Roger Anthology So Far CD

Roger Swanson is based in Seattle, Washington. The home of Hendrix, Robert Cray, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Heart, and many other great musicians. Roger, who hails from Great Falls, Montana, started playing drums at the age of 13. Despite no encouragement, Roger knew that he would be a musician for his lifelong career. While attending Paris Gibson Junior High in Great Falls, He would practice 8 hours a day. He loved to play his drums so much that he would go home during lunch break and not go back for the second half of school. Being from Montana, there isn't much to do. Well, there's always things like watching the grass grow or leaves falling from the trees, which was exciting, NOT! What did Roger do? You guessed it, He played drums. Roger left Montana at the age of 15 to move to Seattle, A wise move for an aspiring musician. He practiced his drums for 3 solid years, then came his first band called "Bonkers". They did well in the Seattle music scene, which was the pre-punk era that took the world by storm. Bonkers broke up and Roger found himself in a band called "The Jets", not the band that made the big time in the 80s though. Actually, Roger's band had the name long before they had the name "The Jets". They recorded a four song demo of songs they wrote and then they approached Capital Records in search of a record deal. Well, they didn't get signed, but the demo was received by the record company and they said it was good, but that they had not toured a lot to establish a fan following. Roger was not discourcaged, so "The Jets" continued to play the local market. "The Jets" called it quits and Roger formed a band called "Grinder". The wrote, recorded, and performed around the Seattle club scene. Due to musical differences, Roger on to form a band called "izzy Izz". They played "Top 40" rock and toured the Northwest and Canada. That band broke up, so they called it "Izzy Was".Ha Ha! As fate would have it, Roger decided to give Montana another go. He found himself in a band called "MX-80", a band that played the popular rock of the time. The took second place in the "Battle of the bands" for the state of Montana. What an ego boost! It also provided many venues to perform for in Montana. The band members went separate ways and Roger auditioned for the drummer position in a band called "Legend". He played with them a short time, but became bored, so he moved back to Seattle. Roger formed a band called "Live Wire", which had two fantastic lead singers, identical twins- female and gorgeous. They did very well in the seattle market, but the twins called it quits and Roger once again found himself looking for a band that would last. Studio work was next for Roger, of which many sessions came his way. He still wanted to play live and he found himself in a band called "Complex 21". They wrote and performed in Seattle. One song they recorded made it on a national release called "Future stars of tomorrow". Another boost to the ego! WOW! Due to internal pressures within the band, they broke up. Roger then played in a Native American band called "Red Eye Express". He filled in until their drummer recoverd from an accident. He also played on sessions and went to college to earn a degree in music business. Out of the blue, the most successful band of his career entered his life. That band called "The Midnights", had enormous success in the state of Washington, playing all the summer festivals, such as the "Bite of Seattle" and "The Taste of Tacoma". Roger was on a natural high, he found the perfect band. The lead vocalist left the band and it broke up. ROger did play on the vocalist's solo album, "Frank Barter Stone Highways". The two songs roger played on got fantastic reviews in the music section of the local newspaper. The guitar player for "The Midnights" asked Roger to play drums for his new band called "Aloha Baker". Roger accepted and success was had by all. Roger continued to do sessions and recorded on various successful projec