Garnet Rogers
Background information
BornMay 1955
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)Singer-Songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, fiddle, vocals
LabelsSnow Goose
Websitegarnetrogers.com

Garnet Rogers (born May 1955) is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario with roots in Nova Scotia.[1] He began his professional career working with his older brother, folk musician Stan Rogers,[2] and arranging Stan's music.

Career

Despite Stan Rogers' death on June 2, 1983 (just a few weeks before Stan, Garnet and bass player Jim Morison were to tour the US), Garnet Rogers has pursued his own career since then.[3]

At first, Rogers 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, Rogers' style is more modern, utilizing influences from blues, rock, country/bluegrass, and classical.[4]

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 Stratocaster, and sometimes a Hammertone Octave 12 (half-scale electric 12-string guitar).[5]

Rogers' songs include The Outside Track, All That Is, Sleeping Buffalo, Night Drive, Under The Summer Moonlight, Summer Lightning, Small Victory, 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,[2] 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 collaborators include Doug McArthur and Doug Long.[6]

Rogers has also written "Night Drive," a memoir of his travels with his brother Stan, who died in a fire aboard an Air Canada flight in 1983.[7]

Personal life

Garnet lives on a farm in Brantford, Ontario,[2] where his wife Gail raises champion thoroughbreds. They also own a house in Nova Scotia.

Solo albums

  • Garnet Rogers (1984)
  • The Outside Track (1985)
  • Speaking Softly in the Dark (1988)
  • Small Victories (1990)
  • At A High Window (1992)
  • Summer Lightning [Live] (1994)
  • Night Drive (1996)
  • Sparrow's Wing (1999)
  • Firefly (2001)
  • Shining Thing (2004)
  • Get a Witness [Live] (2007)
  • Summer's End (2014)

Other albums

  • Off the Map with Archie Fisher (1986)
  • Doug McArthur with Garnet Rogers (1989)
  • All That Is (The Songs of Garnet Rogers) (2002) [Red House Records]
  • Live at the Black Sheep (2003)
  • The Best Times After All [Live] with Archie Fisher (2019)

See also

  • Eileen McGann—Irish-Canadian female Celtic folksinger. They started out professionally in the same timeframe, played many of the same venues in their early days, and Garnet Rogers appeared on some of her early recordings.
  • Gordon Lightfoot
  • Roy Orbison

References

  1. ↑ "Garnet Rogers". Fleming Artists. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Garnet Rogers bringing solo act and seven or eight guitars". Peterborough Examiner. March 17, 2010. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Folk legend sings in support of Go Go Grannies". Orangeville Banner. March 17, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Garnet Rogers electrifying". CANOE. July 27, 2007. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Garnet Rogers delivers superb concert". Waterloo Region Record. March 1, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Album One of Finest from Fred Eaglesmith". Guelph Mercury. May 29, 2008. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Stan Rogers bio". Borealis Records. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
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