The landscape of modern music makes the seasoned listener feel brief moments of escape—like driving mountain roads with the windows down or catching the breeze off the ocean from the bow of a ship. Mason Roberts offers a different experience altogether. Listening to his lush, soaring vocal is like boarding a hot air balloon before it embarks on a journey across deserts, mountains, and oceans alike. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mason is an artist who loves nothing more than the moment on stage connecting with the audience. With vibrato that is reminiscent of Josh Groban and the vocal purity of Michael Bublé and Jamie Cullum, Mason’s passionate tenor pierces emotions. Upon first listen, his words and tone are so direct that you may even feel that your privacy has been invaded. Still, you’ll come back for more. Mason’s distinct voice is an innate gift that has been honed through more than ten years of vocal training. He’s been charming his listeners since he was a kid, seizing every chance to develop his skill. While he never sought classical training, he experienced years of theater training that pointed him toward his true desires. “While studying theater, one of my teachers pointed out that I took every Broadway piece she gave me and turned it into a pop song,” he said. Thus was born the artist that successfully unites two different audiences—those who love the drama and finesse of a classic theater voice and those who prefer the hook of a pop radio hit. Mason achieves what few can by pulling together a broad spectrum of listeners. Once, when he and a group of friends were at a party, a friend discreetly put Mason’s debut CD Big City (2006) on rotation without telling anyone who the artist was. Suddenly the room was abuzz with praise for the stunning vocalist. Mason sat by quietly, overhearing friends and acquaintances begging to know, “Who is this? And why haven’t we heard this on the radio?” When Mason’s friend revealed the secret—that the artist was Mason himself—they knew they were meeting a star in the making. The partygoers were onto something that the rest of the world would soon be exposed to. Big City helped international listeners fall in love with Mason’s music. Two of the songs from that first album spent a combined 25 weeks at #1 on internet radio and garnered him a finalist slot in the 2006 Great Lakes Songwriting Contest. His latest offering, Naturally, features five tracks co-written and produced by Jay Lyons of Napoleon Productions in New York City. Lyons offered true perspective on Mason’s career when he said, “Be the crooner you are.” His crooning shines on songs like the emotionally charged “Take Me As I Am,” the album’s smoky opener. The Latin-tinged “Sunny” is a moving tribute to his late father, who died of cancer in 2007. On this album of heartache and love, Mason’s emotional vocal takes center stage, just as it should. In fact, that’s where you’ll find him at his finest—fronting a full band that lifts off and carries his voice across the audience with fire and passion. And the audience, suddenly aboard without the least bit of resistance, soars too—over the dessert, the mountains, the ocean—carried along by the voice of a rising balladeer.