Listening Lyrics

Below is a short bio of Jenn Rogar - visit her at http://jennrogar.com for more information.

"I started singing as a child in my room growing up in Los Angeles (Van Nuys and Woodland Hills) to singers like Elton John, Helen Reddy and Julie Andrews. I put on plays in my garage that I wrote and performed in for my neighbors. In high school I played flute in the band and was too shy to sing. During the Karaoke craze I began to perform and also sang the title song on a CD put out by my church. I sang and performed with Monkey Business, a light-hearted singing telegram service in Sacramento in the late '80s. I have sung and performed in some fashion my whole life.

"In the late '90s I became a singer-songwriter in the tradition of Joan Baez, who accompanies herself on an acoustic guitar, and began performing in that fashion in 1998 at open mics and farmers markets. I took voice lessons with outstanding pop vocalist Sana Christian in Sacramento, and jazz- and oper- trained Claudia Newberry in San Francisco, and a half-dozen guitar lessons with Sacramento’s guitar master Steve MClane. I never read a book or took a lesson on how to write a song. I just started writing songs after I learned about three chords.

"I picked up the guitar after a few frustrating auditions with cover bands that were more intent on hearing themselves be heard that hearing the singer.  I stopped performing from 2000 to 2004 while I attended law school. After graduation I began performing again, and worked on my first CD, Place Called Humanity. My mother died in 2008 and I stopped performing again. I returned to performing in 2010 after having taken the Bar exam for the second time and I have been singing ever since with my own band or solo.

"I stopped performing when everything shut down last March. I sang for a few months every Thursday night at the Shasta Inn in Mount Shasta, where I now live, but now that is gone because all of the bars and restaurants are shut down again. I created a second CD called The River in 2013, did a music video for the title track, and was nominated for a Sammie award under the Singer-Songwriter category (Sacramento Area Music Award) in 2018. 

"I was well known in Sacramento for being a topical singer-songwriter and was not one to hide my politics. I sang probably a dozen times at the state Capitol for various causes and sang politically tinged songs at those clubs or restaurants that would allow me. With time it became the in thing to do to be political and I could sing everywhere. I have sung almost everywhere in Sacramento. I sang at rallies and marches, and created and hosted numerous benefits for the homeless in Sacramento as well as attend city council meetings to advocate for the homeless.

"I wrote a lot of songs that just came to me to easily and from experiences I had. I am not writing at this time, but I wish I were and I know I should with all that is going on. I do not want to be political anymore. I prefer to entertain people and sing songs that are light and classic like, and of my neutral and fun originals or standards from the past. 

"Now that I am retired as a teacher I have the time and I intend to split my time between Mount Shasta and Hollywood. I have a profile I built on a website called Backstage (at www.backstage.com) under my real name, Jennifer Andree Rogar. This site helps you secure acting roles. I feel my experience as a performer at gigs from Luna’s to Harlows in Sacramento, or even Morro Bay and San Francisco, have prepared me well for a career in acting. I also have some acting training with the renowned acting coach in Sacramento Ed Claudio.  I am going to try to sing in LA as well if and when that ever opens up again. 

"There is much more on my website  at www.jennrogar.com about me and interviews that can be found on You Tube that I have done with SacTV or Listen Up! Sacramento or Soapbox! 

"The best song I ever wrote was 'Shasta,' which is about Mount Shasta, and now I live in a beautiful home on a half-acre on the mountain. I  always need to be creating art in some way to be happy, and this mountain magically keeps that alive in me. I am also interested  in screenwriting. This is the best time of my life -- finally free to do art full-time. I always wanted to be an actress and sing and nothing else, and now I get a chance to do that."

Hans Eberbach is an award winning vocalist and songwriter who was born on the west coast and raised in the northeast wilds of Maine in a small town called Dover-Foxcroft, returning to the California sunshine after high school to launch his career in the mid '90's as the singer for Sacramento based roots rock band Sweet Vine. Guided by Geoff Bywater - a music supervisor at FOX, the band was barely playing live shows locally when they were signed to a publishing deal with Warner-Chappell and then to a record deal with Sony/Columbia.

