My Q&A with Keith Roberts of Young Dubliners

Hello all,

I recently had a chance to engage in a little Q&A with the founder, lead vocalist, and guitarist of the Young Dubliners. His name is Keith Roberts and this is what he had to say...

Q: Can you tell me about one or two of the saints and the sinners that served as inspiration for your latest record?

A: We don't need to look further then the inside of the bus, LOL. I think we all have a little of both in us and we just have to make sure the appropriate one is at the helm at the appropriate time!!

Q: Your tongue in cheek tracks are a blast. One of my favorites is Rosie. Did you write it, and were you able to convince her? Note: This song is about a man trying to convince a woman that marriage isn't necessary despite many years of dating.

A: The idea came from Brendan our bass player. He had the chorus, lyrics and melody and I took it from there, writing the story behind this Irish man who has been "dating" this woman for years but won't pop the question. Don't think he can ever bring himself to "make it official."

Q: The Young Dubliners are three part American and two part Irish. Are you Celtic or American Rock ambassadors?

A: Hopefully if that term applies to us at all it would be both. When we tour in Ireland the Americans in the band are certainly more "ambassador like" then we Irish are. I suppose it flips around when we get back here to the U.S.

Q: The Young Dubliners performed at the Olympics in 2002. Can you describe the feeling of performing in front of 10s of thousands of people drawn from different corners of the world?

A: It was a very cool event. The gig was sort of the "work" part but the hanging out with all the athletes was the highlight. It was a very exciting time all over SLC and we soaked it up. Those guys can party a lot harder then a rock band when their event is over!!!

Q: I often hear the words jam band associated with The Young Dubliners. Do you take issue with that?

A: Not at all, some band members are big fans of certain jam bands but it doesn't really describe us accurately. We have similar instrumentation to those bands but we are big fans of the 4 minute song and we like to play them the way we recorded them. However there are elements of the jam band style in our life shows.

Q: What can fans expect from your upcoming Wolf Trap performance on February 19?

A: We are definitely bringing the "A" game to Wolf Trap. We will have Eric Rigler with us on pipes (Titanic, Braveheart, etc) and lots of songs from the new album. We love that venue so it will be a fun show for us as well.