Recording: Ben Rogers
Earlier this year I got a call from Matt Rogers, a great producer/composer/guitarist I met at UBC in the Music program. He asked if I wanted to play some bass on a few new tunes written by his brother, Ben.
I’ve played some live shows with Ben and Matt sporadically over the years, and each time was some of the most fun I’ve had onstage — the tunes are well-written and Ben is without exaggeration one of the most engaging and entertaining performers I’ve ever worked with. (As a side note, there was one show I did with Ben and Matt that wasn’t as fun, but that had very much to do with the fact that I had had four wisdom removed only days earlier, and was thusly A) self-concious of my swollen face, B) a bit under-nourished for lack of solid food, and C) whoozy from the Tylenol 3s).
Ben himself might tell you he has many musical influences to his bluesy folk tunes, but I think that Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits are pretty safe bets. I was stoked to hear some gospel singers added on the final tracks — great harmonies and such a rich, heavy sound. Because it was at Baker Street Studios, I was able to play the ’60s Hofner Violin Bass with the 30-year-old flat-wound strings again.
Ben has got some stuff cookin’ with a record label in Los Angeles, the details of which I don’t really know, but I was happy to head over to Baker Street Studios to spend the day with the Rogers’ and my buddy Ryan Stewart, a phenomenal drummer and producer in his own right.
Here are the finished tracks. Let me know what you think in the comments.
River At My Back Door
Time Will Tell
To see some more photos from this studio session, check out this Set on Flickr.
