With confidence, smarts and an ear for a great song, Bess Rogers is poised for a mainstream breakthrough with her upcoming ‘Bess Rogers Presents Bess Rogers.’
Set for a September 7th release, the EP features the single ‘Come Home’ — check out the music here: http://www.sethcohenpr.com/player/bessrogers/ Singer/songwriter
Rogers, whose sound at times recalls Regina Spektor on speed, Juliana Hatfield, Wilco’s ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’, the GoGos and Patty Griffin, is also a multi-instrumentalist and a fearless tinkerer in the studio, evoking Prince at his impish best. She is currently on tour with Ingrid Michaelson, and will headline this Fall to coincide with her EP release (see itinerary below.)
Rogers’ music threads the line between aggression and tenderness, and those extremes give her memorable writing its firm sense of drama and wit. As for her distinctive pop/punk/folk style, she credits life on the road for honing her sharp ‘internal ear’: “Because of all of the touring and traveling I’ve been doing the past year or two, I’ve taken to writing songs in my head or out loud in the car if I’m alone. I think the song/lyrics/arrangements through in my head before taking it to an instrument.
Most of the songs on the EP were written that way and I think, as a result, the melodies and themes are strong and simple. Writing things by memory almost tests its worth: if I couldn’t remember it later I figure it probably wasn’t strong enough to begin with.” On ‘Bess Rogers Presents Bess Rogers’, listeners will have the pleasure of being steamrolled by ‘Favorite Day’ and haunted by ‘Good Enough’…a steady hand belies Rogers’ wistful, appealing fragility in ‘All In Good Fun’ and ‘What We What’…and then there’s ‘Come Home’, the album’s winning single.
Rogers was selected as one of PAPER MAGAZINE’s ‘NEXT BIG THINGS’ in their May, 2010 issue: http://www.papermag.com/arts_and_style/2010/06/next-big-things.php BESS
ROGERS HEADLINING TOUR:
09/01/10 Messiah College Grantham PA
09/02/10 Midtown Arts Center Harrisburg PA
09/07/10 Rockwood 2 New York NY
09/08/10 The Saint Asbury Park NJ
09/09/10 Night Cat Easton MD
09/10/10 Tin Angel Philadelphia PA
09/11/10 Clementine Café Harrisonburg VA
09/12/10 Southern Cafe and Music Hall Charlottesville VA
09/15/10 The Garage @ Biltmore Asheville NC
09/16/10 Evening Muse Charlotte NC
09/17/10 Atlanta Room @ Smith’s Olde Bar Atlanta GA
09/18/10 Moonlight On The Mountain Birmingham AL
09/20/10 Third & Lindsley Nashville TN
09/21/10 Birdy’s Indianapolis IN
09/23/10 WGN-TV/THE CW LIVE APPEARANCE Chicago IL
09/23/10 Elbo Room Chicago IL
09/27/10 Wilbert’s Cleveland OH
09/28/10 Garfield Art Works Pittsburgh PA
10/06/10 The Speakeasy under 121 Providence RI
10/07/10 Middle East Upstairs Boston MA
Additional tour dates will be announced soon.
More about Bess Rogers:
“Mostly I write songs that are upbeat, energetic or even aggressive. I like people to be able to dance and even head bang to my music.” That’s how Bess Rogers describes her not-so-typical singer/songwriter style. “I’m not afraid to take risks with my music and that’s exciting,” she continues. “Infectious”, “catchy”, and “hook-laden” are just a few words used to describe her memorable indie-pop-rock sound.
Yet Rogers isn’t satisfied with a single sound. In addition to her own music, Bess records and tours with Ingrid Michaelson, fronts the country/bluegrass 80’s cover band, The Flux Capacitors, and plays guitar and keys in the orchestral/electronic indie rock group, The Age Of Rockets.
She’s a musical chameleon able to switch genres or instruments at the drop of a hat. “I’m interested in a lot of different styles of music and so are my friends. We feed off of each other artistically and that makes us all closer and better at the same time – plus it’s a ton of fun,” says Rogers. Growing up in a musical family, Bess was destined to follow in their footsteps. She remembers, “My mom played harpsichords that my father built and even recorded a CD with her group. I’d go to shows and help sell merch or tickets.”
Bess moved on to flute, and sang in her school choir before picking up the guitar in her early teens. Shy as she was, the passion to perform was too great. As a teenager she had already written many of her own songs, and she summoned up her courage to play them at open mic nights. As her skills grew she decided SUNY Purchase would be the place to refine her talents, ultimately earning a Master’s degree in music composition.
And that’s where she met many of the musician friends that she currently works with, including Dan Romer (producer for Ingrid Michaelson, Jenny Owen Youngs, April Smith and others). At Purchase they recorded her first EP, Valentine. That was followed by her independent release, Decisions Based on Information in 2007.
Through a mutual friend, Bess was introduced to Ingrid Michaelson. She happened to need a lead guitarist and Bess happened to play guitar. It was kismet. Next thing she knew she was opening for the Dave Matthews Band, playing on The Tonight Show, and touring the country with Ingrid. All the while she continued to write. 2009 saw the release of her EP Travel Back. The track “Yellow Bird” has been used on TNT’s “Raising the Bar” and The CW’s “One Tree Hill.”
And 2010 will be busy as well – Packed with touring of her own, as well as playing high profile dates such as Bonnaroo and Lilith Fair with Ingrid, Bess isn’t sitting around her home in Brooklyn waiting for fun to come her way.
Her new EP, entitled Bess Rogers Presents Bess Rogers, will be released on September 7.
Visit http://www.bessrogers.com
Visit http://www.hubbubproductions.com
For more information about Bess Rogers contact: sethcohenpr@earthlink.net, 212.873.1011. www.sethcohenpr.com
