Roy Rogers Pushes The Blues Forward By Embracing The Moment

By John Roos

Roy Rogers' roots in the blues run deep. The Delta blues slide guitarist was heavily influenced by the likes of Son House, Robert Johnson, Mance Lipscomb, Tampa Red, and Furry Lewis. He's even played alongside and produced four albums by the legendary John Lee Hooker, including 1989's critically-praised The Healer, which won a Grammy award for Best Traditional Blues Performance for the song "I'm in the Mood," a sultry duet with Bonnie Raitt.

But you'd get it wrong if you think Rogers is a traditional purist.

"I'm not trying to preserve anything," insisted Rogers during a phone interview last week from his home in Nevada City. "I want to stretch the envelope. I ask myself, 'How far do you want to push it, and where do you think you can go?' You can't be looking back. Living in the moment is only way to move this timeless music forward."

One only has to look at some of Rogers' past collaborations for evidence of his stylistic risk-taking.

Recording and touring in the 1990's as a duet with harmonica ace Norton Buffalo wasn't that unusual, but recording three albums between 2008-2013 (Ballads Before the Rain, Translucent Blues, and Twisted Tales) as a duo with Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek raised a few eyebrows. Even more intriguing is 2018's experimental StringShot: Blues & Latin, which features Rogers on slide guitar plus Brazilian singer/songwriter/fingerstyle guitarist Badi Assad and Paragauy native Carlos Reyes on violin and stringed harp. Defying expectations, this collection of country blues, jazz, and world music offers delectable treats aplenty, with Rogers' bossa nova flavored "Blues for Brazil" and Reyes' lovely ballad "Desires" leaving the biggest imprint.

About venturing into unknown territory, Rogers said, "You begin with an idea but I'm always open for what can happen. I've had the privelege of playing with so many wonderful artists. It's always about give-and-take during any collaboration, but you get more than you could ever do by yourself. Leave some room to go left or right, and the music will take you there."

Hooker and his iconic blues style took Rogers into a world he will cherish forever.

"We had so many famous special guests playing on The Healer album," recalled Rogers. "It would have been easy to lose focus with Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Santana, and all those other stars contributing. But it was my job as the producer to let these greats do their thing, allow them to take the music and songs to another place without getting away from the album's essence, which was John Lee. It wasn't too hard because he was such a beloved guy that everyone just wanted to be supportive and let the magic happen."

Rogers, now 74, was born in Redding and grew up here in the Bay Area where he fell in love with the blues back in 1963 at age 13. He recalled the day when his brother brought home Robert Johnson's King of the Blues album, and after one listen, Rogers was mesmerized by the sounds of the slide and open tuning. He had never heard anything like it. Rogers began listening to other blues, soul, and roots music on radio station KDIA in Oakland, and by age 15 was playing in a local R&B band in Vallejo.

Rogers performed with various groups until 1976, when he and harmonica player David Burgin formed an acoustic duo and recorded the album Rogers And Burgin: A Foot In The Door for Waterhouse Records. His first solo release came nine years later with Chops Not Chaps, the title a sly reference to the singing cowboy of the same name.

Rogers has since been a mainstay on the contemporary blues scene with consistently powerful live shows and over 20 recordings and a slew of production work to his credit. Arguably Rogers' best album is 2002's all-instrumental Slideways, a tour de force of his exceptional and soulful slide, or bottleneck, guitar playing. The impetus here is on presenting the slide as Rogers' voice, that is, communicating emotionally and directly with or without vocals. And boy, does he.

"The slide is so expressive," said Rogers, who plays an ampflified acoustic guitar. "You can sing a line and then answer yourself using the slide . . . bending with frets all the in-between notes . . . it's part of your voice and captures the pure power of the emotion behind the playing. There's really nothing else like it."

His latest solo release is 2015's Into the Wild Blue but he has a new collection of songs ready to mix next month. Backed by his Delta Rhythm Kings featuring drummer Kevin Hayes and bassist Steve Ehrmann--plus guest keyboardist Jimmy Pugh--and tentatively titled The Sky's the Limit, Rogers is pleased to have new material forthcoming but doesn't believe it's a requirement in order to tour. The release-new-album-followed-by-support-tour model or expectation is now outdated with streaming services driving the music industry's financial engine.

In what format the new recording will become available is still being pondered.

"I'm pretty old school but things have changed," said Rogers. "I like recording and releasing complete albums, with the sequence of songs being very important. But today, the public for the most part has a subscription to one of the digital music services and downloads whatever songs they choose for a monthly fee. So, honestly, I haven't decided yet how we're going to put the music out there."

For Rogers, like many non-superstars who don't sell millions of records, his livelihood comes mostly from the ticket sales to his live shows. It comes full circle for Rogers to be in the moment, just like his blues heroes, where the immediacy and intimacy push connecting as a live performer.
"This (blues) music is timeless because it is not defined by an era," suggests Rogers. "Ultimately, you will be remembered by how you moved people. The universal appeal is that these songs come from something that's inward, that's personal and yet speaks to everyone. Basic blues is pouring your heart out, like a good country song."

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*Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings perform Sunday at Moe's Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz; (831) 479-1854. 4 p.m. $35-$40. Ages 21+. www.moesalley.com