The White Mule
Friday April 23rd
EARLY SHOW
5pm-8pm
Bess Rogers will be at The White Mule in Columbia, Friday April 23 with Lelia Broussard. Bess is returning to The White Mule after being there in March with Jenny Owen Youngs and Allison Weiss. In addition to her solo touring, Bess also spends her time touring and playing guitar with Ingrid Michaelson. We caught up with Bess and asked her about some of her favorite places to play, what she would change about the music industry and what advice she has for up and coming bands.
1) Â Describe your music for those who aren’t familiar. Â Recommended if you like?
If Juliana Hatfield was married to Jeff Tweedy and having a torrid affair with Paul Simon, all while watching MTV’s mid 90’s sketch comedy show, The State?
2) Â So far this year you’ve been on the Spring Break Tour with Jenny Owen Youngs and Allison Weiss and more recently on tour Ingrid Michaelson. Â Which do you enjoy more, doing the solo thing or hanging back with the band?
It’s really hard for me to pick which one I enjoy the most. Every tour/project that I’m a part of is amazing in it’s own way and has it’s own benefits. The Spring Break Tour was incredibly fun and we plan on doing another bigger, better, more ridiculous one next year. And of course playing my own music for great enthusiastic crowds is pretty much the BFE (best feeling ever). However, playing with Ingrid is a very different but equally rewarding experience. We all love the crap out of each other and really are like a big happy family. I love Ingrid’s music and get so much joy from playing in her band. Plus it pays the bills while I’m not on the road myself and is great exposure for me. So at this point, I am happy balancing the two and I hope to do so for as long as I can.
3) Â If you could travel back to any city that you’ve toured recently, where would it be and what cities have had the best crowds?
I really love Portland and Seattle. I’ve always enjoyed playing in and hanging out in those cities. The Santa Cruz area is probably one of the most beautiful areas in the country, and no matter how tired I am I always have to see the Redwoods. And on tour with Ingrid last fall, we had an amazing experience in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was one of the most intense crowds I’ve ever experience and was probably my favorite show of the tour. I look forward to going back there soon!
4) Â If you could take a bulldozer to any part of the music industry and change it and make it better, what would it be?
Oh I get it. Ha ha. I thought it was just a coincidence that you referenced “travel back” in question 3 but now I see it’s all part of your master plan. Well done, David Stringer. Well done. Anyway, I would love for our country to treat musicians and artists the way they do in Canada. I have some friends who make a living as musicians up there and the government provides a living stipend if you can prove that you are a full time musician. They will also provide government grants for records or music videos, etc. And the best part is that Canadian radio has to, by law, play 50% Canadian artists. I think we could take a tip from that and have to play 50% local artists on the radio, providing more exposure for indie artists. (please excuse me if I have some of my facts wrong. This is mostly hearsay so if it’s not totally accurate, it’s at least a nice dream).
5) Â So you get to play with a lot of great musicians. Â If you were to build your own super group for your band, who would be in it?
I know this is a boring answer but I think my band right now is kick ass and I thank my lucky stars every day that they play with me. So my dream band would be the one I have! Dan Romer on synth and percussion, Chris Kuffner on guitar, Tony Maceli on bass, Elliot Jacobson on drums and Allie Moss (whenever she’s available) on background vocals. I LOVE THEM.
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The past couple of years have been amazing, but really I’ve been trying to get a career in music off the ground since I was 20 or so. I spent a lot of time waiting for things to come my way and paying my bills by teaching music lessons on the side. As much as I loved teaching, it kept me tied down to a schedule and stopped me from just going out there and touring. I really do feel that in order to be successful as a musician you need to, at some point, throw yourself into the fire and start doing it full time. I wish it hadn’t taken me quite so long to realize that, and my advice to young aspiring musicians would be just that. Get out there and start doing it, no matter how scary it seems. You may think you need a back up plan, but if music is what you really want to spend your life doing, don’t let your back up plan stand in the way.
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I plan to release a new EP this summer or fall and tour extensively in support of that. There will be lots more Ingrid touring this summer as well. We’re playing some festivals like the Lilith Fair and Bonaroo (YAY!). And I’m probably going to start working on a full length record this fall/winter. And somewhere in between all that I’m going to sleep.
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