A delicate combination of subtle textures and intense passion based in a lo-fi alternative folk-rock tradition.

7 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Folk Rock, FOLK: Modern Folk



Details:
Joe Rogers started as a alt. folk singer/songwriter at the age of 16 and quickly became part of the NYC music scene. Growing as a songwriter and playing open-mics and bars within the city, Joe developed a mature talent reflecting the styles of artists such as Elliott Smith, Neil Young, and Leonard Cohen. Combining these influences with groups such as Pearl Jam and Radiohead, Joe found a style of songwriting that quickly became the foundation for a three piece alt. folk-rock band. The band, founded in Feb. 2001 began playing throughout New York state under the name "joe rogers". The group featured Christian Linsey on drums, Sandor Satzmari on bass and Joe on guitar and vocals. Playing over 50 dates within the first year of coming together, the group quickly found themselves growing in popularity and gaining ground within the music scene. The group played regularly in NYC's CBGB's 313 gallery and up at Binghamton University where they headlined the 2001 Spring Fling feastival featuring reggea star Shaggy. As evidence of their growing poppularity, the band later opened for Capitol Record's, The Pushstars as part of a 9/11 benefit concert in Binghamton as well.

In 2002 the band's bassist Sandor left the band to get married and pursue other career goals. Taking his place was Brooklyn native Pat Malone. With Pat as the band's bassist, the band was soon playing frequently at NYC's Village Underground, Tobacco Road, Siberia, and found themselves advancing even further. After attempting to record their first record in the summer of 2002, the band soon put recording on the back-burner, releasing 6 tracks as part of an EP entitled, "So Simple", and focused on developing through the live scene. Playing shows in Buffalo, Binghamton, Courtland, Penn State, Montreal and New York City, the group found their niche as alternative folk-rock artists and were highly respected within the tri-state area.

In the summer of 2003, while spending some time in up-state NY, Joe recorded a lo-fi EP of combined older and newer material that reflected a return to the older, more acoustic based style of songwriting that had brought him so far in music. Tracking all of it on a 8-track cassette recorder, Joe mixed the record himself and released the record, entitled, "Back to Blonde" under his own label in April 2004 at the age of 21.

During the spring of 2004, Joe, Christian and Pat decided to enter the studio to begin tracking their first full-length record after releasing several live and older studio recordings over the past three years. This time, they recorded under the name "Back to Blonde". They called the record "Swim West" and released it on July 1st of 2005. Currently Back to Blonde (the band) has been moving forward, touring all over the east coast and promoting their most recent record while Joe continues to occassionally play a solo show featuring songs from his 2004 EP. He also plans to eventually record a follow up when he's not touring or recording with his band.

For immediate info on Joe Rogers the songwriter and his current band Back to Blonde please visit www.backtoblonde.com