John Roberts: May 5, 1944-January 31, 2025
John Roberts: May 5, 1944-January 31, 2025
SF Maritime Festival 2016
When a person has the honor of meeting their mentors and heroes, and ends up working with them, it’s a a privilege beyond anything one can imagine. That is the way I have always felt about John Roberts, with whom I worked from 2009 – 2020.
Sadly, John died on January 31, 2025. I had known he’d been ill and before he went into his very last days, I drove to Schenectady, NY to see him. At that point he was on a ventilator, so one might say he was “a captive audience”. I spent an hour with him, mainly singing the songs that we had sang together, giving him a hard time and letting him know how loved he is. I would hope that he heard me and I certainly take comfort in the fact that he might have.
Recording hurdy-gurdy for “Hills of Greenmore”
When a friend heard the news, he said “It’s like a library has burned down”, referencing John’s vast and immense knowledge of songs and music. He was an incredible encyclopedia of knowledge and I could always ring him up with a question about a ballad, song or a piece of music. His partner, Lisa Preston was equally knowledgeable in early music and together they were quite a musical partnership in their own right. He also had a very dry sense of humor, most likely due to his British beginnings.
It was around 2014 when John said “We should make a recording” and we did. In 2015, we released “Ballads Long & Short”. The photo at right is of John contributing hurdy-gurdy tracks to my 2019 release “Greening the Dark”. John also sang harmony on two hymns on “Dad’s Dinner Pail” and we also recorded Jean Ritchie’s “Wintergrace” for a tribute album called “Dear Jean”.
He went out at the top of his game. His solo concert at Old Songs last May was stunning. I encourage you to sit back, grab a glass or cuppa and watch the concert. If you don’t want to watch the entire concert, I urge you to skip to 2:18:29 and listen to John give one of the best performances I’ve ever witnessed of one of my favorite ballads. I did request it and I like to think he took my “ask” into consideration. You can watch the concert HERE or click on the image to watch on YouTube. We had a lot of laughs over the years and I will miss this dear friend who was not only talented, but a kind and gentle spirit.
