Album Notes

Internationally touring singer songwriter Doria Roberts virtually lived on the road since performing at the original Lilith Fair in 1999 where she was plucked from the side stage to perform solos with Sarah McLachlan and the Indigo Girls. She quit her day job first thing the following morning and spent the next nine years (ten months out of the year) performing in listening rooms, theaters and festivals in the US, Canada, Sweden and Australia. Looking for a change of pace in 2008 and with an unsteady economy bearing down on the country, Roberts took a self imposed hiatus from recording and touring...

In December 2009, Roberts opened up Urban Cannibals Bodega + Bites (a grocery, deli and bakery) with her spouse Chef Calavino Donati. The duo offer locally inspired dishes along with conventional and organic & natural products on their shelves. The store was a finalist in DailyCandy's "Start Small, Go Big" contest and has appeared on the Food Network's "Meat & Potatoes hosted by Rahm Fama.

In the summer of 2010, Roberts was invited to an artist residency at the Chateauvallon Artist Complex in Ollioules, France followed by a five city tour of the country to tribute black women songwriters. So, she launched a Kickstarter campaign (a popular crowd sourcing website where fans fund projects of their favorite artists) to fund an Odetta tribute project.

After a grueling 45 day campaign, Roberts raised the necessary funds and is releasing her seventh project entitled "Blackeyed Susan" on September 20, 2011. The CD is a tribute to her friend and mentor the late Civil Rights era folk artist Odetta Holmes. Doria & Calavino will set out on their "Farm to Ear tour in the fall with shows benefiting local food banks across the country. The CD is housed in a recycled and re-usable case and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Music Maker Relief Fund, which assists the nation's elderly blues, roots and Americana artists in need.

Along with being awarded various writing awards, Doria has also received the Orfeo Musica Humanitarian Award from the Tupilak Arts Consortium in Stockholm and the Anderson Leadership Award from the Task Force. She was also nominated for a Colin Higgins Leadership Award and chosen as the spokesperson for "War on Apathy", a national activist campaign, for lending her music, talent and production skills to fundraising and awareness events for communities in need around the globe. She is currently serving her second term on the board of the Atlanta Chapter of the The Recording Academy.

She has shared the stage with the late folk legend Odetta, world music darling Angelique Kidjo, the Holmes Brothers, Janis Ian, Patty Griffin, Me'shell Ndegeocello, Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker, Oscar winning actress Jane Fonda and many others.

BLACKEYED SUSAN REVIEWS + MENTIONS

ATLANTA MAGAZINE:
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/eldredgeatl/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10290840

GA VOICE:
http://www.thegavoice.com/index.php/aae/music/3192-doria-roberts-on-her-new-cd

EAST ATLANTA PATCH:
http://eastatlanta.patch.com/articles/doria-roberts-a-folk-singer-in-a-soul-kitchen

ATLANTA INTOWN:
http://www.atlantaintownpaper.com/2011/05/doria-roberts-local-before-local-was-cool/