Reviews/Press

SINGER PRESENTS A STAND OUT ALBUM
By LILLI KUZMA Contributor September 15, 2011

It was an album she had wished to make, one with more of a folk vibe. She succeeded.

“This is my third record, and is the most folk-oriented,” said Stephanie Rogers, a Chicago resident commenting on her new release, “Daisy Petal in the Dirt” (Hipchick Records). “I was really looking to have beautiful songs, with tonality, soulful elegant playing, excellent musicianship. My prior CDs were more ‘in the groove’ and ‘rocking out.’ ”

With “Daisy Petal in the Dirt,” Rogers delivers soaring vocals and well-crafted songs, stellar musicianship and production.

The music is a rich array of character studies in engaging “story songs,” about a range of humanity, such as a teenage girl with health problems; Rogers’ own decision to leave acting; the “perfect” life of a lonely well-to-do woman; “old men in gray jackets paying their rent.”

Facebook blues

Dealing with Facebook, she tells us: “I must have been crazy to drag my past back to life / until that moment I was feeling well-defined / the pages of history we write and improve with passing time / all our memories grow in size like tangled vines.”

An album replete with stand-outs, it also evokes the attitude and “free spirit” of Rogers, a talented woman who laughs easily and often, and who wants to share her love of life with the world. With “Daisy Petal in the Dirt” Rogers steps into a bright spotlight with mature songs of substance and style.

Compared to her prior recordings, she said, “It’s a beautiful record, and I’m very proud of it. So I’m just going to pretend that this is my first record now! I’m not trying to reinvent popular music. I’m trying to follow a through line for my own voice.”

Rogers performs at a CD release event for “Daisy Petal in the Dirt” Sept. 15, at Mayne Stage in Chicago. She will be joined by a full band and special music guests: Bob Lizik, bass; Jim Hines, drums; Tommy Sanchez, electric guitar, and Danny Shaffer, acoustic guitar; Jennifer Lowe, violin; vocalists and back-up singers include Mike Harvey, Cheryl Wilson, Doopy Lupree, Becka Kaufman, Deb Lader, and Ariana Patterson.

She’s got high hopes for the evening. “I envision it like a story, one big huge story, a real mix, but not just a sonic mix, but also with what I’m saying with the music.”

Bruce Roper will perform a solo acoustic opening set. Roper, a founding member of the acclaimed Sons of the Never Wrong, also recently released a well-received debut solo album, “Accidental English” (Waterbug Records).

“Sons of the Never Wrong is my favorite band of all time,” said Rogers, “and I wished I could make a record like Sons, then realized I could call Bruce Roper! He helped me early on in realizing these songs.”

Mix of songs

An accomplished vocalist and singer-songwriter, Rogers is well known for her eclectic repertoire. She’s described her style as “soulful singing and folk-pop-rocking.”

“Growing up I listened to James Taylor, Ricky Lee Jones, and Joni Mitchell,” she said, noting that recently she’s been into vintage Gladys Knight & the Pips, but also listening to newer acts like folk-rock duo Tegan and Sara, and indie folk-pop band, the Weepies.

Formerly an actress who lived and worked in Los Angeles, Rogers acted in about 50 commercials and had roles in a number of movies.

She sometimes jokes about her part in “Prelude To A Kiss.” “It was a small part, and I can be seen standing behind Alec Baldwin. My mom used to make everybody watch this,” she said, laughing.

A serious health problem brought Rogers back to Chicagoland at age 29. She had thyroid cancer and, a week after her surgery, decided to perform at an open mic. It would prove to be a decision that would change her life and career path.

“It was at The Charleston in Bucktown, and that night the place was packed, and I got hooked on singing. My future husband walked in that night. We even named our son ‘Charlie’ after this venue.”

Stephanie Rogers
Stephanie Rogers CD Release
Opener is Bruce Roper
Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave., Chicago
Doors open 6:30 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15
$15 general admission; $20 reserved
(773) 381-4554, or www.maynestage.com
Updated: September 23, 2011 3:32PM

Rocker Rogers releases third album "Daisy Petal In The Dirt"

by Lauren Finkler
September 08, 2011 | 01:58 AM

Stephanie Rogers is a self-proclaimed "soccer mom," but don't let that title fool you.

This woman can – and does – rock.

"Being a rocker is a really good mom job," Rogers said. "I can be home when our son gets home from school and then I can go out that night and rock."

In her new album "Daisy Petal In The Dirt," however, the mother rocker exudes a pure, folk sound; her two previous albums had more of an indie rock feel.

The latest album is one of self-exploration and certainly Rogers' pride and joy.

"I love the indie, edgy stuff, but this material that was coming out of me at this time was much more folky," she said.

A theater-lover, Rogers' lyrics utilize various characters to get her message across.

"If you really look at this album, you can see that a theater person wrote the songs," she said. "Some songs borrow aspects of musical theater, speeding up then slowing down. With songwriting you can write your own script. You don't have to depend on a bad script."

This album was largely inspired by one of Rogers' favorite bands, Sons of the Never Wrong, whose founding member Bruce Roper will be performing at her CD launch party (see infobar for details).

Rogers sticks to a disciplined writing process, strategically carving out time from her motherly duties to write. She begins with a lyrical concept, tackles the piano harmony to match and then moves on to the lyrics.

"I spend all my time on lyrics," she said. "The melodies come so easily. The lyric writing is the most laborious."

The album was produced under Rogers' label Hipchick Records, a name that stemmed from the online domain she bought for her former pop-punk band Hipbone. Hipbone.com was registered to a hip doctor, so Hipchick it was.

