Traveling Musician Sarah Rogo shares her travel stories (Season 2, episode 2)

We had the pleasure of inviting Sarah Rogo into our RV for a first for us: The first podcast with a guest recorded in the RV & first musician on podcast playing their music for us.

We met Sarah in the RV park we are currently #rvlife-ing it in this month. She was gracious, giving an intimate (but powerful concert for the other guests of the RV park, taking a break from a busy tour schedule that takes her from a TEDx talk about empathy to the Keeping the Blues Alive cruise to the Grand Cayman Islands. We appreciate her taking some time in her busy schedule to let us hear her stories.

Sarah is primarily a musician, but also a surfer, a yoga instructor, an embodiment and mind body expert and has has lived a lot of life in her 26 years, more than most live in a lifetime. Sarah shares with us some stories of her from the road, as well as insights she has from her well lived and well traveled life. This episode will inspire you to get out of your comfort zone and experience more of the world. Not only does Sarah share her travel stories with us but also a plays a song that is super appropriate for our recent move to Los Angeles. Ginger (our dog) and Bruce (the cat that owns us) also interrupt the podcast, reminding us who’s really in charge.

Check her out at sarahrogomusic.com

Instagram: @sarahrogomusic

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More about Sarah Rogo from her website: Sarah Rogo is a performer, surfer, guitar player and songstress making waves in the music scene. At a young age she has managed to embody the grace and intensity of the old time superstars. The bounce in her step and the twinkle in her eyes reveals her charisma and energy immediately. Her captivating performances include sliding on her resonator guitars, dancing, story telling, singing her heart out, and more. While she may look and sound like your prototypical Southern Californian, the 25-year-old singer, guitarist and songwriter was born in New England. She moved to the seaside beach town of Encinitas, CA, less than two years ago, took the local San Diego music scene by storm and now lives in Los Angeles. “Everyone in my family has always known California was my home,” she says. “Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve dreamt of being a surfer.” 

A nominee for Best Singer-Songwriter at the 2017 San Diego Music Awards, Rogo first picked up a guitar at 13 as a way of performing the songs she’d already written. A self-proclaimed band nerd, she played saxophone, bassoon and clarinet and conducted the school marching band. 

Growing up, Sarah spent hours listening to music in the local public library, where her tastes ran from klezmer and Middle Eastern sounds to a 1991 live album recorded by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Alone and Acoustic, which changed her life. 

“The whole thing is in the key of E and you just know they’re making up the words as they go along, but it totally captivated me,” she enthuses. “That’s the kind of music I wanted to play. I knew the blues had to come from the soul. That’s what made it so magical, what moved me, that authenticity, the mojo, even though I had no idea what those words meant until later. The blues just overwhelmed me.” 

Rogo apprenticed and performed with local Boston musicians, guitarist Paul Rishell, who once played with Son House, and world-class harp player Annie Raines, along with acoustic country-blues guitarist Woody Mann, a former student of the legendary Reverend Gary Davis. They introduced her to artists like Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Led Zeppelin and the bottle neck slide on the National Resonator Guitar – for which she’s since become a spokesperson -- then took her out with them on tour to Arkansas and Mississippi. 

Sarah proved an apt performer, and before long, she was writing songs in the vein of those whose music she idolized, evoking such contemporary singer-songwriters as Bonnie Raitt, Rory Block, Eva Cassidy and folk rockers Dawes. 

“The common thread in my writing is the dance between dark and light. I’ve learned to dance with my demons in a healthy way. Life is inherently hard and the blues has taught me how to navigate hardship and guide me into balance. In a nutshell, blues is the yin and yang and I take refuge in that. It’s a meditation and a prayer… it’s a wish, a hope.” 

That’s reflected in Rogo’s joyful and spunky performances on-stage, where her energy is contagious. She takes her inspiration from nature and the nearby ocean, always writing outdoors, where inspiration can strike at any moment, and usually does. “I’m fueled by nature. When I’m writing or wandering the woods or the beach I can hear the whisperings of my heart. There are melodies in nature and I scoop them up and take them home.” 

An eager student of the industry, Rogo met her current manager, veteran Mike Lembo, at the Durango Songwriter Expo in Ventura, CA, where they had an immediate connection. 

“Sarah’s fearless and talented, and I was drawn to her personality without even hearing her play,” said Lembo. “When I heard her sing and play guitar, I recognized an old soul, someone who can not only become a successful artist, but a world-class surfer as well.  Sarah has what it takes to make it, and I’m looking forward to working with her on doing just that.”   

Rogo is currently recording her debut album, working with producer David Ricketts.. She’s paid her dues and is ready to ride the wave into a promising, exciting future. 

“I just want to learn and have fun with new people in new places. I live to perform and collect stories” she says. “I want to dive right in and fearlessly be myself in this giant shark tank known as the music business” 

If anyone can surf those dangerous waters, it’s Sarah Rogo.