Montreal-based musician and photographer Tess Roby is readying the release of her album Beacon due out on April 20th via Italians Do It Better. Inspired by The Beacon, a monument standing atop Ashurst Hill in Dalton, Lancashire where it was established in 1798 as a watchtower against French invasion during the Napoleonic War, the musician’s debut release is also a tribute to her father who passed away several years back. Created in collaboration with her brother, Roby began working on the album back in 2015 using drum machines and synthesizers she found in her father’s recording studio. Having traveled often to The Beacon with her family, she explains:
“Throughout my life I have felt the pull to return to it. I’m beckoned by father’s roots and by the sullen landscape of fields leading to the coast.”
Tess Roby has also announced a string of live dates this coming Spring and Summer–including some shows in support of Carla Dal Forno. Look for Roby to play Moogfest in North Carolina this coming May, as well as a performance at Elsewhere in Brooklyn as part of the Northside Festival in June. Below, you can check out her recent video for the track “Catalyst,” off the upcoming LP, as well as a list of her 2018 live dates.
Tess Roby Live 2018:
04.19.18 Sala Rossa, Montreal, QC
04.21.18 918 Bathurst, Toronto, ON
05.18.18 Moogfest, Durham, NC
05.19.18 Moogfest, Durham, NC
05.21.18 Union Stage, Washington, DC *
05.24.18 Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA *
05.25.18 Whistle Shop, San Diego, CA *
05.26.18 Resident, Los Angeles, CA *
05.27.18 The Chapel, San Francisco, CA *
05.28.18 The Minplex, Arcata, CA *
05.29.18 Holocene, Portland, OR *
05.30.18 Timbre Room, Seattle, WA *
06.07.18 Elsewhere, Brooklyn, NY *
* = w/Carla Dal Forno
