06/01/2007

Singer/songwriter takes independence seriously

Garnet Rogers brings many colors of 'folk' to gallery

By Tom Carr

tcarr@record-eagle.com

Garnet Rogers

TRAVERSE CITY — Canadian singer/songwriter Garnet Rogers has resisted offers to record for major labels.

"They have to invest money in you and that basically buys them a place at the table when decisions are being made,” said Rogers, who will perform at InsideOut Gallery on Friday, June 8.

"That's only natural,” added Rogers, who records for his own company, Snowgoose Songs. "I just wasn't prepared to give up that kind of control.”

Rogers is labeled a folk musician and has a strong fan base in Canada and the U.S. While much of his music is acoustic, he also electrifies it in part and shows influences of blues, rock and classical. And he does a rocking cover of "Oh How Happy” by Motown's Edwin Starr on his latest CD, "Shining Thing.”

"I grew up listening to Motown,” said the native of Stoney Creek, Ontario, near Hamilton. "We were within radio distance from Detroit. We got Motown songs all the time. They would have revues with Martha (Reeves) and the Vandellas playing our local church hall. Wilson Pickett would play in Hamilton a lot.”

Yet his deep baritone sounds like another Canadian folksinger, Gordon Lightfoot.

"Other people have said that to me,” he said. "You don't grow up to be a folk singer in Canada without being aware of Gordon Lightfoot. But I don't hear it. It's hard to compare yourself with someone who's that good.”

His mother also listened to classical and opera as he was growing up. That comes through with the background of the title track of the CD, as it was modeled after music by English composer Rafe Von Williams, he said.

Rogers developed his love of music in childhood by listening to the Grand Ol' Opry and practicing harmonies with his older brother, the late Stan Rogers.

At age 8, he was playing ukulele and soon after taught himself flute, violin and guitar.

In the early 1970s, he and Stan joined Cedar Lake. A year later, they started a trio with the band's bassist and wrote songs about Canadian working people that attracted attention throughout their home country.

Independent from the start, they had their own record label even then, managed by their mother.

After Stan died in an aircraft fire in 1983, Garnet continued to write and perform and make a name on his own.

Now 52, his latest album deals with "the big three: sex, death and love,” he said.

"I think it's just the kind of thing you write about when you reach the half-century mark. You start thinking about mortality and the way things pass.”

Rogers has recorded songs he doesn't perform live, like "Grace,” which he wrote a month after 9/11 while "watching the plume of smoke coming off the bottom of Manhattan.”

"Making a song out of that is not a career move. I wanted to avoid that,” he said. "I felt really strongly that the only person who could make a big statement about it was Bruce Springsteen. He had nothing to prove and he was from that part of the country. And God bless him, he came out with a great record.”

Rogers said he hasn't suffered financially by remaining on his own label.

"As Prince said once when he was talking about his trouble with a label deal, 'I get paid 86 cents for every record I sell. Ani DiFranco (on an independent label) gets $10 for every one she sells. Who has the better record company?'” Rogers said.

Rogers is scheduled to perform at InsideOut Gallery at 8 p.m. Friday, June 8. Tickets are $12 in advance at the gallery, Cuppa Joe Cafe on 11th Street or Oryana Natural Foods Market, or $15 at the door.