Fighting tooth and nail for the love of music
Sylvie Rogers always said that she was born in a bass drum, and that the minute she opened her eyes, her ears were already filled with music and her heart was beating to the sound of the drums.
In reality, Rogers was born in Sherbrooke in 1973, and as long as she can remember, she knew that music would be part of her life. She gave it her all to make that happen.
“As a child, it was clear that I wanted to be a musician.” Rogers said. “My father was a drummer, and he held the practices at our house. I was three or four and I already wanted to be part of such a beautiful musical adventure. I had a love for country music even at that age.”
Her first musical instrument, a red and white harmonica made for kids by Fisher Price, meant everything to her and confirmed the fact that music would be significant in her life.
“I played the harmonica every day, trying to replicate the melodies of the songs I heard on the radio,” she explained. “I was also composing little melodies. My passion for the harmonica lasted for a while but as time went by, what I truly wanted was to play drums in a band like my father. With all my heart I wished my dreams would come true.”
Rogers made a point of attending all of her father’s band rehearsals. Music was gradually becoming her world. Every musician and singer involved with the group was a big star in her eyes.
Looking back, she said that she remembers well the few occasions she got to see her father in action in a bar. When she turned six, a baby brother joined the family. She recalled how life was wonderful then and that she was so happy to evolve in such a musical environment.
“Sadly a few years later, following events that I don’t want to talk about, our family was destroyed, separating us from one another. I ended up going from one foster family to another. I felt abandoned and I experienced a lot of anger and resentment,” she said. “As a teenager I had lost all this passion and love for music, I guess I could say that I had lost myself as well. One day, an educator told me about the Sherbrooke Academy of Music ( drum and bugle). So that summer I played the snare and cymbals with them. It gave me back my taste for music. I did a lip-sync show at the recreation center. It is at that precise moment that my passion for music was reignited. Being onstage, the lights, but specially the music, brought the old familiar feelings back.”
After that magical moment revived something she thought she had lost forever, Rogers went on to prove her courage by turning her life around. Her resilience, her positivity, her love for work well done, her tenacity and her strength would become the driving force behind her accomplishments.
She decided to learn guitar and soon enough got a gig with another musician in a bar on Wellington Street. This older musician became sort of a mentor who, for a while, guided and supported her a lot. For a few years, she invested many hours honing her musical skills.
“With music back in my life, I started entering talent contests,” she said. “There’s one in particular that I remember well. Jessie, you were hosting a talent show at a Restaurant called Le Retro downtown Sherbrooke. It was nice and friendly. I didn’t win that contest, I won something bigger: self-confidence and experience.”
It’s around that time that Rogers started writing songs, working all day and staying-up a good part of the night to refine her lyrics. In her twenties, she had the chance to play with different local musicians, taking all the gigs she could find, until one day, she was asked to play The Festival Western in St-tite. The following year she entered a songwriter contest “Le Concours
Etoile Galaxie” in St-tite. She came in second. She was getting more known, which opened the door to many other festivals, but she was also playing local bars every weekend.
Sylvie Rogers has a voracious appetite for learning. She plays guitar, drums and bass and lately she started learning violin. She’s always eager to increase her musical knowledge and perfect her playing techniques.
Local musician David Mcburney, who plays with Rogers often, just can’t believe how it seems easy for her to learn how to play an instrument.
“She is really talented and it’s unbelievable to see the ability she has at learning something new. I love to hear her perform” he told me.
According to Rogers playing music was not enough she also wanted to know more about studio work and audio.
“I wanted to learn everything from recording to mastering. I decided to record my first album with Gerry Brisebois titled ‘On a Tous un Côté Cowboy’ where I got to experience the work involved in studio and on a sound board” she shared.
“I have been with my significant other for over twenty years now and she understands my passion for music and she always supported me and often she encourages me to go further in my venture. We are soul sisters” she stated about the person who helped her heal and believe in herself.
All that support, which combined to her passion for everything music, made her want to own her studio and she did.
“I am so proud of my studio. Now I can record my own stuff. I have been working on two other albums. On the first one titled “Au bout du Monde” the songs are all my own compositions while the second one offers covers of my favourite songs and is titled “Album de Mes Souvenirs. The CDS are not officially launched but it is coming” she said with her million dollar smile.
COVID really slowed down a lot of singers and musicians but not Rogers, who turned on a dime and decided to have her own music show on the Web during which she performs songs in English and in French, as well as some of her own material.
“I created this Facebook “live” and titled it “I Feel Country”. I go on live every Thursday night on my Facebook page (Sylvie Sylvie) at 7:00 pm. I also sometimes invite other local musicians to perform on this hour as well. I wrote a theme, did the arrangements and conceived the promo to announce this “live” show.
I love singing for people and having fun. I have so many ideas. I’m just like a kid” said the talented singer/musician. “I think that I will still be doing this when I am a hundred years old. Music is the best trade in the world and it’s definitely therapeutic” she concluded.