Michael Roach (musician)
Encyclopedia
Michael Roach is an expatriate American blues performer and educator, who has released six albums on the independent Stella Records label. He conducts workshops on African American musical/cultural heritage
internationally, and is a founder of the European Blues Association.
to Washington, D.C., where the twenty-seven year old Roach later heard regional musicians John Jackson
, John Cephas and Archie Edwards
, who became his mentors in traditional Piedmont blues
guitar.
Upon relocating to the UK
, Roach became active on the European blues scene,
and founded the European Blues Association (EBA) with writer/historian Dr. Paul Oliver
, MBE
in 1997. The European Blues Association became a registered charity in 2002, and Roach currently serves as its director.
In 2000, Michael Roach founded "Blues Week", an annual residential program of lectures and instruction in country blues
guitar, harmonica, blues
piano and vocals at Northampton University (UK). In 2003, Roach presented Deep Blue, a three part series on blues music featured on BBC Radio 4
. In 2006 he released an instructional DVD, Introduction to Country Blues Guitar.
Roach's tours as an educator and performer have taken him to the Augusta Heritage Center
(US), Centrum
Piedmont Blues Intensive (US), The Ironworks (UK) and the Smithsonian Institute (US). He has performed and lectured at blues, jazz, folk and roots music festivals in Croatia, Czech Republic, England, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Wales
.
African American culture
African-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in...
internationally, and is a founder of the European Blues Association.
Career
In 1941, Roach's parents moved from South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
to Washington, D.C., where the twenty-seven year old Roach later heard regional musicians John Jackson
John Jackson (blues musician)
John Jackson was an American Piedmont blues musician; his music did not become primary until his accidental "discovery" by folklorist Chuck Perdue in the 1960s...
, John Cephas and Archie Edwards
Archie Edwards
Archie Edwards was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, who in a sporadic career spanning several decades, worked variously with Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and John Jackson. His best known tracks included "Saturday Night Hop", "The Road is Rough and Rocky", and "I Called My Baby Long...
, who became his mentors in traditional Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...
guitar.
Upon relocating to the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Roach became active on the European blues scene,
and founded the European Blues Association (EBA) with writer/historian Dr. Paul Oliver
Paul Oliver
-Biography:Oliver was a researcher at the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development , and from 1978-88 was Associate Head of the School of Architecture. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Gloucestershire...
, MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
in 1997. The European Blues Association became a registered charity in 2002, and Roach currently serves as its director.
In 2000, Michael Roach founded "Blues Week", an annual residential program of lectures and instruction in country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
guitar, harmonica, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
piano and vocals at Northampton University (UK). In 2003, Roach presented Deep Blue, a three part series on blues music featured on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
. In 2006 he released an instructional DVD, Introduction to Country Blues Guitar.
Roach's tours as an educator and performer have taken him to the Augusta Heritage Center
Augusta Heritage Center
Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia, is a non-profit organization which fosters the scholarly study and practice of traditional arts in music, dance, craft, and folklore....
(US), Centrum
Centrum
Centrum means center in Latin.Centrum may refer to:* The central portion of a vertebra*Centrum , a Washington state performing arts organization* Centrum , metro station in Warsaw, Poland...
Piedmont Blues Intensive (US), The Ironworks (UK) and the Smithsonian Institute (US). He has performed and lectured at blues, jazz, folk and roots music festivals in Croatia, Czech Republic, England, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Discography
- 1993 – Ain't Got Me No Home (Stella Records)
- 1997 – The Blinds of Life (Stella Records)
- 2000 – Good News Blues (Stella Records)
- 2003 – Cypress Grove (Stella Records)
- 2006 – I Betcha ! (Stella Records)
- 2010 – Innocent Child (Stella Records)