Roy Roberts

1960s-2000s soul and blues artist from Greensboro, North Carolina. As a young man, Roy Roberts was pretty sure that there had to be a better way to make a living than breaking his back on the family farm. When he arrived to live with his uncle in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1961, the aspiring musician was excited to discover a nightlife and music scene that was thriving. Worlds away from his hometown of Livingston, TN, young Roy relished the late night opportunities to pile into a car full of his buddies and cruise East Market Street looking for girls and checking out the shows. One night, their luck with the girls running not too hot, Roy and his friends hit the the El Rocco Club to catch R&B crooner Jerry Butler. That night, when Butler took an intermission, Roy had his career epiphany. As the group left the stage, a throng of female fans flocked to the boys in the backup band. He knew in his heart right then that the music business was where he was supposed to be. From that career defining moment, Roy’s world view was about to explode, thanks to a serendipitous encounter with Solomon Burke. Roy hit the road as a guitar player for “The King of Soul”, where he would begin his lifelong education on making a living in the music business. Over the years, Roy would also get schooled on who to trust with his dreams (and his recording masters); reconnect with his estranged father; and encounter racial attitudes alien to a young African-American man who had been raised in a community where everyone was welcome at the table. Since the 1960s, Roy Roberts has continued to adapt. Performing as a sideman or as lead singer; in the studio or on tour; attracting international audiences and winning awards playing everything from R&B and Beach Music (with an inevitable but brief foray into disco) to a successful decade on the Country Music circuit. Roy Roberts has navigated the music business from all angles. He’s also been one of the key figures on the relatively obscure but pivotal Greensboro music scene – The Gate City was as important to the Chitin Circuit of the 1960s and 70s as it was for the trains that stopped here on their run from New York to New Atlanta. Roy was often invited to Europe to play his 1960s and 70s Greensboro-produced hit to aficionados of “Northern Soul”.

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