Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

Artist Information

Biography

Grand prize winner and Lennon Award winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest!


Since 1986, Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers has combined his twin passions for words and music into a multifaceted career as a musician, writer, and editor.

A grand prize winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Rodgers has performed at San Francisco area clubs with the band Heavy Wood, and in Central New York as a soloist and a duo with percussionist Joshua Dekaney. Since 2008 Rodgers has hosted a concert series called the Words and Music Songwriter Showcase. In February 2010 he was the featured performer at the Amelia Island Book Festival in Florida, and also was completing two new records to be released in the spring: Stop, Drop, and Roll, a set of original songs recorded with Dekaney, and Dead to the Core, an EP of classic Grateful Dead songs reinvented with voice and guitar.

Rodgers is the founding editor of the international monthly magazine Acoustic Guitar and since 2002 has covered the music scene for NPR’s All Things Considered. He is the author of three books: Rock Troubadours, a collection of his conversations with Jerry Garcia, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Dave Matthews, Ani DiFranco, and others; Beginning Guitarist’s Handbook; and The Complete Singer-Songwriter: A Troubadour’s Guide to Writing, Performing, Recording, and Business.

More about Rodgers’ background, including online features, original songs, and downloadable press materials, can be found at www.jeffreypepperrodgers.com. Rodgers’ music, released on his own Words and Music label, is available from CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and other music retailers.

Instrumentation

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers - acoustic guitar, Strumstick, frame drum, cajon, and vocals

Solo or with:
Joshua Dekaney - multi-percussion

Duo performance video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXt8vRjVj7A

Workshops and concerts can include Rodgers' own sound bites--audio interview clips from such legends as Jerry Garcia, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Dave Matthews, and more.

Discography

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Humming My Way Back Home

Traveling Songs

Audio

• Stop, Drop, and Roll
  Listen  
• The Day After Yesterday
  Listen  
• Sycamore Tree
  Listen  
• Fly
  Listen  
• Humming My Way Back Home
  Listen  
• Dog for a Day
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Stop, Drop, and Roll
• The Day After Yesterday
• Sycamore Tree
• Humming My Way Back Home
• Dog for a Day
• Fly

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Grand prize and Lennon Award winner
  

  For the song "Fly," country category 2008

• Folk music with a serrated edge
  

  "Folk music with a serrated edge...a magical blend of storytelling and driving flattop guitar."

• Songs that fill the senses
  

  "Songs that fill the senses." --Mark Bialczak

• Dangerously close to genius
  

  "Dangerously close to genius without the bad aftertaste... Amazing set of songs."

• Almost-hidden playfulness [+ Show ]
  

  "Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers balances solemnity with an almost-hidden playfulness in this music. The melo..."Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers balances solemnity with an almost-hidden playfulness in this music. The melodies are spare and direct, and three strings are seldom used when only one is called for. Give him a listen."
  

• Original, varied, and engaging
  

  "Original, varied, and engaging." --David Cantor

• Beautiful original songs [+ Show ]
  

  "Beautiful original songs... 'Humming My Way Back Home' is an album to listen to when you want to co..."Beautiful original songs... 'Humming My Way Back Home' is an album to listen to when you want to contemplate the everyday things of life."

Setlist

The active repertoire spans a wide variety of original songs and covers. Typical sets are about 40 minutes. Depending on the venue, sets are either all JPR originals or half originals and half covers.

ORIGINALS (PARTIAL LIST)
Fly
Stop, Drop, and Roll
Sycamore Tree (with cajon and foot tambourine)
Humming My Way Back Home (with Strumstick)
American Dream (with frame drum)
My Life Doesn't Rhyme
Traveling Song
Here
Wasting Time No More
Only the Soul (with cajon)
Dog for a Day
Leap of Faith

SAMPLE COVERS
Grateful Dead - New Speedway Boogie
Chris Whitley - Big Sky Country
Jesse Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues
Bob Dylan - Tomorrow Is a Long Time
Jimmy Cliff - Sitting in Limbo
Gillian Welch - Annabelle
Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
Tom Waits - In the Neighborhood

INTERVIEW SOUNDBITES
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
Joni Mitchell
Paul Simon
Elvis Costello
John Fogerty
Ani DiFranco
Greg Brown
Pete Seeger

Basic Requirements

Calendar