Garnet Rogers
Encyclopedia
Garnet Rogers is a Canadian
folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He began his professional career working with his brother, folk musician Stan Rogers
, and arranging Stan's music.
While his brother's style of writing was more traditional and often based on Canadian Maritime styles, Garnet's style is more modern, utilizing influences from blues
, rock
, country
/bluegrass
, and classical.
Rogers' instruments include the guitar, mandolin, violin, and flute. In live performances, he usually sits beside a guitar rack that includes three vintage Gibson acoustic guitars, a National guitar, a Fender electric guitar and even an electric, twelve-string mandolin-like guitar.
His songs include The Outside Track, All That Is, Sleeping Buffalo, Night Drive, Under The Summer Moonlight, Summer Lightning, Small Victories, and Frankie and Johnny. They range from slices of life to mild social commentary and humour. His humour is also seen in his on-stage banter between songs, which is mostly unrecorded, except for a couple of interludes on his brother's posthumous album, "Home in Halifax". In addition, Garnet has covered other folk artists' work, including Roy Forbes
' (Bim's) Woh Me, and Archie Fisher
's The Final Trawl. His list of collaborators include Doug McArthur and Doug Long.
, where his wife raises champion thoroughbreds.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He began his professional career working with his brother, folk musician Stan Rogers
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
, and arranging Stan's music.
Career
Despite and ever since Stan Rogers' death on 3 June 1983 (just a few weeks before Stan, Garnet and bass player Jim Morrison were to tour America for the first time), Garnet Rogers has pursued his own career. At first, Garnet had difficulty getting a permit from the U.S. Immigration Service, which only granted one after a campaign on his behalf was launched by Odetta, the Boston Globe and a PBS TV station in New York.While his brother's style of writing was more traditional and often based on Canadian Maritime styles, Garnet's style is more modern, utilizing influences from blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
/bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, and classical.
Rogers' instruments include the guitar, mandolin, violin, and flute. In live performances, he usually sits beside a guitar rack that includes three vintage Gibson acoustic guitars, a National guitar, a Fender electric guitar and even an electric, twelve-string mandolin-like guitar.
His songs include The Outside Track, All That Is, Sleeping Buffalo, Night Drive, Under The Summer Moonlight, Summer Lightning, Small Victories, and Frankie and Johnny. They range from slices of life to mild social commentary and humour. His humour is also seen in his on-stage banter between songs, which is mostly unrecorded, except for a couple of interludes on his brother's posthumous album, "Home in Halifax". In addition, Garnet has covered other folk artists' work, including Roy Forbes
Roy Forbes
Roy Forbes is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, whose music bears heavy influences from classic American genres of acoustic blues and traditional country....
' (Bim's) Woh Me, and Archie Fisher
Archie Fisher
Archie Fisher MBE is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.-The early years:Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at...
's The Final Trawl. His list of collaborators include Doug McArthur and Doug Long.
Personal life
Garnet lives on a farm in Brantford, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, where his wife raises champion thoroughbreds.
Solo CDs
- Garnet Rogers 1984
- The Outside Track 1985
- Speaking Softly in the Dark 1988
- Small Victories 1990
- At A High Window 1992
- Summer Lightning Live album 1994
- Night Drive 1996
- Sparrow's Wing 1999
- Firefly 2001
- Shining Thing 2004
- Get a Witness Live album 2007
Other CDs
- Off the Map with Archie FisherArchie FisherArchie Fisher MBE is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.-The early years:Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at...
1986 - Doug McArthur with Garnet Rogers 1989
- All That Is (The Songs of Garnet Rogers) 2002 [Red House Records]
- Live at the Black SheepLive at the Black SheepLive at the Black Sheep is the title of a live album by folk singer/guitarist Greg Brown.Performing with Brown are Garnet Rogers, and the duo of Pete Heitzman and Karen Savoca. After all four musicians had performed at the Ottawa Folk Festival, they crossed the Ottawa River and made their way to...
2003