When the band split, Rogers put the pieces back together.

"I thought it was a cool name for a record label," she said. "I think that people sometimes think I think I'm really hip, but that's not the case."

Rogers' favorite song on the album is "Come Orion," which is described by Hipchick.com: "Rogers' builds her arrangement off of a piano and allows it to build with strings, additional keyboards, percussion, and a soaring vocal."

Rogers rolls with the punches, too

Despite the successful outcome, the album didn't come easily, taking three years to complete. This time included a four-month hiatus of debating over what was missing from the completed recordings, which were eventually scrapped.

"I was ready to throw in the towel," said Rogers of the early album process. "But then I came up with this idea to get out of town. I was always intrigued by Nashville."

On a whim, Rogers looked to her Nashville friend for a recommendation, and she was referred to Neilson Hubbard, just the producer she needed.

Then she found a strings player in Stevie Blacke, who lives in Los Angeles, and has played with well-known artists Pink and Beck.

Tracks were exchanged and compiled and the only obstacle left was traveling to Nashville to record the vocals, or so it seemed.

Rogers came down with bronchitis, but you won't hear an ounce of exhaustion in the vocals. The artist buckled down and knocked out the lyrics in two days with Hubbard.

The illness was just another obstacle Rogers had to conquer. Nothing new to the Chicago mom.

Fresh out of Northwestern University, Rogers moved to L.A. in the 1990s to pursue her first love – acting.

At one point she found herself with no job, no phone (she couldn't pay her bill) and limited friends. What she did have was lots of free time, determination and a friend with a guitar.

Soon, she knew how to play.

While you won't hear her guitar skills on the latest album, it's just another talent that Rogers has on the backburner.

And maybe her biggest challenge was net. The artist was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. But while undergoing treatment, she was making plans to sing.

"'Wow, life is short. I just want to sing," Rogers recalled thinking. "I became a professional singer at the age of 30."

Four days after the tumor on her vocal chords was taken out, she emerged with a clear voice and mind.

She put her talent on display at an open mic night The Charleston in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood.

"It was a symbolic and physical change," she said.

Rogers herself went to New Trier where she was friends with now-famous singer/songwriter Liz Phair, who is from Winnetka. She doesn't compare her music to Phair's, but settles with a comparison to notable artists such as Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson.

The Big Release

Release party for Stephanie Rogers third record

"Daisy Petal in the Dirt"
Mayne Stage
1328 W. Morse, Chicago.
Thursday, Sept. 15, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $15 ($20 for VIP seating)
Purchase: www.maynestage.com, or (773) 381-4554s.

Pioneer Press (July 2010): Ready To Rock Again

Singer Stephanie Rogers, of Wilmette, will perform at 8 p.m., Aug. 6 at Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave., Chicago. Rogers, who founded Hipchick Records in 2000, is known for her clever lyrics, quirky humor and soulful melodies. After performing in the alternative rock scene around Chicago in the early 1990s, she moved to Los Angeles to act. She learned how to play guitar, moved back Chicago and started Hipchick Records. After spending 10 years as a full-time mom, she's returning to the music scene with her new album, "Daisy Petal in the Dirt."

Pioneer Press (December 2008): Local Ladies Honor Great Ladies by LILLI KUZMA

"Pouring music down the canyon/Coloring the sunshine hours/They are the ladies of the canyon." -- Joni Mitchell, Ladies of the Canyon (1970)

Those last three lines of the title track to Joni Mitchell's 1970 hit album also describe the popular local tribute band of the same name. Based in the flat Midwest, the four "Ladies of the Canyon," Stephanie Rogers, Ingrid Graudins, Becca Kaufman, and Kim Frost, are very talented women who have poured music and good times on audiences since 2002, performing well-received tributes to great female singer-songwriters. Beginning with Joni Mitchell, the group has also created tribute shows to Sade, Blondie, Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), and Kate Bush. The group began as a reaction to the Tributosaurus shows at Martyr's in Chicago. Remember the ladies - Realizing that the Tributosarus shows were all about male artists, recalled Rogers, "someone said, "let's do this for the chicks!" Rogers and the other ladies are all very accomplished performers, involved in various solo projects and engagements in addition to this tribute band.

Rogers, for one, has released 2 CDs on her own label, Hipchick Records, and her music was recently featured on WBEZ's "Eight Forty-Eight" show. Her background also includes acting in numerous commercials, and some television and movies, including the TV series, "Stephen King's Golden Years," and a Chuck Norris movie, "The Hit Man." Rogers, a friendly and humorous conversationalist, opined: "Some day I will go back to acting, and redeem myself for having a Chuck Norris movie as the best credit on my movie resume!"

A Chicago area native, Rogers recalled when she moved back to the suburbs from the city: "I couldn't believe I was moving back to the suburbs, so I dyed my hair purple in retaliation. It was (like that) for about four months. I'm like a hurricane in this town, but people are so nice to me, and even come to my shows." Rogers noted that her husband is much more "normal" and is her biggest fan noting that "he knows that (I'm his) only tie to eccentricity."

Rogers looks forward to the show at the newly updated Wilmette Theatre, where the co-owners, Sam Samuelson and Carole Dibo, return the compliment. "We're excited about this show. It will be the largest concert we've had so far, from the stand-point of how many musicians there will be on the stage," he said. In addition to the four vocalists, the show includes four to five instrumentalists, and guest vocalist, Jim Fine.

This program is exactly the sort of show Samuelson hopes to have more of. "For live shows, we have a cool room with a good vibe, terrific audiences," he said. "We want to be the place where the insiders want to play, the favored little chestnut."