ROAM is a collaborative acoustic duo that has emerged from a ten-year musical relationship between Lisa Patterson (vocals, piano, alto sax) and Alex McMaster (vocals, cello, clarinet). Lisa and Alex revel in the space for vocal and instrument resonance and dialogue, creating a raw, intimate and honest sound. ROAM’s songs present an intriguing mix of sophisticated melody, evocative lyric and powerful harmony and are infused with the diversity of their heritages and life experiences in living, traveling and collaborating across four continents. They were featured artists at the Canadian Connections Fair in Holland, have performed together on Canadian festival main-stages in B.C., Ontario and Quebec and will be touring South India in January 2009 with regional collaborators.
With generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts, ROAM have created their debut album Points of Departure (imaginit music /Phd Canada). Recorded mostly live-off-the-floor, the disc is an adventurous, sensual and philosophical journey. Stories of new beginnings, courage, surrender and social consciousness are enhanced by guest artists Maryem Tollar (vocals & rik), Cassius Khan, (vocals & tabla) and Morgan Doctor (doumbek, cajon).
www.maryemtollar.com
www.cassiuskhan.impendo.com
www.morgandoctor.com
Over the past year, ROAM has received CBC and campus airplay from an EP, hosted a collaborative weekly performance series in Toronto with special guest artists, appeared live on Cable TV programs, and co-presented/performed at two noteworthy showcases in Toronto: Forward Festival at Lula Lounge and Musique Sans Frontieres at the Drake Hotel.
Alex McMaster is a classically trained cellist (University of Toronto) who was born in Malawi and raised in Zimbabwe, Canada, Guyana, Bangladesh and the U.K. Living abroad has brought an international perspective to Alex’s artistic work. She has toured and recorded with many high profile Canadian artists including Jane Siberry, Feist, Christine Fellows, Lily Frost, A Northern Chorus, Sean Cullen, Jacksoul, and Oh Susanna. Alex is an accomplished string arranger and orchestrator, including scoring a project for the Orlando Philharmonic. She has participated in various cross-cultural initiatives including Earth in Motion Dance Company’s Mexico residency and volunteer support for new immigrant women in Canada. Alex is also a certified French translator.
Lisa Patterson, familiar to Canadian and international audiences as a solo artist, originally hails from British Columbia where she grew up surrounded by the dancing and singing of her Romanian and Scottish family. She has commercially released 3 music videos and 2 solo albums. The sophomore disc, ROAM, from which this duo takes its' name, was distributed in Canada (Festival Distribution) and in Europe (Rough Trade Records) with Need Each Other, a single from that CD, remaining in the top 10 on Holland charts for 12 weeks. Lisa brings the empowerment of arts-based dialogue to diverse communities throughout Ontario with her work as company musician and program coordinator in the Leonardo da Vinci award-winning Toronto Playback Theatre. Besides her active performing and recording life, Lisa is also a recording engineer and producer, most recently completing the debut album for Haitian/Canadian rising star Melissa Laveaux (now based in France, signed with No Format! label) and currently working on the upcoming album from award-winning aboriginal artist Brenda MacIntyre / Medicine Song Woman.
Alex and Lisa share more than music. They are longtime friends who both spent a good portion of their youth in airports and foreign countries. They both lost their mothers to breast cancer. They enthusiastically participate in the well-being of community through volunteer and contract work with immigrant women, at-risk youth, shelters as well as coaching young musicians and songwriters.
Download ROAM's bio as a word doc here.