Some know him for his legendary local band Mighty Purple. Others know him as the son of a local preacher man. I’ve always been intrigued by the fact that he’s the nephew of one of my favorite novelists. Now he’s recording new music, solo. On the latest edition of the Independent’s “Castaway” podcast, a conversation with the great Jonny Rodgers, we hear a sneak preview.
Mighty Purple is coming out with a new album soon. But when Jonny Rodgers, Lee Faulkner, and I sat down in his Westville artist’s loft, we mostly heard about the directions his solo music has taken in the past couple years. He’s given up the rock-star lifestyle; he even went through a year of enforced quiet time (he explains in the podcast). He’s married now, to the photographer Desirea Rodgers.
Click on the button at the right to hear the podcast.
The new tunes sound like nothing else I’ve heard recently, though Bjork came to mind. He recorded them at Firehouse 12, the hot club/bar/music space downtown. On the podcast it’s just Rodgers and his violinist, but it’s enough to whet one’s appetite for the album, which he’s still mixing in the studio.
We talked God, family, Hamden High — the usual.
Check out three previous episodes of Castaway here.
