Michael Roach (musician)

Michael Roach[1] (born March 18, 1955, Washington, D.C., United States) 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,[2] and is a founder of the European Blues Association.[3]

Michael Roach is one of the last living blues musicians of African American heritage.

Career

In 1941, Roach's parents moved from South Carolina 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.[4]

Upon relocating to the UK, Roach became active on the European blues scene,[5] and founded the European Blues Association (EBA)[3] 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",[5] an annual residential program of lectures and instruction in country blues guitar, harmonica, blues piano and vocals at Northampton University (UK).[6] In 2003, Roach presented Deep Blue, a three part series on blues music featured on BBC Radio 4.[7][8] 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[9] (US), The Ironworks[10] (UK) and the Smithsonian Institution (US).[11] He has performed and lectured at blues, jazz, folk and roots music festivals in Croatia,[12] Czech Republic,[13] England,[14][15] the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Wales.[16]

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)

References
  1. "Crossroads – Nightlife Features". TimeOutDubai.com. January 19, 2009. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  2. "What's On - Anvil Arts". March 3, 2016. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  3. "About the EBA". Euroblues.org. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  4. Harrington, Richard (August 29, 2003). "The Piedmont style".
  5. "April 2003 D.C. Blues Society News Letter" (PDF). Dcblues.org. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  6. "Third year for Blues Week at Park Campus". Northampton.ac.uk. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  7. Wynn, Neil A. (February 9, 2010). Cross the water blues: African ... – Neil A. Wynn – Google Books. ISBN 9781604735475. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  8. Wynn, Neil (2007). Cross the Water Blues. University Press of Mississippi. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-60473-546-8.
  9. "Piedmont Blues Intensive – Blues at Centrum". Centrum.org. October 16, 2009. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  10. "Gig: Michael Roach – Ironworks, Oswestry – 10 Jun 2010 –". Bluesinthenorthwest.com. May 20, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  11. "Top names lined up for Blues Festival – Manx Entertainment News". Iomtoday. Archived from the original on April 4, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  12. "Kastav Blues Festival 2010. | R-1 PORTAL RIJEKA". R-1.hr. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  13. "Blues Alive Festival XV at Dům Kultúry (Šumperk) on 18 Nov 2010 –". Last.fm. February 11, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  14. "Marlborough Jazz Festival". Marlboroughjazz.co.uk. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  15. "Barnstaple Fringe : Part of the North Devon Festival" (PDF). Musicface.co.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  16. "Artists « Tenby Blues Festival 2011". Tenbyblues.co.uk. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
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