Ocean Beach has become known, in part, because of the wealth of artists and musicians that live in the area. Some come to meet and work with like minds, some for the ocean, some for family obligations, but in any case, it’s resulted in a unique melting pot of talent that’s second to none in Southern California. One notable transplant, former Island Records artist, singer-songwriter Kimm Rogers, has lived in the area for nearly a decade but has remained under the radar, only now emerging back into the music community full blast, releasing this month her first album in 23 years, “Where the Pavement Grows.” Rogers arrived in San Diego on New Year’s Day of 2006. “I had been building a music program for adults with disabilities in Albuquerque, N.M.,” she said. “But after three years, my husband and I were needed to help out his aging parents in Ocean Beach, so we moved here.”
Rogers had been here before. “I had lived in San Diego a long time ago when my family relocated here after living in Nashville for a bit. I was a bartender up in Crest, and that is where I met my husband. We later relocated to Los Angeles, as I wanted to try and see how my music would fare up there.” Rogers has nothing but love for her new neighborhood, though for the moment she’s played only a showcase gig at Winston’s “a while back. I love OB. I hope to find more places that I can walk to and play for the summer.” She notes she does play to large gatherings in the area, though not in the usual ways. “I do sing to quite a large crowd every Friday at Ocean Beach Elementary,” she said. “I wrote a song based on a list that a teacher gave me. It’s called ‘Catch The Wave,’ and all the kids and parents sing along during our morning assembly. So I guess you could say I have a regular gig here in OB,” Rogers laughed. “As far as the area, what’s not to love? The beautiful ocean cliffs, the water, I can walk to anything, seriously a gorgeous, gorgeous place.”
After more than two decades away from recording, what inspired this new album? “Lots of things,” Rogers said. “Rain, love, expectations, disappointments, aging, rising above the day-to-day to find meaning, the moon, impermanence, trying to find my way in a world that seems increasingly complex,” she continued. “When I was a kid, one of my favorite poems was Shel Silverstein’s ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends.’ Kids are encouraged to go ‘where the grass grows soft and white.’ ‘Where the Pavement Grows’ seems to sum up where we are as adults. With our jobs and our ambitions and our ‘get this get that live your life in seconds flat’ mentality we rarely have the time to dream ‘when everything that surrounds us is so concrete.’” While no release event has been scheduled in San Diego yet, there will be a CD release show in Los Angeles on June 18 at El Cid. “Rather than label it a record release party, I would prefer it to be a celebration of my musical life, as June is also the 25th anniversary of my first release, ‘Soundtrack of My Life,'” Rogers said. “I also hope to celebrate the many people in my life who continue to support me in my musical journey. I am so grateful to so many folks.” It promises to be quite a celebration, then, as Rogers has wanted to be a musician as long as she can remember. “I started playing violin by age 7,” she recalled. “Then my mom got a guitar and taught herself how to play, using Bob Dylan and Buffy Sainte-Marie songbooks with chords, so I just helped myself to her books and her guitar and started messing around myself.” It’s clear that after her hiatus from recording, Rogers is happy to be back working on her music. You can find more info on Rogers and her projects at www.kimmrogers.com.
She got hooked almost instantly and started writing and sharing songs by high school. “And people actually listened. So I guess I chose guitar for no other reason than it was there and it was cooler than violin. Now I wish I had kept up with violin!,” she mused. “I was a very self-conscious girl with braces, glasses and acne so moving from violin to guitar seemed like it might be a “cool” factor in my favor.” It’s clear that after her hiatus from recording, Rogers is happy to be back working on her music. “I guess it’s one of the few things that I have been unable to put down. I am in my most complete state when I am playing or writing or singing and all else falls away. “I love when it resonates deeply with someone I have never met,” she said. “That’s magic.”
You can find more info on Rogers and her projects at www.kimmrogers.com.