Urban Cannibals' Doria Roberts Vying for Grammys Performance Spot

EAST ATLANTA — Doria Roberts, the Decatur-based singer-songwriter who is co-owner of Urban Cannibals here in the Village, is in the running to perform live at this year's Grammy Awards broadcast.

Roberts, an independent musician with seven albums including Black-Eyed Susan, her latest release, is part of the Grammys' "Gig of a Lifetime" contest, which seeks to highlight new talent on the annual broadcast, which will air Feb. 10 on the CBS television network at 8 p.m.

Roberts bested some 260 other competitors to represent the South Atlantic region in the local portion of the contest.

Now, she's vying for the spot, coming up against six other finalists representing different regions of the country.

Voting for the national winner is ongoing and ends Jan. 24 at 3 p.m., after which the winner will be announced.

Roberts, whose first very first show was March 3 1993, told East Atlanta Patch the support has been great.

"It's pretty amazing considering I've been on a hiatus," Roberts said, referring to opening of Urban Cannibals three years ago with her wife, Calavino Donati.

"My fan base is still pretty active, which made me feel pretty good."

The contest also is part of the Grammys' push in recent years to be more inclusive of and showcase independent musicians.

"The Grammys have have been reaching out to independent musicians a lot more,' Roberts said.

"I think this contest is part of their initiative to acknowledge that we're a significant part of the process and this is their way of saying now 'we'd like to include you even more.' "