Sam Roberts released his debut recording back in 2002 after first releasing an independent demo recording he’d made in Montreal.
That release, The Inhuman Condition, became the bestselling independent EP in Canadian History. Not a bad start.
When he followed that up with We Were Born In Flame in 2003, he saw that album go double Platinum. It later won him the Juno Award for Album of the Year.
The hits continued and are almost too many to list here, as are the many awards presented to The Sam Roberts Band.
In October of 2023, after a consistent string of hits and more awards than most artists can expect in a lifetime of performance, The Sam Roberts Band continued their dominance of the Canadian rock scene with the release of The Adventures OF Ben Blank, featuring the new singles "Picture of Love" and "Afterlife."
And the band shows no signs of slowing down.
“There’s still fuel left in the tank,” Roberts says. “For me, songwriting is a constant pattern of rejuvenation. I think it’s not a series of conscious moves, but rather it stems from a wide-ranging love of the music.”
And wide-ranging is an apt description of Roberts’ work in general as he manages to put his take on a whole range of life’s experiences. Take, for example, Roberts’ take on the matter of death. In his Ben Blank album, he’s disdainful of death, with lines like “I’ll get my kicks on this side of the Styx.”
Other times, he seems far more reflective on the matter.
But then, Roberts’ music has evolved over the past two decades, as has his viewpoint.
“Very much my viewpoint has changed. It’s a change in perspective and, although the change seems easily identifiable, it really happens incrementally. Because of the profound nature of that shift, the water in the well has changed completely,” Roberts says.
“I look back at some of my early work and I say ‘wow, I was really angry,’ but that’s a reflection of the fact that you feel justified in the vehement opinions of the time. But if you replace that, ignore it, rock and roll wouldn’t’ exist. You develop a sense of responsibility to show a revelation of who you are then and there.”
It’s an approach that has sustained not only Roberts, but his band.
Unlike many bands, especially rock bands, the Sam Roberts band has been rocking the house together for a long time.
“The newest member of the band is Josh Trager (drums) and he’s been with us for 22 years,” Roberts notes. “Dave Neugent (guitar and vocals) has been with me since 1999, and James Hall (bass) and Eric Fares (keyboard) have been with the band since pretty much the beginning as well.”
What’s the secret to keeping the band together?
“I think that friendships are at the core of who we are but there’s also an alignment of vision,” Roberts says. “It’s hard if everyone is pulling in a different direction, but at the same time, if everyone is too much in sync, you’re not seeing things from different angles. I think we’ve found that fine balance where we work on understanding the essence of what we’re doing while always allowing room for dissent. That way, we always seem to get something unexpected out of it in the end.”
Whatever the elements of the Sam Roberts Band may be, audiences can’t seem to get enough.
“We did a coast-to-coast tour in February and March, and we’ve played in Europe, across the USA and even concerts in Japan,” Roberts says. “Now we’re back on tour and will be touring pretty much the whole summer.”
But even with all that touring, the creative process continues, and fans will almost certainly see more amazing things from The Sam Roberts Band in the near future.
In the meantime, music fans will have a chance to see the band in person at Nanaimo’s Port Theatre Sept. 15. Find tickets and more information at samrobertsband.com/#tour.
