Aj Roach Views

Music

A. J. Roach is a database consultant and web engineer for CivicActions LLC. After receiving a degree in Computer Science with a concentration in hyper-text media from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1998, A. J. spent a couple of years working as a database engineer for start-ups in Virginia and Washington, DC, before moving out west to San Francisco to split his time between working as a touring singer-songwriter and a programmer and database designer for Manex and ESC, the visual FX houses responsible for The Matrix trilogy and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. In 2003, A. J. decided to make performing his full-time occupation. After performing more than 400 shows in the United States and Europe from 2003 to 2005, AJ joined the CivicActions team in the summer of 2005. Now living in Brooklyn, NY, he splits his time between changing the world using folk music, and changing it through the use of technology.

AJ Roach's first full-length recording is entitled Dogwood Winter and was released in the United States in the summer of 2003 on the New Folkstar recording label. A subsequent UK release followed in January 2005. A follow-up to Dogwood Winter, Revelation, was released in the UK in late 2006 and had an American release in January 2008 on Waterbug Records. Revelation reached number 1 on the Euro-Americana Chart in December 2006. Also in December 2006, the album reached number 5 on the Freeform Americana and Roots (FAR) Chart.

A bay area music producer recently told us about a record he produced by a San Francisco based, singer songwriter named AJ Roach. Inspired by his Appalachian upbringing and love of gospel music, AJ Roach puts together well crafted folk songs that have made Europeans take notice (The album is #1 on the Euro-Americana charts).

While both ‘Dogwood Winter’ and 'Revelation' are stunning achievements, nothing compares to hearing AJ in a live setting. His performances are so powerful that it is commonplace for audience members to be moved to tears. As a master storyteller, AJ’s dry and cutting wit between songs has become nearly as celebrated as his performance of the songs themselves. The Glasgow Herald had this to say about one of Roach's recent performances: m"Roach took the audience packed into the estimable Fallen A...