The band toured and released one self-titled album that was a fresh take on the warm, fluid songs inspired by Jim Croce, The Allman Bros, The Black Crowes, and many other classic rock bands and songwriters of the 70‘s. When the group eventually disbanded, Hans Eberbach moved to Los Angeles, spending his time submitting music for TV and film eventually returning to Sacramento in the 2000’s.

He has since released a solo album, Up Is The Only Way Out (2010)

In 2020, we lost many wonderful musicians. Some famous, some not quite as famous.

For our final show of 2020 we have selected a few songs of artists who did not meet the very famous category, but whose music contributed oh so much. Enjoy the show and give thanks that these artists stuck with it to enrich our lives.

See the playlist below for a list of artists and songs. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Listening Lyrics annual Holiday show this year is JAZZ TO THE WORLD Featuring Christmas and Hanakkuh selections. Listen in as Pieter and Jeanne play a unique set of tunes to go along with your egg nog.

Several local artists are included in the playlist. Including Nancy Northrup, Greg Johnson and Estelle California.

See playlist below for a complete listing of the songs played.

Community radio in Davis is in its annual drive to keep your radio station on the air. Jeanne and I discuss the programs on KDRT while we play the music of the following fine local artists: Katgruvs, Bootjuice, Midnight Dip, Bad Mother Nature, Miss Lonely Hearts, Philharmonik, Jessica Malone, Nickel Slots, The Big Poppies, Element Brass Band, Big Sticky Mess, and Roger Kunkel. There are so many many more, but we only have an hour -- keep listening to our weekly show and I'm sure we will please you. 

Thank you.

Featuring local artists in the greater Sacramento area. Community radio supports local music, no matter where you are living there is a local music scene. Check them out.

Nick Zhilin - Look who I found.

On my photo Instagram account (pastoorpics), I have followed a fellow photographer (emptynous_photo ). I noticed that he is also a musician. That's when the roots for this interview were planted.

Nick Zhilin (Николай Жилин) was born, raised and lives in St. Petersburg, Russia. He grew up in a family with three brothers; his mother encouraged his musical studies. Nick plays the piano, guitar, and loves to perform on his Balalaika. He writes his own songs, and experiences what many young musicians do, mainly perfecting their music in their spare time.

Nick is also involved with his university in the study of world religions and philosophy.

His heart belongs to heavy metal, but you can hear a singer/songwriter in the making. Here is the link to Nick's music youtube site. Natural Rock. His music Instagram is emptynous. If you enjoyed this interview, please let Nick know through his social media links.

Ask Adrian what kind of music The Adrian West Band  plays, and he'll say "Yes." Or if he's feeling cocky, he'll say "Good."

The longer answer: original acoustic rock that sounds like Paul Simon meets Dave Matthews, plus rock & jazz covers and instrumentals. The full quartet features vocal harmonies, guitar, electric violin, bass, drums, alto sax, and a bit of live "looping”. Duo and trio formats also happen.

Born and raised in Montreal, Adrian is an exciting performer to watch. A gifted vocalist, he moves effortlessly between guitar & violin, sometimes using live looping to add layers of sound and intrigue to his songs. With a knack for language that's simple yet poetic, he's not afraid to tackle difficult topics in his songwriting. "Safe Streets" tells an allegory about police violence, "Close Your Eyes" laments the beauty bias that pervades mass media, while "Senses" entreats you to appreciate your senses while you can. But Adrian doesn't take any of this stuff too seriously; his lyrics belie a sense of hope and a touch of whimsy.

Adrian started playing violin at 4, and in his teens he studied classical violin at the McGill Conservatory of Music in Montreal. He later learned to play drums and guitar, and developed his vocal and songwriting technique.

He moved in 1995 to the San Francisco Bay Area, where as a sideman violinist he began supporting local Bay Area bands, playing some of the area's better-known venues including the Fillmore, Yoshi's SF (main stage), Slim’s, The Independent and The Sweetwater.

In 2005 he formed the Adrian West Band, which has performed steadily at venues and festivals all over the Bay Area. In 2011, he released his first full-length CD, Chameleons and Butterflies. In 2019 he released his second full-length CD, The Human Touch.

In 2017-2018 Adrian combined his love of music with his love of science in a multimedia show called An Evening of Music & Science. It wove his music with synchronized videos and presentations on the subject of how life began on Earth. The show was presented twice in Berkeley at The Monkey House, and three times in San Ffrancisco at the Shelton Theater.