Ricky Rogers

Ricky Rogers plays bass for Iron Horse. At age twelve he learned to play three chords on the guitar from his sister who had learned those same chords from a friend. The first instrument that Rogers ever played was his brother’s Sears Silvertone guitar that only had four of its usual six strings. At age thirteen Rogers received his first personal guitar, a sixty dollar Conrad model, as a Christmas present from his parents. Using this new guitar to perform a song called “Diary” by David Gates of the group Bread in his school’s coronation the following March, Rogers was involved with several garage bands playing for various school functions during his teenage years. In 1976 Rogers joined forces with Allen Watkins (banjo,) Tony Robertson (mandolin,) and Sammy Michael (bass) of the Home Made String Band who had just lost their guitar player. It was during this time that Rogers purchased a 1972 model C.F. Martin D-18 and by all standards, became a true bluegrass guitar player. The only project recorded by The Next In Line included such bluegrass standards as “In My Younger Days,” “The Tie That Binds,” and “I Still Miss Someone.” At age twenty Rogers gave up his interest in music and his involvement in any organized group so that he could gain a college education. Rogers married Sonja Parker and they had two daughters, Laura and Lydia. Rogers married the sister of Vance Henry’s wife and was as inspired and encouraged by the strong family dynamics and musical roots of the Parker family as Henry was. Rogers became part of The Carolina Singers as well as Henry, and performed acapella gospel with this group over the next five years. He was also involved in the three projects recorded by this group. The love and interest in acoustic music was maintained as these two brother-in laws accompanied each other on guitar and mandolin. Rogers received a call in 1997 to play bass for the legendary Jake Landers Band. Over the next five years Rogers played with The Jake Landers Band and was involved in four projects recorded by the band. Rogers learned to play upright bass to prepare for the band competition at the Society for Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPGBMA) in Nashville,TN in February 2002 in which Iron Horse with band members Tony Robertson, Ricky Rogers, Vance Henry and Rod Carter placed tenth in a field of twenty-three bands in their first and only SPGBMA competition. Rogers states that he has found his place in music as bassist and background vocalist with Iron Horse while still contributing to the group’s musical efforts on guitar and in songwriting activities.