EDWARD ROGERS
On
Sparkle Lane, Edward Rogers presents a sublimely crafted, emotionally resonant
song cycle, channeling his lifelong passion for vintage jangle-pop, folk-rock
and psychedelia into personally charged, sonically distinctive music that's
both deeply expressive and effortlessly accessible.
The
album—Rogers' third solo effort, and his second for the independent Zip
label—is the acclaimed pop auteur's most ambitious and accomplished work yet,
with 14 original compositions that seamlessly merge hard-won lyrical insight
with a lifetime's worth of classic pop influences.
The
New York-based Rogers comes by his Anglophilia honestly. He spent the first twelve years of his
life in Birmingham, England, where his youthful imagination was captured by the
booming British music scene. But
his youthful reverie was interrupted when his father abruptly decided to move
the family to America. The
resulting feelings of displacement, culture shock and geographical yearning
provide much of the inspiration for Sparkle Lane, as reflected on
such numbers as the playful "Symbols 'n Mascots," the bittersweet
"Passing the Sunshine," the brightly acoustic "Land of the
Free" and the album's haunting title track.
"Sparkle
Lane is a street in England where my grandmother lived," Rogers
explains. "The concrete was
mixed with pieces of broken glass, so when I was a kid and I'd go to my
grandmother's house in the evening, the street would always look like it was
sparkling. That's how life felt to
me as a kid. And there was so much
going on in England at the time; the music scene was happening and London was
swinging, so England was where I wanted to be. So when I got to America, it was a major culture shock. The food and TV were a lot better, but
I still felt uprooted."
It
wasn't long before Rogers embraced the energy of his new hometown's musical
community, playing drums in a series of local bands. He was temporarily sidelined by a debilitating accident, but
emerged from that experience with a strengthened creative resolve, determined
to make music on his own terms. He
relaunched his musical career with pair of albums as a member of the folk-pop
foursome Green Rooftops, before unveiling an unmistakably personal songwriting
vision on the solo releases Sunday Fables and You Haven't Been Where I've
Been. He also released a pair of albums, Rendezvous and The Summer
That Changed, as part of Bedsit Poets, collaboration with noted
singer/songwriter (and fellow English expat) Amanda Thorpe.
While Sunday Fables and You Haven't
Been Where I've Been featured musical contributions from such notable friends as Byrds
founder Roger McGuinn, Zombies members Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone, and The
Church's Marty Willson-Piper, high-profile guest stars are conspicuous in their
absence from Sparkle Lane.
Where his prior releases found Rogers co-writing with noted New York
tunesmith George Usher, Sparkle Lane was largely penned by Rogers on his own.
"This
record is a lot more me than anything I've done before, because of the nature of
the songs and because of the way it was recorded," Rogers notes. "That was intentional. It was important to me to push myself
forward a little bit more. I wrote
most of these songs on my own, and I really focused on getting them to be
exactly what I wanted them to be."
Sparkle Lane also draws upon the
talents of some notable kindred spirits.
Don Piper, who co-produced the album with Rogers, is a celebrated
songwriter and bandleader in his own right. Pete Kennedy, who adds stellar guitar work as well as
co-writing three songs and mastering the album, is half of the beloved folk-pop
duo The Kennedys. Bassist Sal
Maida's extensive resume encompasses stints with Roxy Music and Sparks, as well
as his current membership in Cracker.
Keyboardist Joe McGinty has worked with everyone from the Psychedelic
Furs to Ronnie Spector, and is the mastermind behind the long-running Losers
Lounge series of all-star tribute shows, in which Rogers has long been a
frequent performer. Claudia Chopek (violin) has toured and recorded with Moby,
TV on the Radio and the Jonas Brothers, among others. And drummer Konrad
Meissner's credits include work with The Silos, Graham Parker and Mary Lee's
Corvette.
That
unique assortment of disparate talents comes together to bring Edward Rogers'
creative vision to vibrant musical life on Sparkle Lane, adding another
dynamic chapter to an already impressive body of work.
"I
got into this late," Rogers notes.
"But that's OK, because it's allowed me to avoid a lot of the
mistakes that young musicians usually make in public. I have a lot more knowledge now, about music and about life,
than I did when I was 17 or 18, and I've got a perspective and a set of
experiences that are my own.
"I'm
motivated by the urge to make music and express myself, rather than by some
abstract idea of being some kind of pop star, so I feel like I'm making music
for the right reasons," the artist asserts. "I feel like this record really reflects me, more than
anything I've done before, so I feel like I've achieved what I set out to
accomplish."
www.myspace.com/edwardrogers
For more information:
PLAN A MEDIA, LLC
Patti Conte: 212.337.1406 x 16,
PattiConte@nyc.rr.com
Melani Rogers: 212.337.2034 x 18,
MelaniRogersny@aol.com
Amanda Charney: 212.337.1406 x
15, AmandaCharney@planamedia.com
Daria Coppock: 212.337.1406 x 10,
Daria1521@gmail.com
