Bio

Jim Roberti started his musical career as a drummer/singer at age five, eventually eaching himself piano, bass and guitar throughout his school years. Throughout the years Jim has evolved into a well-rounded, independent musician with a hectic gigging schedule averaging 250 shows per year as well as four self-financed and produced CDs. Roberti is known for his ability to emulate a wide variety of vocal styles, his eagerness to please crowds and fun-loving attitude towards life and music.

Although Roberti has always written and recorded songs, his career as an artist and songwriter started in earnest with a four-piece band called Ark of Puppets, which was based in Northeastern PA in the early 90’s. With the release of a 5 song EP called Feel Say Be Live (1993) people took notice of Roberti’s songwriting talent.

With the breakup of the short-lived Ark of Puppets, Roberti started writing songs for a homespun album that would soon be known as Yellow (1995). Although Yellow was recorded on a four-track cassette machine and released only on cassette, it has a unique creative quality and some truly inspired songs.

Roberti then began work on a self-produced and financed disc called Maybaby (1997). A virtual musical resume, Roberti plays all instruments (with few exceptions) and co-produced, co-mixed (Gary Wehrkamp) the disc. Maybaby contains the song “Sister’s Lament”, a crowd favorite.

In 1998 Roberti made his first TV appearance on BRCTV channel 13’s Coffee Break with Kim Bell. He also joined NACA (National Association of Campus Activities) and was one of 47 acts picked out of 500 applicants to showcase at the NACA East Coast Conference in October of ’98. With the success of this showcase, Jim started playing colleges throughout the Northeastern United States. It was at this time that Jim started a collaboration with drummer Paul Cipriano that continues to this day.

June 1st, 1999 saw the release of Blend, the anticipated follow-up to Maybaby. Produced, written and arranged by Roberti, he also plays all instruments except drums (Paul Cipriano) on Blend. The songs “Aberration”, “Toasted”, “Love Myself” and “PSE” are favorites that stand out on an otherwise well-crafted CD.

In 2000 and 2001 Roberti wrote a column called Survival Tips for Musicians for Northeastern Pennsylvania-based music rag Music Head Magazine. The column was designed to make humorous, practical commentary on a variety of situations that arise for live musicians while on the job. Excerpts of the Survival Tips for Musicians series have been reprinted in What! A Magazine, a Canadian teen publication that is distributed to over 1,000 high schools throughout Canada.

In December of 2002 Roberti released Soul Kiss, a collection of ten new originals penned in the summer of 2000. Roberti recorded Soul Kiss with three other musicians and long-time friends Gary Wehrkamp, Paul Cipriano and Kevin Leggieri, all of whom would later become founding members of the Maybabies along with Jim and Toby Costa of Solution A.D. and Pocono Duo fame. Jim’s collaborative efforts with these fine musicians gave Soul Kiss an additional dose of musicality and substance. Soul Kiss re-solidified Roberti’s reputation as a thoughtful, quirky independent artist with songs like “Museum Song”, “My Time” and “If You Don’t”.

Jim’s live playing schedule exploded with the addition of Gary Wehrkamp in 2002. A well known guitarist and keyboardist amongst progressive-rock fans and musicians world-wide, Gary joined Paul and Jim on bass guitar and vocals and eventually developed a simultaneous keyboard and bass guitar style that is truly impressive and enables the trio to play like a four-piece band. The trio has since played at many of the iconic hotels and venues in New York City multiple times for large corporate functions as well as world-wide fundraising and private events in over 10 states.

Jim has maintained a slow but steady pace of writing and recording music throughout his career. He appeared as a guest vocalist on prog-rock band Shadow Gallery’s Floydian Memories (2005) and co-wrote with Gary Wehrkamp the song “The Incident at Haldeman’s Lake” for Voice in the Light (Amaran’s Plight 2006). Jim also appeared as a guest vocalist for the Wishmakers original song “Christmas Time in the Poconos Again” (2008) and wrote and recorded an original Christmas song called “Bring Back the Soldiers on Christmas” to raise funds for Mady’s Angels in 2013.