Order my book The Piano Player of Budapest and the corresponding album, Songs From The Piano Player of Budapest, now!

My literary debut, The Piano Player of Budapest, tells the story of my grandfather Stephen de Bastion and his piano – how both he and it survived the Holocaust. The book is being published by Little Brown (Pegasus Books in the US) and comes out on June 6th 2024. You can pre-order the book on hardback, e-book and audiobook from all bookshops now.

Working from a treasure-trove of cassette tapes, as well as his original sheet music, I’ve lovingly created an album of my grandfather’s work (restored, re-recorded and re-imagined) to go alongside the book.

You can order the album as well as exclusive book & album bundles from my Bandcamp page. And you can of course buy the book from a bookshop of your choice!

Order here

About

“I’ve been listening with a great deal of interest to Roxanne de Bastion…Beautiful. There’s quite a few good things on this record.” – Iggy Pop (BBC 6 Music)

“de Bastion broadens her sound ambitiously, to great effect”– The Observer

“Roxanne de Bastion works with a rare degree of assurance. The songwriter has a potent and refined aesthetic, matching slight gothic tinges to some late 60s flourishes.” – Clash Magazine

“She definitely is a rising star” – Janice Long, BBC Wales

“Outstanding voice, deserves a great deal of recognition” – Chris Hawkins, BBC6 Music

“Astonishingly assured.” – The Sunday Times

To describe London-based singer-songwriter Roxanne de Bastion as a pioneering DIY artist does little justice to the hefty list of accomplishments and accolades she’s assembled in her very busy life. Her entrepreneurial spirit has been evident since she moved from her native Berlin to London aged 19 to pursue a career in music. Over 600 shows later, after a self-released debut album (2017’s Heirlooms and Hearsay), tours with Martha Wainwright, Lambchop and Marillion and performances at Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk festival, 2021 saw the release of her second album You & Me, We Are The Same. The album was produced by the legendary Bernard Butler, who jumped at the chance to work with Roxanne after she had simply emailed him a demo. As Bernard says “some cold calls turn into beautiful projects… I think we created something emotional and special”.

The album, in which Roxanne deals with the loss of her British musician father, was distributed via Republic of Music in 2021. This independent release landed in the official UK album download charts at no.76 and was discovered by Iggy Pop, who made Roxanne the featured artist on his BBC6 Music radio show. The album also received airplay on BBC6 (Steve Lamacq and Chris Hawkins), BBC Wales (the late Janice Long), Absolute Radio (Daniel Perry), BBC Radio London (Gary Crowley) and garnered great reviews and features in The Observer, NME, Record Collector, Rolling Stone Magazine (DE), Yorkshire Post and Under The Radar. Her track Erase was remixed by The Anchoress.

Roxanne’s career has been built on a true DIY spirit. During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Roxanne was the first artist to embark on a virtual UK tour in lockdown, performing virtually on the social media pages of promoters and venues across the country. The tour was featured on BBC News, Metro and Huffington Post. Her incredible run of over 600 gigs to date include two DIY tours of America (she procured a US agent and an 01 VISA after showcasing at Folk Alliance, which she was able to attend thanks to the PRSF International Fund). She self-published a tour diary book Tales From the Rails (2018), which was launched with a sold-out show at London’s Lexington. Roxanne was voted onto the Featured Artist Coalition (FAC) Board of Directors, where she remains a valued board member. She was also voted onto PPL’s Performer Board, and is also an advocate for Imogen Heap’s Creative Passport. Roxanne created her own music conference (FM2U) specifically from and for independent artists. Last year, she was featured on Sky News and LBC Radio talking about the difficulties artists have endured since the pandemic.

Last year, Roxanne was invited to open for Nerina Pallot and Bernard Butler, and went on her own headline tour across the UK in June of this year. Roxanne was asked to be the sole performer at UK Music’s Summer Party at the Southbank Centre in July. She’s just returned from a tour opening for Katie Melua across Germany and in October will open for Howard Jones across the UK. Roxanne also hosts a weekly show on north London station Boogaloo Radio, the Monday Morning Shake-up.

Upcoming Shows

Date City Venue Country
04/12/24 Liverpool Leaf United Kingdom
Time: 7:00pm. Admission: £13. Age restrictions: All Ages. Address: Bold Street. celebrating 60 years of the iconic Hard Day’s Night and Beatles For Sale albums for charity and with a little help from my friends (The Ragamuffins, Thom Morecroft and more) Buy Tickets
12/12/24 London Kings Place United Kingdom
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: £9 – £18. Age restrictions: All Ages. Address: 90 York Way. Buy Tickets

see all upcoming shows

Tales from the Rails

Now and Then

“I’ve just heard Now and Then…has anyone checked in to see if Roxanne’s OK?” I must have done something right in life, because when The Beatles released their final song Now and Then at 2pm on November 2nd, 2023, I was moved by how many of you thought of me and sent me messages to …