Roland Roberts releasing new album and touring Alaska this summer

PALMER — Valley musician Roland Roberts of the Roland Roberts Band has a busy summer ahead of him.

Roberts’ newest album, “So It Goes” is coming out in July. He said that he’s booked to perform his new songs across the state.

Roberts recently shot the video for his single “For the Record” and it will be released in May. He said that he’s also releasing the title track of his new album in time for his upcoming concert at the Palmer Ale House June 3.

Roberts recently performed at the Palmer Ale House upstairs lounge for their Acoustic Unplugged series. He said that he’s performed at the Ale House on numerous occasions and he really enjoys what their venue offers to local musicians.

“It really brings it home,” Roberts said.

“So it Goes” is Roberts’ second studio album. He said in some ways, it’s partly a continuation of some of the themes from his previous album, but the overall creation process was very different this time around. He said that he jumped around a lot with the styles and sounds of each song and collaborated with numerous Alaskan musicians. In the end, he’s pleased with the finished product.

Roberts said that he feels like he has a lot of positive momentum going with his music. He said that he feels like he’s growing as an artist and having fun honing his craft.

“It feels really, really good,” Roberts said. “I feel much more confident and much more focused.”

Roberts has worked with numerous Alaskan artists over the years. He said that he’s made a lot of friends with plenty of fond memories to look back on. He said that his favorite aspect of the Alaskan music scene is the unmatched sense of “community, comradery, and support.”

“It’s like a big Alaska music family,” Roberts said.

The act of making music has been an eye-opening experience for Roberts. He said that he’s used music as a therapeutic tool to navigate through his various trials and tribulations and in the end, it’s brought him internal peace and even managed to have an impact on others.

“We’ll just see what else we can do,” Roberts said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com