Season 2, Show 7, on April 18, 2026
Text and Photo by Sylvia Mallory
The air was electric when Garnet Rogers strode onto the New Song stage on Patriots Day weekend. The adoring fans who’d gathered for the sellout concert—some of whom had traveled from as far away as Georgia and Ohio—were mesmerized as the towering Canadian launched a playlist featuring several of his classic originals, as well as covers of tunes written by his late brother Stan. Pitch-perfect and passionate in his vocals, intricate in his guitar picking, the mellow baritone was by turns funny and introspective in sharing stories of family, friends, and life on the road.
The show opened on a theme of optimism and hope with “After All,” whose lyrical imagery of the natural world permeates many Rogers songs. He followed with “White Squall,” the first of several of Stan’s songs on the evening’s playlist.
In his original “Small Victory,” Rogers told the true story of an old mare, “saved from the knacker’s yard,” who triumphs against all odds. Love formed a central theme in many selections, including “Here Tonight” and “Summer Lightning,” which traces life’s fleeting nature and the loneliness of the road, made bearable only through reflections on one’s beloved (“your gentle hand always on my heart”).
Rogers struck a somber note with his moving tribute to his late friend Bob Franke, whose tragic death in 2025 devastated the folk music community. Recalling Franke as kind, loving, and big hearted, Rogers alluded to a letter Franke had written to him three weeks after Stan’s death. The homage continued as he covered Franke’s “Thanksgiving Eve.”
“All That Is,” another testimonial to the power of love, was predictably a crowd pleaser. So too was his final selection, a cover of George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun,” with the audience offering soft vocal accompaniment. A loud standing ovation brought Rogers back to the stage to perform Stan’s “Turnaround.”
It’s hard to believe that only two shows remain in New Song’s Season 2. What better way to round the corner on the last third of the season than with a visit from Garnet Rogers.