Garnet Rogers

Iron Horse Music Hall (20 Center Street Northampton, MA 01060)

Music

Best known as the brother of Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers, Garnet Rogers has enjoyed a substantial musical career of his own. He began experimenting with various musical instruments at the age of five, starting off with the guitar and graduating to the fiddle and flute. In the early 1970s, he and his brother joined Cedar Lake, but only lasted a year; together with that band's bassist, the two brothers broke away to form a trio. Involvement with two documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Company led to the material that went into Garnet and Stan's first album Fogarty's Cove. The Rogers' songs dealt with the lore and life of Canadian working folk and struck a chord across that nation. Several albums followed, including Turnaround and Northwest Passage. In 1983, Stan died in a tragic plane accident, leaving Garnet to carry the torch alone. His first album, entitled, simply Garnet Rogers appeared in 1984 and was followed by a successive album every two years into the 1990s. In 2002 Red House Records released a collection of Rogers best material, All That Is. Despite the fact the Rogers has a large American following among folk fans, the record was his first to be released by an American company.