Jenn Rogar is a Sacramento folk artist who shares social messages in her music.
We met at Weatherstone in Midtown October 3, 2013 for an outdoor chat about how her music career is developing. She has
just released a new CD called The River and has been playing live shows frequently in Sacramento. As an activist,
she attends City Council meetings and is currently promoting Safeground, a nonprofit set up to help the homeless.
Jenn Rogar Mixes Politics and Music
Jenn Rogar talks about how she became interested in politics, which eventually became part of her songwriting. She attended
UC Davis in the 80s when influential people such as local singer XX inspired her to appreciate folk music. In this SacTV video
she talks about the dangers of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and why people should be concerned.
Issue-Oriented Music
The "March Against Monsanto" rally is part of a national awareness campaign to alert people of how GMOs now make up a huge
percentage of the crops in America. Jenn does not believe that most people know who about Monsanto, a St. Louis-based
corporation that controls the seed industry in America.
Although many counties around the world are starting to ban Monsanto's seeds due to tests that show that lab rats can get
tumors from the food that grows from these seeds, the company has a strong lobby and budget to defeat opponents who want to
see GMO labeling. Several states, however, are beginning to look at this very legislation that could turn the tide against
Monsanto's success at controlling the food industry in America.
Jenn Rogar explains the most important issues in her life that also affect her music. Some of those issues include children,
the Novajo tribe, the death penalty, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, corporations, addiction and peace. "Dove Spring Girl"
is about the Novajos and was inspired by Sacramento folk artist Diane Patterson. Jenn doesn't write songs every day, just
when she's inspired. She believes music, poetry and the arts have the power to change the world into something more positive.
At the core of many problems in society, as Jenn sees it, is the gender imbalance. She points to Norway and Sweden as model
countries for empowering women, but most of the world is still male-dominated. She thinks that once this balance in power
between genders is achieved, the world will be more peaceful. Humans are peaceful by nature, she asserts. "My goal,"
Jenn says, "is to do my part, to inspire other people to do their part. I try to tell all my students every day we're living
in a world now where you have to do something ... you have to get involved in some issue."
Recognizing the downturn that has crippled the Sacramento economy since the mortgage meltdown of 2007, she believes now more
than ever it's important for the community to come together. "Right now the median income is going down," Jenn observes.
"The standard of living has gone down and the rich are getting richer and richer." Unifying people with positive
message-driven music, she believes, can help elevate people's spirits toward self-empowerment.
Message on Safeground
Jenn Rogar talks about her weekly meetings with the Sacramento City Council and her support for Safeground, a nonprofit project
to provide shelter for the homeless. She wants to see some type of action taken to help the homeless, who are not allowed to be
on public or private property. Safeground is a project that will build 40 small cabins for the homeless on 2 acres. Jenn says
she showed up with her guitar to play a song at one of the meetings. It's unclear if city officials back the plan, although Jenn
says Mayor Kevin Johnson told her he's been on board with Safeground for five years.
The homeless issue seems to have been swept to the background as a local priority as thousands of Sacramento residents do not
have places to live. Over the past few years the issue of keeping the Sacramento Kings in town and building a new arena seem to
be the most important topics. Jenn has views on other issues, but sees the homeless issue as an urgent priority because she doesn't
think it's fair that anyone should be without a home and live in the cold.
Sacramento is still feeling the shockwaves of the recession. It does not appear that Sacramento has recovered the way many others
have. Unemployment is still much higher than the national percentage and there's no sense that businesses are hiring. State
officials have talked about raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour, but there's no sense of celebration in Sacramento, one of
the hardest hit cities in the recession that began to unravel six years ago.
Part of the problem is that rents are high while pay is stagnant and the cost of living keeps going up. The cost of living is
directly controlled by corporations on Wall Street. The question arises if Sacramento government is strong enough to do anything
about Wall Street crippling the economy while the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Is Sacramento becoming a cold blooded
heartless ghost town or is there enough spirit left in the local government to take action? Things might be a lot better if local
government encouraged more self-employment. Jenn plans to keep showing up at the meetings to make her point that the homeless
need help.
The River Album
Jenn Rogar talks about her latest album The River, which was produced by David Houston, who played on the album, along with
Mike Farrell. This album differs from her debut project from 2007, which was mostly voice and guitar. The new album has broader
instrumentation including Hammond organ. Her favorite song on the new album is "Shasta," which is heard at the end of this
SacTV video. Jenn agrees that local music is easy to beat the national popular music, as this album offers clear proof. The song
"Shasta" alone has a rich melodic quality that makes it more listenable than the average hit.
She's only been playing with a band since 2011, although she's been writing songs since the 90s. The elements of music that Jenn
likes the most are the beat, the singer and the message. Some of her favorite artists are Dar Williams and Sarah Vaughan. She likes
Dar for her message and Sarah for her voice. "Tell Me Why" on the album is about someone who throws their life away on drugs.
Jenn's songwriting comes from her own process, as she has never read a "how to" book on songwriting. Her writing is based on how
she hears music, not on any particular formula.
The ethic of making every song sound different on an album is one of the few rules she has crafted for herself. Other than that,
there are no rules she follows. Originally from Auburn, she wanted to showcase the American River on her album cover, which inspired
the album title. Nature is one of her favorite themes in her music. "Nature heals," says Jenn. "It's why people
fall apart ... is they get away from nature. And if you look at overall where's the crime, where's the drugs? In the cities.
It's in the concrete." Jenn's music is available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Rdio, Google Play, eMusic and other online places.
