New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Anthony W Rogers is a unique Appalachian psychedelic home spun music artist who has released three full length lps , the most recent of which "
One Day" (A Journal) released in fall of 2018. Rogers generally prefers natural sounds and instruments over modern samples lending a nod towards '70s music. His music generally provides a measure of instrumental innovation in the sounds with an ever present vocal-centric mix which is at the core of his signature sound...his voice.
Says Anthony, "The new album is the sound of the rural resistance... those who would find disturbing the immoral acceptance and apathy of a new emerging society bereft of sympathy empathy and goodwill... a society willfully turning its back on its moral obligations."
The album's design is a unique package that sequences the record over a 7" (tracks 1-4) and 12" (tracks 5- 12) record. The album is three phases the 45 phase 1 and side two of the lp phase 3 are about life behind enemy lines circa 2018. Side 2 is a partial reprieve into related collateral fallout
The album does cover far more than politics... The 12 tracks present a wide range of styles and the Rogers glorious left of center treatments and harmony vocals is ever-present. The bleak dying gasp "In The Water" concerning friends dead and alive and the madness that can befall them in a small town. Some do remain but are left compromised from the worse of wear. The bleak rural horizon figures largely into the two slower deadly serious and lucid tracks on the record, "In The Water" and the penultimate "When They Ask You" ("they're ripping out the heart of soul of my hometown").
Anthony Rogers was a member of DC nineties alt-rock bands The Now, Ten Below, and Skatley Crue. His first solo release was oddly unleashed as he essentially withdrew from professional music live performance in the mid nineties. 1994s luscious debut "Identifiction" (Cavity CD 1994) was entirely recorded with Chris Biondo at the his now legendary
Black Pond studios in Rockville Maryland. Numerous classic DC records were recorded at
Black Pond ranging from many early DC punk bands such as Strange Boutique Braille Party, and Dischord releases to go go legends like Chuck Brown, EU and eventually international vocalist extraordinaire Eva
Cassidy (with whom Rogers played drums on occasion). Rogers has continued to work with Biondo to date, having last prepared "
One Day" for release at Biondo's
Kensington studio in August of 2018.
After years out, Rogers returned with the indie spirited "
Wrong" in 2014 released to glowing reviews across the indie US circuit to
Europe and particularly in Belgium and Italy. Rogers is private and generally works close to the chest with few participants outside his family. He has recently returned to live performance in 2016 with drummer Bart Lay and performs from time to time locally but has not toured behind the records. In keeping with his notion of this "not being for everyone," his private label, Wildflow, as a policy- only release vinyl in editions of 250.
The Rogers children Audrey and Joe's contributions have come to prominence on "
One Day" and have seemingly grown exponentially between "
Wrong" and "One Day." Rogers choice to use drummer Bart Lay on most tracks indicates a more natural jazz and experimental influence to which the sound appears headed. The obviously informed interplay between Rogers and Lay on several tracks provide a fertile terrain and texture on this album which represents a new richness, an expansion of his art.
If you hear any of his work, you will be quickly made aware that Rogers, like few artists, has created his own little musical universe and space in a hidden corner of the sky that reflects his primal influences of the WilsonRundgrenZappa but always ventures far afield from his backyard. His lyrics frequently provide an angle or issue that is unexpected but always return to morality and compassion. As said above, Rogers private label Wildflow has limited the vinyl release of "
One Day" to a 250 piece run and will be available near year's end. "
One Day" and "
Wrong" are currently available for download on iTunes and the other standard digital vendors. The first mid nineties release "Indentifiction" was released on CD and remains currently out of print.
In closing Anthony has this to impart, "In the end, I hope this record is not too predictable. It is me and what I have to say. To me, the album is not political but rather it reflects the nerve and tenor of rural
America circa 2018. If it's about anything, it's really about the systematic and willful selfish destruction of 'goodwill' in the middle heartland of a country that was founded on 'goodwill' and love your neighbor. What can you do? You can do a lot."
Tracks:
1. Mash
2. I'll Take the Blame
3. Half the Picture
4. Big House on the Hill
5. Into the See
6. Roman Candle
7. Fly Away
8. In the Water
9. Ploom Mfs
10. Range Rover
11. And When They Ask You
12. Mash (Reprise) / Cocks in the Field
To purchase:
CD:
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/anthonywrogers2
https://www.amazon.com/One-Journal-Explicit-Anthony-Rogers/dp/B07JFNN92F/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544630595&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=anthony+w+rogers+one+day
Vinyl:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Movie---Music-Store/SOLAR-MOUNTAIN-RECORDS-179968760251/
Stream/listen at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e2KfnsOtcA&list=OLAK5uy_krxanvcNKw_B3RkPSkGCRB6jUamFhf1ug
Sound Cloud:
https://soundcloud.com/anthony-w-rogers
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/search/results/anthony%20w%20rogers%20one%20day
