Carmen Rodgers

Interview 3 August 2004

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Carmen Rodgers, Free

Tell me about yourself, bit of background, where your from - you're from Dallas originally?, where you are now,

I was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi and spent a small part of my childhood there. I moved to Dallas, Texas when I was 9 with my mother. I have been here in the Dallas area since.

And what music were you brought up on. Are you from a musical family.

That is an interesting question because I am not from a musical family – but my family has always enjoyed a variety of music. I was an only child until my late teens and music was my hobby, my entertainment and possibly my best friend. I listened to anything and everything as long as it was melodic with great words – from Stevie Wonder, to the Gap Band, James Taylor, Wham (George Michael of course), The Carpenters, Donnie Hathaway. The list could go on for days.

And how long have you been writing and performing. And how do you put your songs together, personal experiences?

My first performances were as a child for my family. They always asked me to put on a show. I have been pursuing music professionally since I was a teenager. I was even a member of an All-Girls singing group in High School.

I have been writing since I can remember, from both personal experiences and those experiences of others I have seen directly and indirectly. Some songs are totally from my imagination.

And who are your influences, and who out there do you like now.

I am influenced by and I listen to anyone with strong lyrics and melody. I always loved the singer/songwriter - from Stevie Wonder to James Taylor and anyone in between. I don’t think there are many girls who grew up in the 80’s that didn’t want to be Whitney Houston.

Some of my favorites now are some of the staples of the New Soul Movement – Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Meshell Ndegeocello and India.Arie . Other artists I really like are my label mates Geno Young & Frank McComb, Donnie, Jonatha Brooke, N’Dambi, John Mayer, Rufus Wainwright, Omar, Van Hunt, Jamie Cullum, Jason Mraz. I even like the superstars Beyonce and Brandy.

What do you think about current R'n'B, is there a move more towards Soul do you think. What about the neo tag, it's just Soul ain't it.

I think there is a place for every genre of music. I just want the wealth distributed evenly. Right now the radio is saturated with two styles of music – Hip Hop and R&B influenced by Pop or Hip Hop - and if you don’t fit that style, you may never see the light of day. I think record labels and radio should give the consumer more credit than that.

I think music, Black Music in particular is to multi-faceted to be put in such a small box. That is what I love about Soul Music. You don’t have the same parameters and fans of soul music are open to artists showing the many sides of soul…and yes, I think it is all Just Soul, both Classic and New. It is just Soul and I think the less time we spend trying to categorize it, the more opportunities we will give Soul Music & Artists to grow.

Tell me about the album, how long it took to get together, you pleased with it.

Free is a personal album. I did pull from my own experiences as well as others around me for inspiration. It can be fun, romantic, serious. I think many of the songs will hit home with people and so far the response has been incredible from people saying they felt as though I was talking to them personally.

I had a great writing and production team between myself, Ernie Green and Geno Young. It was a lot of fun to work on but did take quite a bit longer than expected. Before releasing the record independently, we worked with a smaller label but our visions were not the same on the direction of the music. This meant re-recording some songs and in some cases starting from scratch, but it was worth it in the end.

All the songs are original bar one?

The majority of the songs are original written by myself, Ernie Green and Geno Young with some help from Jimi Bradford. However, there is one song I cover by Captain & Tenille called “The Way I Want To Touch You” that I have liked for years. I asked Ernie to re-produce it and I did the vocal arrangement. We tried our best to funk it out a little and put a modern spin on it.

And the team of people around you, Ernie G and Geno Young, and there's a connection there with N'Dambi

Actually, we are all from the Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas area. Geno Young was Erykah Badu’s Background Vocalist and Music Director while N’Dambi was also touring with Erykah as a Background Vocalist. After N’Dambi starting pursuing her solo career, I sang background for N’Dambi and Geno was also N’Dambi’s Music Director as well as being Co-Executive Producer of her last record.

Ernie and I have been writing partners and friends for several years. I introduced Ernie to Geno & N’Dambi and the rest is history…

Do you do much live work, do you have a band, are you gigging to promo it

Live performances are my favorite and I try to perform live as much as possible. I am promoting the record heavily in my home state and I am now starting the National & International promotions.

I have incredible musicians that play for me (all of whom are from Dallas). They have played for Erykah Badu, N’Dambi, Glenn Lewis, Common, Guru, Amel Larruiex, and the list goes. I think that should explain one of the reasons live shows are so much fun with them.

And the link up with Expansion, how did that come about. I first came across you via the Soul Sophisticated album, there's a couple of links there Kendall and Maysa for example.

The “Soul Sophisticated” album opened the door to Expansion as well. I had heard about the Label when I found out Frank McComb had a UK release only and it was through Expansion. Shortly after, my management was contact by Ralph Tee expressing interest in licensing the record in the UK – with a good word from Kendall Duffie. It worked out well – My record was released in both the US and UK within a week of each other.

And at home what's happening there. Is it harder in some ways to break through there.

Promoting here in the States has been a little tougher, but the record is definitely creating a buzz. We have been able to tap into a growing fan-base created over the past few years from gigging and the recent success of “Hidden Hits” & “Soul Sophisticated.”

Unfortunately radio stations are not as friendly to Soul Music as they are to Hip-Hop and Mainstream R&B, so we have found other creative ways to get the word out. It has been a slower process, but absolutely worth it in the end.

You're getting good reaction over here - what do you know about the Uk scene and when are you coming over.

I am loving the response. The UK and Europe overall have been very receptive to our music and I am appreciative. Tentatively, I will be traveling there to promote the record and performing live Mid-Late September through Early October. This will be my first time in Europe, so I am very excited.

Is this your first album, what other stuff have you done.

This is my first solo record, but I have been involved on other projects. I was featured on the “Hidden Hits, Volume I” compilation by Hidden Beach, as mentioned earlier, I was on the compilation “Soul Sophisticated,” I co-wrote a song on Geno Young’s record and I co-wrote and sang background on a a gospel record a few years ago by Daryll & Tonya Blair.

Anything else you'd like to add.

I love music. I love performing, writing, singing, listening to music and I hope that comes across in this record and the ones to come. I look forward to seeing everyone soon in the UK.

Good luck and thanks for your time.

Mike

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