New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Hamden musician, former The Space owner, launches album
NEW HAVEN — Steve Rodgers spent most of the pandemic homeschooling his two kids and hunkered down in his Hamden basement recording studio, Tiny Bunker Studio, writing songs, recording and restoring vintage keyboards and guitars.
He came out of it with a new name — Stephen Peter Rodgers, for stage purposes (to avoid confusion with another musician named Steve Rodgers) — and 40 new songs, 12 of which are on a brand new album, “Speck On A Clover.”
(Yes, that’s a Dr. Seuss reference — from “Horton Hears a Who!” The children’s book tells the story of Horton the elephant and his adventures trying to save Whoville, a tiny village that’s part of a tiny world, located entirely on a speck of dust.)
As generally has been the case with Rodgers in his releases, most recently
2019’s “Count It All Joy,” it’s an easy-tolisten-to blend of rootsy folk influences — but it also has harder edges than the last, acoustic release, with plenty of indie-rockish shimmering guitar, some industrial grit and some pop hooks.
Rodgers, best known as the frontman for 1990s/early 2000s indie rockers Mighty Purple and former owner of The Space,
The Outer Space and the Ballroom at the Outer Space in Hamden, will celebrate his new album’s release Friday night with a show at The State House in New Haven. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 day of show, available at https://statehousepresents.com/, or directly at https://bit.ly/3L2AJ2G.
As it has been for many people — and certainly for many musicians — the pandemic, which followed on the heels of Rodgers letting go of his longtime role as an area music club owner, has been a tough time for Rodgers.
“It’s been a little of an uphill battle,” he said in a recent phone call. “A couple of years after The Space closed down ... I just started to feel very small ... like a small part of the puzzle” where he used to play a larger role.
Then, after the pandemic hit, when most of the formal venues were still closed or restricted, “I was sort of riding this wild wave during COVID of going out and playing these house concerts” in people’s backyards, “and those were definitely high points of it for me.”
But at other times, “The only think that kept me sane was writing ... I wasn’t feeling hopeful, just like the rest of us weren’t feeling hopeful,” he said. “There were lots of quiet moments...”
When things got better last year, “I did play a couple of shows in indoor venues that were, like, half capacity,” including up at Infinity Hall in Norfolk, as well as Fairfield Theatre Company in Fairfield. He also did one show in New York City last fall.
Throughout that time, he was learning how to set up a home studio and record at home, and out of that and the idea of suddenly feeling much smaller grew “Speck On A Clover.”
The DIY route made sense, Rodgers said, at a time when most of the collaborating musicians had to work remotely.
But now he’s excited to be able to play with some o those folks in person — and in front of a real audience, no less.
Drummer David Keith (of Blackmores Night,) who played on a few cuts on the album, “is coming up from Nashville,” Rodgers said. Bass player Seth Adam “just had a baby.” (Well, his wife did, anyway.) Others in the band for the show will include Colin Meyer from the Soldier Story on guitar, Sean O’Reilly on keyboards and vocalists Liz McNicholl and “Jessy Griz” Griswold.
Openers will include a full set by singersongwriter Daphne Parker Powell with Morgan Eve Swain and short sets by Pony Bird, Dust Devil Heart, Sam Carlson, Moonrise Cartel and Sarah Dunn, Rodgers said.
This is the first album Rodgers has made with almost no musical appearance by his brother and longtime Mighty Purple collaborator Jonny Rodgers (Cindertalk). Jonny Rodgers did mix and master the title track “Speck On A Clover,” however. Much of the album was mixed and mastered by Carlson at San Serif Studio in New Haven.
“I’m really excited to share this music with people,” Rodgers said. “This is a real exciting, pivotal time for me ... I really haven’t been this excited about something since I built The Outer Space.
“I’ve been at it for so long and I haven’t given up on my dream ... and I’m very clear, very focused and very excited for what I’m doing.”
To help share the new album, he even hired a nationwide publicist, Team Clermont out of Athens, Georgia.
He also brought in his longtime friend, local filmmaker Jay Miles, to do the first two videos from the release, “Real Life” and “Speck On A Clover.”