Although he has played over a thousand shows in venues and on festival stages in the U.S. and Europe, Roebuck can just as easily be seen performing on a street corner in New Orleans or New York City, where he has spent nearly a decade honing his skills as a one-man band.

"Whirling one-man banjo ninja is in fighting form."
-Europe Intelligence Wire

"There's no niche or category to file this under. It's just simply amazing."
-Autopia

"A stone-cold classic performer that blasts all other singer-songwriters out of their soporific, arrogant, self-obsessed torpor with his pinpoint melodies, frantic enthusiasm and homespun, heartfelt wordplay, one-man-band Roebuck's lightning fast banjo (dude can shred quicker than Kerry King man!) and incessant hotstepping to the beat really will get your juices flowing. Aided by yet another pristinely sparse Steve Albini recording that just lets Roebuck do what he does best, live, in the flesh, no airs or graces, just pure musicianship in action, and my god is it catchy!" -CollectiveZine

"Phillip Roebuck is poorly suited to written description. Merely describing what he does makes it sound trivial, when it is actually mind-blowing. Phillip is a one-man band in the traditional mould: He sings, plays banjo and harmonica with a bass drum strapped to his back, which he operates with a foot-powered harness that also plays the tambourine and maracas. See? That sounds silly, doesn't it? But Phil isn't silly, he is both a delightful oddity and the purest kind of genius. He plays in a frenetic style that suits his reedy, mountain-style singing, and manages to sound both plaintive and raucous at the same time. Look past the contraption and be enlightened."
-Steve Albini, 2004

"Imagine you are a one-man band. There's a huge backpack-like contraption that's holding a bass drum with two cords attached to mallets. There's one cord coming down to each leg for drum control. When you stomp each leg you make a thundering drum sound. Sound cool? There's more. While rhythmically pounding both feet to the ground, creating your desired drum sound, you are also equipped with a banjo. You play this banjo with ever increasing force and skill throughout the song. Now the crowd is mesmerized. They've never seen or heard anything like it. There's no niche or category to file this under. It's just simply amazing. One of the most inspiring shows I've seen all year. John Peel would have been proud."
-Autopia John Peel Memorial, 2005

"His songs reverberate with an aberrant panache and disseminate a sound like no other. Keeping true to the ‘play anywhere… to anyone’ ethics of his predecessors, Phillip is as at home on the street corners of New York as he is on stages around the world. He is a chimeric creation of circumstance and accident. The most untainted kind of genius. A true, modern day American troubadour. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to meet Phillip Roebuck."
-Read the feature on Scene Point Blank

BATTLE OF THE BANJO MAN
One-man banjo band Phillip Roebuck will blow your mind / by Matt Driscoll

I've seen a lot of cool shit in my day.

I've seen John Elway win back-to-back Super Bowls. I've seen Post Stardom Depression play some dudes deck. Ive seen Pete Townshend shred his hand mid windmill, and then finish Quadrophenia. I've seen Bobble Tiki talk down the price of a lap dance, and then borrow 10 bucks from Brad Allen to pay for it. Ive seen the vice president of the United States shoot an elderly man in the face with a shotgun, only to have said elderly man, with pellets still lodged in his cheek, apologize for his own actions.

However, never before have I seen anything quite like Phillip Roebuck.

Never.

Ever.

Until a few weeks ago, that is, when Roebuck played Hells Kitchen and blew my freakin mind. I'm forever changed. I'll never be the same.

At first, I only saw the contraption. Roebuck's a mess of hair and sweat, stomping about, shaking the stage, but your eyes can't help but focus on the contraption. You hear his banjo, tearing through rocking, unorthodox licks, like Uncle Dave Macon on a whiskey and speed binge, but it's the contraption you're drawn to pounding out the beat and backbone. It's strapped to him, weighing on his shoulders, and stuffed with all the groove and aggression it can hold. There are cymbals. There's a tambourine. There are cords and connections all tied to custom spurs on his heels.

Roebuck puppeteers the fury.

It's a sight to be seen. More importantly, it's a noise to be heard.

Phillip Roebuck is a one-man band. The title's no lie. Born on the corners and subways of New York, musically speaking, and standing singular on what should have been a lonely stage that night at the Kitchen, Roebuck filled the space with a bass drum on his back and a banjo draped in front.

Imagine my excitement upon learning he'd be back, playing Le Voyeur in Olympia, with Who Cares and the Grizzle Grazzle Trashcan Band on Thursday, April 27. Imagine my even greater excitement upon learning he'd also be performing live on KAOS the day before, on Wednesday, April 26.

Actually, never mind imagining. Let me just tell you.

I was jacked.

Among banjo traditionalists, Roebuck is often considered a hack. By looks alone Roebuck might be considered a novelty. He's neither. Roebuck is an artist as pure as they come. His style is his own. His music is unmistakably his own. He plucks like a madman and stomps like thunder. He plays simply to play and for anyone willing to listen.

If you've never believed a single word I've written, and never do again, take this to heart this should be you. You should be willing to listen to Phillip Roebuck.

"The drums were already in me. I learned to play the banjo living in New York. When you play the banjo theres always some foot tapping. I'd write songs in my apartment, tapping on the floors, and in the subways, the concrete didn't sound the same. I started using a cigar box, but broke it. Thats when I decided I needed more. I built it (the bass drum backpack thing) in one afternoon", explains Roebuck by phone, the day after a tour stop in Denton, Texas.

"Obviously its incredibly limiting. I try not to think about that. There's so much I still haven't done. I have to learn something new every time I write a song. The challenge is part of the appeal."

At 34, Roebuck has two one-man band albums under his belt and plans a third shortly. Besides being voted the best subway performer by the New York Press in 2002, hes been cultivating a nationwide following thanks to a life based on touring and hype free music. He crisscrosses the country, now, behind the wheel of a Subaru Baha, with only his bass drum harness riding shotgun.

"I didnt study any proper style. Its a bastard style. Becoming a one-man band isnt something I did consciously. It just happened. One day it was like, Holy s@..%, Im a one-man band", offers Roebuck.

"I've tried my hand at other things. I feel like I have more to offer playing music than anything else. It comes naturally. So much stuff is shoved down your throat these days. Its about being connected to other human beings for me. Thats what its all about."

Phillip Roebuck will play Le Voyeur in Olympia on April 27 with Who Cares and the Grizzle Grazzle Trashcan Band. He'll perform on KAOS the day before. You'll never see anything like it. Phillip Roebuck may very well be my new hero. The man's so talented your girlfriend may leave you for him. Call it humor, call it a compliment to Roebuck, call it the sad truth, call it what you will but I really couldn't blame her.
-The Weekly Volcano