Garnet Rogers

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sings "You don't speak for me," he's not referring just to his own Canadian citizenship). "Beyond This Wall" is about Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, and the rocker "Good and Faithful Servant" was inspired by the funeral service of Coretta Scott King. He's a keen observer and a master of the details that paint vivid pictures of his characters. And then there are songs like "The Painted Pony," rivaling the best of the old British Isles ballads in its perfect rendering of a love both earthly and supernatural. Or the rockabilly "Where Did You Get That Little Dress?" — part erotic love song, part statement of values — in which Garnet contrasts his lover's "sweetness in a cotton dress" with fashion trend setters: "Those sullen junkies on the runway . . . with their implants and injections, only God knows what is real."

God knows, Garnet Rogers is real.

[Review published September 2008]