Description
Kenny Roby’s life in music has been an intellectual and spiritual quest. The Raleigh, NC-based sing-er/songwriter has explored the history of sound and song in its various forms with a musicologist’s zeal, absorbing them all into his art. Simultaneously, he has taken a long hard look in the mirror through the writing process, allowing him to discover and reflect back a piece of himself through his songs. Charting the continuum of that journey takes us to Roby’s album, ‘Memories & Birds,’ an ambitious vision of a Southern past littered with provocative characters and the dark, foreboding places they inhabit.
The recording, released April 2, 2013, is filled with surprising twists and turns, shadowy corners and broken dreams. The narrative thread running throughout this complex eight-song cycle evokes the stark imagery and themes of Faulkner, O’Connor, Percy and McCarthy, as it makes clear the musical lineage from which he emerges: Cohen, Van Zandt, Newman and the like.
These are song-stories of loss, isolation, desire, rejection, resignation, despair, aging and anxiety. And who better to sing them than Roby? He briefly lived the dream as part of the nationally acclaimed alt-country/indie rock band 6 String Drag in the ’90s. The quartet was signed and produced by Steve Earle, wined and dined by the major label machine and heralded alongside fellow next-big-thing North Carolini-ans’ Whiskeytown and The Backsliders. Just as quickly, it all disappeared when hard living, the arrival of children and the strain of the music biz hustle caused the band to dissolve. It’s here, however, where the proverbial wheat is separated from the chaff. Proving himself the former, Roby persevered, releasing three exquisite solo albums. Circa 2007, he went underground to further hone his craft, raise his family and bide his time. So while ‘Memories & Birds’ could be called a comeback, existentially speaking, it’s a debut. Wiser for the time and no longer chasing the cliché of success, Kenny Roby returns, purely, the poet, the song-writer, the musician and the artist that he’s always been and will always be.
