Ned Roberts is an acoustic finger-picker and singer-songwriter based in London. Raised in a musical family (his father is renowned classical pianist Paul Roberts), Ned first started gigging when living up in York, playing old folk covers and the odd Dylan tune. Not long after writing his first songs, he was discovered by producer Luther Russell (Folks, Richmond Fontaine, Noah & The Whale) and brought to Los Angeles to record. The first single culled from these fruitful sessions was "Red Sun", which featured frequently on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Scotland and even Radio 3 in Spain. On the heels of this comes Ned's second single "Blues #6", featuring vocals by acclaimed songstress Sarabeth Tucek. Look for Ned's debut record in early 2014.

Officially released on 16th December, with B-side Down In Lines, it will be available on 7" vinyl and download.

NED ROBERTS - Blues #6

"I Remember You Said" is the the third single from Ned Roberts' forthcoming debut record, due in June 2014.

Produced by Luther Russell

Cello played by Noah Hoffeld

I Remember You Said (Radio Edit)

10 - The Breakers

09 - Tomorrow In Time

08 - Morning Meets The Rain

Ned Roberts' first single from his forthcoming album HEAVY SUMMER.
Produced and mixed by Luther Russell.
Engineered and mastered by Jason Hiller.

Ned Roberts: Vocals, guitar
Luther Russell: drums, electric guitar, keys
Jason Hiller: bass

Lyrics:

I’m gonna write my will in sand
I’m gonna try to find another way
to drown the sound
Spin another record ‘round

I’m gonna run right off the end
And try to make the landing
Feel my feet upon the ground
Spin another record ‘round

Maybe all there is to say
Has already been said
Maybe all I’ve left to find
I’ve already found
Maybe the breaking that I fear
I’ve already felt

I’m gonna pick apart the roots
Unravel the string
The sharp edge and the doubt
Spin another record round

Don’t trace back the tick of time
From the canopy down
Always hiding never hidden,
‘neath the layered forest ground
As the bracing brittle wind
Hits soft against the skin.
Maybe so, maybe not
But when I’m alone with you
All the love there ever was
Is right here in the room

Maybe I’m just too high for getting high
Too tired for feeling tired enough by nighttime
Keep apart what you cannot reconcile
The falling short the miles I’ll walk by sundown.

Maybe all that I’ve done
I still carry it on
Maybe the sadness that I hold
Is always unknown
Why should it matter now how
We can’t be made anew

07 - Another Record 'Round

06 - Halfway From Reason

05 - Losing Sight

04 - Songs Of Spring

03 - Days Into Days

02 - Down To The Edge

01 - Play My Cards

Ned Roberts - Drifting Down

The first single from Ned Roberts' second album Outside My Mind, due for release 24th March on Aveline Records.

Lights On The River

In honour of the 400 year Shakespeare anniversary here's a free download from my debut record. Music written by my brother Barney Roberts, words from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Performed by myself and Pial Hossain on tabla.

Produced and mixed by Luther Russell
Recorded by Jason Hiller at Electrosound Studios, L.A., CA
Mastered by John Fischbach

Where The Wild Thyme Blows

Third single from Ned Roberts' third album, Dream Sweetheart, recorded in Electrosound Studios, LA, CA, with producer Luther Russell.

The Arbour

Not so long ago
The whiskey and wine
I saw you dancing colours round the room

You were my eyes of the open road
Where the red kites fly
The crimson sun goes down as the night comes in

We went south to the sea
To find the way
The restless night gave in to the asking


The sail billows black
At the edge of the sea
A storm coming on
Adrift and unseen

Lain on the grass
Beneath a reeling sky
We did not seem to see the falling

For now the cold wind just blows
Our love away
We’ve got nothing, nowhere and no one to hang on to

The sail billows black
Where the sea meets the sky
I'm not coming back
I’d be a fool to try

Maybe I love you still
I always will
A refuge and regret to know each day

I’ll head north to San Jose
With the road stretched out
The stars will sing to sleep the aching

The sail billows black
At the edge of the sea
The wind cries out
For the miles between

Miles Between

London based singer-songwriter, Ned Roberts, has four studio records to his name, which have all featured frequently on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland, and have been championed by the likes of Lauren Laverne, Jo Whiley, Gideon Coe, and Roddy Hart. His bittersweet songs sit comfortably among the classics of the Laurel Canyon era, with a timeless quality and a poetic turn of phrase. With shows across Europe and America, live highlights include a tour with celebrated songwriter Anais Mitchell, plus support slots for Joe Pug, Micah P. Hinson, Those Pretty Wrongs, and Sarabeth Tucek amongst others. He has released two critically acclaimed albums for the Aveline label (home to Ani Di Franco), and has a decade long creative partnership with renowned US producer and songwriter Luther Russell (Sarabeth Tucek, Fabiano do Nascimento). He’s received significant national press, notably from the Guardian and Uncut magazine, and has recorded live sessions for BBC Radio London and Bob Harris’ Radio 2 show.

In 2024, Ned released his fourth studio album, Heavy Summer, which was supported on Cerys Matthews 6music show, and across BBC radio. Teaming up again with producer Luther Russell, and sound engineer Jason Hiller, the record was cut and mixed in 6 days in the late LA summer heat. Recorded mostly live to a vintage 8-track tape machine, Luther (keys, mellotron, guitars, drums) and Jason (bass) doubled as an expert band. Heavy Summer showcases both sides of Ned’s creative output, with gorgeously constructed band takes, recorded during the heat of the day, and intimate acoustic numbers, recorded just as night drew in. The sparse fingerpicked opener, ‘Play My Cards’ – cut last and written during the sessions – recalls Ned’s debut single ‘Red Sun’, some 10 years ago. The more expansive sounds of Heavy Summer then emerge; ‘Down to the Edge’ develops into a wide, open soundscape, and ‘Days Into Days’ drives the momentum and energy onwards. Lyrically, on first listen, these tunes echo the romantic melancholy of his previous records. Yet the record contains more existential themes too – of aging, regret and loss; of childhood; of escape and creative expression – on ‘Another Record Round’, ‘Tomorrow in Time’, and ‘Losing Sight’. Throughout, there is a sense of searching, of something just beyond reach. ‘Days into days / a uniform parade / Run ‘cross the fields / is salvation on the way? / To ease the sense of time / Go steady on the wine / I’m young and I’m old / I’m living and I’m dying.’ Solo acoustic closer, ‘The Breakers’, with Sarabeth Tucek on backing vocals, brings the record to a meditative end.

Ned Roberts

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