Sam Roberts

Canadian singer/songwriter Sam Roberts released his first true debut in 2002, following a popular demo he had made in Montreal. Before that point, he had been a violin player who eventually moved on to guitar and started a rock band with his friends. After getting a bit of coverage on MuchMusic, they decided to try their luck in Los Angeles. The band didn't get any positive reactions from record labels and disbanded in 1998, but that didn't stop Roberts from going back to Canada and beginning to write again. He put together the aforementioned demo before sitting down to record his debut, The Inhuman Condition, which was released in 2002 and became the best-selling independent release in Canadian history. In 2003 he signed with Universal and released his second album, We Were Born in a Flame, in June. The album was a huge hit in Canada and Roberts ended up winning the Juno Award for Album of the Year, Rock Album of the Year, and Artist of the Year. He continued to release well-regarded albums for the remainder of the decade: Chemical City in April 2006 and Love at the End of the World in May of 2008. Each album also won the Juno for Rock Album of the Year. For his 2011 release, Collider, which featured Dave Nugent on lead guitar, Eric Fares on keyboard and guitar, James Hall on bass, and Josh Trager on drums, Roberts changed from using his name to using the Sam Roberts Band.