March 19, 2005 - Evening News, New Glasgow, NS.
PERCOLATING A DREAM

It's been decades in the making but Hopewell songstress Jakki Rogue has released her first full-length, solo disc.

BY : KEVIN ADSHADE - THE EVENING NEWS

It's never too late to make an old dream happen. After three decades as a professional musician, Jakki Rogue has released her first full-length solo CD. "Some dreams take a long time to percolate," she says. "Half the battle with dreams for people, is figuring what they want."

"Take a Look at This" is the result of what the Hopewell resident calls many years developing her craft as a songwriter and as a performer. "I write about my relationship with the world, and they are usually based on real-life relationships," says Rogue, who describes her music as predominantly folk with shades of blues and pop thrown in.

A musical fixture in Pictou County, Rogue is originally from Red Lake, in northwestern Ontario. Her grandmother had been a famous classical pianist in Latvia and Germany before moving to Canada, and Rogue (shortened from the Icelandic Rognvaldson) began studying piano at the age of four.

Rogue's mother also earned a Royal Conservatory degree in classical music and was a musician and teacher in her own right. Having studied piano and accordion, Rogue taught herself to play mandolin and guitar and began writing songs by the time she turned 16.

A few years later, in the 1970's, she came to Nova Scotia at a time when she and scores of other young people saw the Canadian east coast as an opportunity to get "back to the land" and lead a simpler life. The music stayed with her, and she stayed here, now calling Pictou County home.

Over the years, thought her solo work and as a member of the country-rock outfit Little Smoke, Rogue has met and performed with artists such as John Prine, Sylvia Tyson, The Mamas and the Papas, Valdy and Jose Feliciano.

In the 1980's she recorded some full-length albums as a member of Little Smoke and made dozens of appearances at folk festivals and other venues.

Then came "Take a Look at This", which features 12 tracks, a couple of them written well over two decades ago. I Still Sing, which features George Canyon on backing vocals, was penned in 1981, while Other Than You was a song that Rogue put together back in the 1970's. And while many other songs on the CD were written in the 1990's, Rogue does not apologize for bringing her own personal favorites out of the vault. "The songs on this album have stood the test of time for me," she said. "A lot of these songs are still very personal...there are worlds between us, meet me on the bridge," she says, quoting from "Take a Look at This", the title cut. "This is a personal mission statement."

She proudly states that I Still Sing caught the ears of Canyon when he showed up one day at Riverfront Studios in New Glasgow, where a portion of the album was recorded under the direction of Dave Gunning. "Those boys really encouraged me. Dave really put his heart and soul into it."

She also did some recording at D.C. Productions in Dartmouth. As a tribute of sorts, Rogue included one cover song on her CD, which she began recording in 2003 Both Sides Now, an early tune from Joni Mitchell, who clearly was an inspiration to Rogue.

Rogue took a stab at getting "a day job" about a year ago, but found that music was still her calling. With it, she tries to maintain a positive view of the world. "It's the thing I've always done, and it's the thing I will always do. I want to make people feel good; I want to show them the good things."

Rogue hopes to hold a CD release party in Pictou County sometime this spring, and has a small release party lined up for April 16th at Stayner's in Halifax, a popular folk and blues venue.

She's already planning for her follow-up CD to "Take a Look at This". The CD is getting some airplay on CKEC and CBC Radio. The CD is available locally at H & R Music, CD Plus at Highland Square Mall and at Sam The Record Man in Halifax.