Garnet Rogers

continued

years since his death, Stan's influence and the sales of his recordings have continued to grow. Not easy to stand in the shadow of a man like that. But Garnet, who started playing in Stan's band when he was only eighteen years old, and produced and arranged his recordings for ten years, has always been a big enough man, figuratively and literally — he's nearly six feet six — and a talented enough musician to not be overshadowed by anyone. Today, after more than a dozen recordings and hundreds of thousands of touring miles all over North America (he doesn't fly, and he's driven more than a few Volvo station wagons into the ground), Garnet casts his own not inconsiderable light on the folk music scene.

He shines in many ways. Start with his resonant, relaxed baritone, by turns invigorating and lulling, always deeply expressive. Add to that the long list of instruments he plays, reading like the combined inventory of an orchestra, bluegrass group, and rock 'n' roll band. He can't fit all those into the back of his Volvo, so he performs with only a few guitars and a fiddle, but there are no limits on what he brings as a performer — there is no finer interpreter of his brother's classic songs — and as a songwriter.

Garnet's own songs cover a seemingly limitless range of topics, from stories of the ordinary people he's met in his travels to his responses to world affairs or well-known people. Witness "Junior," a scathing commentary on our current president (when he