The Artful Roger

Dublin-based pop artist, The Artful Roger, brings classical influences to a modern pop sound on his self-titled debut album. The first track, Love Won’t Keep Time, will be released on Friday 28 May 2021.

Roger has played notable venues around Dublin such as The Grand Social, Workman’s Club, and The Underground. He has shared the stage with notable performers such as Kevin Casey, Luke Clerkin, Nobody’s Heroes, and Seán McComish. His debut single, Every Time, was a YouTube success in 2016, gaining over 175,000 hits on the music video. The release was supported with airplay on Spirit Radio, Dublin City FM, and KCLR and a headline show in Tivoli Backstage (now Drop Dead Twice). Over the last year he has capitalised on a slower pace of living to hone his songcraft and work with more established players to finish and release 10 tracks from his debut album.

Starting as a classical musician, Roger studied piano performance at the DIT Conservatory until 2019. He won numerous awards and prizes (Newpark Music Festival, Feis Ceoil, EPTA, DIT, and more) for his performances and was a feature of the conservatory’s 2014 Culture Night showcase. In 2015, he was inducted into University College Dublin’s prestigious Ad Astra Academy for Performing Arts as a Piano scholar under Drs Des Earley and Ciaran Crilly. In addition to representing the university in Amsterdam in 2017, he performed as part of the academy at the Hugh Lane Gallery and with the UCD Symphony Orchestra at Ireland’s National Concert Hall later that year. This background created the canvas for creative arrangements that will feature on the forthcoming album.

The Artful Roger is the artist’s first studio album and features 10 singles due for release over the next 12 months. A thematic collection, each track deals with an aspect of the theme of resilience and will be accompanied by an acoustic arrangement to provide an alternate listening experience. The Artful Roger is working with several established players on the album, including Fiachra Kinder (Hozier), Jake Curran (Niall Horan, Dermot Kennedy), Gary Duncan (Shane McGowan, Big Generator), Brew (Bluesun), Jonathan Hayes (Kyro Jones), and members of the Newman Vocare.

Love Won’t Keep Time will be released on all major streaming sites on Friday 28 May.