has appeared at the internationally recognized Montreux Jazz Festival and has headlined Gay Pride events in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. She has also opened for or shared the stage with legendary folk singer Odetta, Janis Ian, the Indigo Girls, John Mayer, blues legends the Holmes Brothers, Chris Smither avant-garde R&B priestess Meshell Ndegeocello, world music darling Angelique Kidjo, the late poet laureate Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker and many others.

In 2004, she was awarded both the Anderson Leadership Prize from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and the Orfeo Musica Humanitarian Award from the Tupilak Arts Consortium-Nordic in Stockholm, Sweden. Both awards were given in recognition of her willingness to fuse her music with her activist work and for creating major performance opportunities and outlets for other independent artists and youth at risk. She was also nominated for the 2005 Collin Higgins Courage Award.

Currently, she is the sole producer of the 11 year old Queerstock Festival & Tour, the Black Eyed Susans Tribute Series and various other fundraising and awareness events.

Roberts has finally finished recording her sixth release and the CD entitles "Woman Dangerous" is out. It was recorded at the venerable Treesound Studios (Elton John, Outkast, Indigo Girls, Collective Soul, Usher) in Atlanta, GA and co-produced by Zack Odom. On this major indie effort, Roberts once again effortlessly and seamlessly melds her diverse musical heritage into a solid set of provocative musings on life and love and everything that happens in between.


   Doria Roberts's Friend Space (Top 28)
Doria Roberts has 7630 friends.
 War on Apathy 


 Jezebel Jam 


 pacifika 


 Angelique Kidjo 


 Friends of V-Day 


 Kenji Okumura - Luthier 


 BAMcafe Live 


 robin "redbone" cloud 


 BLACK GIRLS RULE 


 Dave Weckl 


 Bibi McGill 


 Jody Watley - Official Page 


 The Holmes Brothers 


 BLACK GIRLS ROCK! 


 black rock coalition 


 Tamar-kali 


 Musicians On Call 


 Sisters Of Sakia 


 Arundhati Roy Supporters 


 500 Songs for Kids 


 Women for Women International 


 Koko Taylor 


 HARLEMBARATL.COM 


 Soul Sista’s Juke Joint™ 


 shriekback. 


 U People 


 Gibson New Music Series 


 Calavino's 





Doria Roberts's Friends Comments
Displaying 25 of 1384 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
SPACEDOG





Jun 22 2009 4:00 AM

Hello from Seattle- soundin goood!
Terry W





Jun 21 2009 6:49 PM

Hope your having a great weekend!!!
LAURA BETH CALDWELL





Jun 1 2009 12:03 PM

Thanks for adding me! Have a great week.
Kai Martin





Jun 20 2009 5:48 AM

Hi Doria. Just passin' thru... Hope all is well in your world. :o)
Gordon Neil





Jun 9 2009 2:13 PM

Thanks for the add!
hi, im Jenn





Jun 10 2009 5:02 PM

It was nice to have met you!
alison





May 29 2009 12:05 AM

Hey Doria -
Long time no talk. A friend of mine just sent me your blog about the DVD. I'm in post on a concert doc about the 2008 Hotel Cafe Tour - so I'm set up to edit 5 cam HD concert footage for the next few months. Let me know if you still need help. Hope all is well.
~Queen*Sharon~





May 24 2009 7:28 PM

THANKS FOR THE ADD AND GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS
Amy





May 21 2009 8:31 PM

By the way been meaning to ask how married life is going. I know you're private but was wondering what woman stole your heart. bet she is as beautiful as you.
Amy





May 21 2009 8:15 PM

Haha.....I just noticed that. Planned or merely stroke of liberty luck?
Veronica





May 21 2009 6:19 PM

Thanks for sharing your DC pics with us! Knowing that you are working with Obama's team gives me hope and reassurance that things will get better. You are an excellent individual for this project!! :)
smurf





May 14 2009 8:22 PM

Thanks for a great show in DC!! Will do my best to drag a crew to the next one!
2JK16





May 12 2009 9:38 PM

Yeah Doria's in DC. Can't wait wait to see you tomorrow!!
Kit Thomas Art


Online Now!


May 11 2009 9:55 AM

Thanks 4 coming back 2 charlotte!
Kit Thomas Art


Online Now!


May 11 2009 9:55 AM

Thanks 4 coming back 2 charlotte! Rad show as always
KAT-amazoo





May 9 2009 5:35 PM

Okay, first off, love love LOVE this version of Perfect, and secondly....see you tonight!!! It will be my girl's first live Doria show...and shhh..it's a suprise!
Ya know...EVERY person I introduce your music to loves it...I'm jus' sayin', you inspire, always have, and thanks for coming to Charlotte tonight. We missed you :)
l@ur@





May 7 2009 8:01 PM

PLEASE ADD MORE SONGS TO YOUR PLAYLIST.THANKS.
☆Scoots☆





May 7 2009 6:52 PM

wait you forgot to mention when you were packing for Pensacola FL. he he
Authentic Self





May 6 2009 1:08 AM

Hey Doria,

Counting down until you're in Charlotte on Saturday!!! Please play the Christmas song...
Once Again Stress Free........





May 3 2009 2:52 PM

Stoppin by to show much luv...Just got finished listening to PERFECT..I luv that song God Bless Have a wonderful day
-CLEMSHAFU-





May 1 2009 1:44 PM

Alors les news!
Comment vas ?
♥Ann Marie♥





Mar 19 2009 5:33 AM

thanks for the add :) it was awesome meeting you on your stop in Ocala, Fl. Stop by the Olive Garden anytime!!!
AnAd





Apr 23 2009 2:34 PM

You and your girl looked hot as hell last night... keep working it. Do you remember me from grade school? LOL J/K
pacifika





Apr 15 2009 6:34 AM

hola!<br />heard you're coming this way when the sun shines...<br />beach day?<br />xo
Courtney





Apr 14 2009 7:17 PM

You should definately come to Fl sometime soon! I saw your performance at pcola pride last year, and it was amazing! :)
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