“Well, I am a child of the 80s, so there
were some late 70s and 60s tracks
that hung around the record player
frequently, while neo-pop was still
figuring itself out
“My first real professional gig as a
guitarist, I suppose, would have to
be my CD release at a local theater
in my hometown of Scranton, PA.
That was a big one. A few hundred
people were there. I had to set
the whole thing up, massive sound
equipment and everything. I learned
a lot and had a lot of help from some
wonderful friends and family.”
It is clear from our conversation that
music is in his blood, but I get the
sense it goes deeper. He said the
thing he most enjoys about music is,
“The expression and channeling of
the greatest forms of creation in
the universe, the energy it brings to
all our lives.” At this point during
the interview, I’m gaining a deeper
understanding of where the
complexity in his music comes from.
There is more to this musician than
just music. He describes his music as,
“Compositional guitar, or, being that
is the total opposite of Deathcore.
I sometimes like to refer jokingly
to it as, Lifecore.”
Billy Rogan is a musician’s musician.
He has collaborated and played with
some of the best artists in the
business and was selected and
featured on ASCAP’s highly-
acclaimed Audio Portraits series.
Humbly, he has this to say about
working with other performers,
“Learning from, or simply spending
time with anyone who has something
to show you, is a part of life that
I’ve always felt was of importance.
I’ve been lucky to have at a young
age, some older people around me
influence my decisions to pursue art.
Naturally then, having the
opportunity to play along with
someone who has devoted his entire
life to music can show you a thing or
two. Opening for, and jamming with,
Bill Kirchen of Commander Cody, who
is also known as ‘The titan of the
Telecaster’, was most certainly
a fond evening I won’t soon forget.”
He finds his inspiration by simply
picking up his guitar and practicing
voicings, riffs, looking for different
ways to approach things in a
traditional way and then building
off phrases that stick with him.
“I suppose this is describing the
creative process as well, but they
are so very closely related. The
inspiration comes from the
excitement when you know you’re on
to something, and the starting point
of it all is simply just loving that
process itself.” Presently, Billy says