Meet Calvin L. Rogers

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Calvin L. Rogers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Calvin, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
It sort of found me actually. I was very fortunate to tap in to my purpose at a very early age. When I was just two years old, I would get in trouble all the time for banging and beating on furniture, and whatever else I could get my hands on. I was literally making beats haha. My grandmother on my mom’s side, finally told my parents to buy me a drum set cause I was going to be a drummer she said. My parents ended up doing just that. They not only bought me a toy drum set but bought me a toy keyboard and toy guitar as well, all at the age of two years old. So I begin to continue banging, experimenting, and playing on them all. I would often get inspired by the local musicians at my church at the time. I would come home and try my best to imitate what they were doing. Finally my parents bought me a real and professional drum set when I turned 5 years old. I then taught myself to play the drums well enough to play numerous gigs around town for church, and various artist, groups, and bands in my hometown of Huntsville, AL.

I focused specifically on the drums for several years and started taking keyboard lessons when I turned 13 years old. While in Huntsville during the time, everyone played drums and there was a huge need for keyboard players. You can get through a gig without a drummer and just having someone on keys, but you can’t really do a gig with just a drummer and no one playing keys or piano. So I figured the keys were priority for a successful gig. Long story short, after I began taking keyboard lessons. I began playing keys for various churches, groups, bands, etc around town while continuing to play the drums occasionally.

While I was a student at Bob-Jones high-School, free tickets were given to all the students who had straight A’s. These were tickets to a Martina McBride Concert which was held at the Von Born Civic Center in Huntsville. Other opening acts included, Little Big Town, and Lady Antebellum. My sister, A’Yonnika and I both went. The tickets had us sitting all the way at the top of the arena. Even though I was all the way at the top, I could still see and feel the music very well. After watching the first two opening acts of the show, I told myself I finally know for sure what I want to do with my life. That involved playing keys, drums, and guitar for various artist for lots of shows around the world. With that in mind I enrolled into Oakwood University and studied Music with a concentration in Piano Performance. I later graduated with my Master’s in Music Production from Berklee College of Music. Today I’m doing just that. I’m currently traveling the world playing music for various artist and bands while also writing, producing records, and involved with various work in the studio as well.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
One of the things I am currently focused at the moment is making great music, whether that be for myself or others. I haven’t told many people, but I am actually writing and working on my next solo project/EP. I hope to release the first single from the project very soon, so stay tuned! I’ve had a lot of music and tracks that were just sitting on my computer for a while. I realized that it was finally time to collaborate with a few other writers, artist, and musicians and get it out there. I’m tremendously excited for everyone to hear and experience this upcoming project. I’m also currently producing records for other artist as well. I’m honored to work with my good friend and mentor Devine Evans, he has a multi-platinum production team based out in LA that I’m apart of. I’m also apart of the producers community for Writing Sessions America, founded and led by Kevin Shine.

Another thing I’m currently involved with is being the Music Director of Student Ministries at Mt. Zion Nashville where Bishop Joseph Walker III is the Senior Pastor. This is an amazing responsibility as I get to lead and manage two youth campuses from the church. I’m in charge with choosing the songs for each service and locations, as well as putting in place the band, singers, and worship leaders for each campus as well. I think it’s really cool to pour back into the young community and be able to mentor and help them grow musically.

I am also involved with playing instruments for various artist and bands around town. In most cases I’m playing keys, but every now and then I’ll get a call and opportunity to play drums or guitar. I actually just got back a few weeks ago from playing an international jazz gig with Kamaal Malak who is also a great mentor and friend. We played for an art festival out in Berlin, Germany. I’m looking forward to playing more shows with him soon. I’m also currently playing keys for a corporate/wedding band called Universal Crush. We usually gig about three to four times a month but travel all across the nation for our gigs.

Lastly, I’m just continuing to do freelance work as a mixing engineer, recording engineer, producer, musician, and DJ for whoever needs my services. I’m very excited and passionate about what I do. I look forward to continuing to service my music community and taking it to the next level!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The top three that currently come to my mind include, having great character, being a hard worker, and being great at what you do.

To me having great character is key. You can be the most talented person known to man but if people don’t want to be around you, then you won’t get the gig or opportunities that you want. In most cases it’s not about the talent, but more so about the hang and knowing if you’re a good person or not. If you think about it you’ll understand that you are only on stage during most tours for only two hours or less. The other 22 hours in the day you are hanging out with everyone you are on tour with and being a person not a musician. So being a good hang is very important. The people around you need to know and feel that they can trust you which is why having great character is very important and has gotten me far in my career.

Being a hard worker really needs no explanation. As I’m sure you have already heard, there is no short cut to excellence or great success. Hard work is vital. This involves putting in a ton of hours and work to whatever it is that you do and making the necessary sacrifices needed to get the work done. While I was studying music in undergrad at Oakwood University, I had to practice a minimum of ten hours per week. In some cases I found myself practicing 15 to 20 hours a week. I was willing to do whatever was needed to get the work done for the week and go beyond it. While putting in those many hours I had to sacrifice time hanging with friends, social events, etc. With hard work and dedication comes sacrifice. My definition of a hard worker is someone that is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done without any excuses!

In my opinion, if you are a hard worker and have put in a ton of work at what you do, then you should in return be great at what you do, which is my next and last quality. When you have finally reached a point to become great at what you do, the work comes much easier. Others recognize it and give you the first calls for gigs and session opportunities. There’s a certain confidence and energy that comes with it. Having all of these qualities combined has helped me tremendously throughout my career. I would recommend to anyone getting started in the music field to obtain them.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Yes, I am looking to work with singers and Artist who are in need of a musical director, keyboardist, drummer, or guitar player for their live shows or upcoming tour. As well as artist or bands who are in need of someone to produce their next Single, EP, or Album. I’m also open to working with publishers, and labels of all sizes, as well. Lastly, I am looking to partner and add a business executive to my team, whether he or she is a manager, consultant, or administrative assistant. This will help me to focus more on the creative side while still being productive on the business end. Anyone who is interested in collaborating in any of these areas should reach out to me via email at [email protected]. Let’s win together!

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