Garnet Rogers (born May 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

ian, singer, songwriter and composer. He was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

with Maritime roots.

Early life

Rogers was born in

to Nathan Allison Rogers and Valerie (née Bushell) Rogers, who had moved to Ontario from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

to find work. Rogers, along with his elder brother Stan, was raised in Binbrook, Ontario, and spent summers in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia.

Career

Rogers began his professional career working with his brother Stan, arranging Stan's music. After Stan died in a plane crash on June 2, 1983 (just a few weeks before Stan, Garnet and bass player Jim Morison were to tour the US), Garnet began to pursue his own career. 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 ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', 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 Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, rock,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent 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 Stratocaster, and sometimes a Hammertone Octave 12 (half-scale electric 12-string guitar). 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, 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. 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.

Personal life

Garnet lives on a farm in

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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'' ive(1994) * ''Night Drive'' (1996) * ''Sparrow's Wing'' (1999) * ''Firefly'' (2001) * ''Shining Thing'' (2004) * ''Get a Witness'' ive(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) ed House Records* '' Live at the Black Sheep'' (2003) * ''The Best Times After All'' ivewith Archie Fisher (2019)

References

External links

Garnet Rogers' official webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Garnet 1955 births Living people Canadian folk guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian folk singers Canadian male songwriters Canadian male composers Musicians from Brantford Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Red House Records artists 20th-century Canadian composers 21st-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers