After disbanding Northstar, Roberts recorded a twelve track demo, "Brother Down", Roberts signed with artist manager Dave Spencer and began to perform live. With the assistance of Linda Bush at Universal Music Publishing Canada, he signed a publishing contract with UMPG and a record contract with
MapleMusic Recordings. MapleMusic released the six track EP culled from the demo with Roberts noting that "it is not something I had intended to be my first real foray into the music world but I couldn't turn my back on such a chance". It included two breakthrough singles, "
Brother Down" (released in mid-2002) and "Don't Walk Away Eileen" (released in late 2002) which were heavily promoted in the Canadian market. In August 2002, Roberts signed with
Universal Music. In November 2002, Roberts won the
CASBY Award for "Favourite New Artist". In 2003, he released his major label debut album,
We Were Born in a Flame, with the singles "
Where Have All the Good People Gone?" and "Hard Road" garnering success in the Canadian market. The album achieved double platinum sales status in Canada and won two
Juno Awards in 2004:
Album of the Year and
Rock Album of the Year, with Roberts winning the
Juno award for Artist of the Year. in 2007. Roberts’ second album,
Chemical City, was released in April 2006, with the first single "The Gate" topping as a No. 1 hit on Canadian radio. The second single, "
Bridge to Nowhere", won the
Juno Award for
Video of the Year in 2007 and the album achieved platinum sales status. Roberts' third album,
Love at the End of the World, released in May 2008, debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian album chart, a first for Roberts. The lead single, "
Them Kids", debuted on iTunes on March 4, 2008. Roberts again won the
Juno award for Artist of the Year and the album took home
Rock Album of the Year and reached gold sales status. == As Sam Roberts Band (2011–present) ==