Pen & Page

Matt Rogers in performance with the S.O.B.s

Matt Rogers picked up his first guitar at age 9. At age 15 he was performing to crowds at the Magic City Blues festival.

“It was a surreal experience that I haven’t really appreciated until now,” Rogers said in a recent interview.

At the time Rogers was performing with the Tyler Burnett Band, and he’ll take the stage once again with some of the same musicians. Currently Rogers is playing with drummer Pat Epley and bassist Steve Brown in a group they’ve dubbed the S.O.B.s, short for Sons of Billings.

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Steve Brown in performance during a solo concert at the Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. March 6.

For Billings musician Steve Brown, there’s no place like home. After a stint in California, Brown returned to Billings in July 2009 with a renewed sense of hometown pride.

“(Billings) is unlike anywhere else,” Brown said in a recent interview. “California is a fun place to visit, but life is so much more enriching when you can see people that you know all the time, rather than ignore the people next to you in the checkout line.”

While Brown did strum his guitar a few times in California, his music took a backseat. “The scene there is a little different. You pay to play,” Brown said, explaining that musicians are responsible for selling a certain percentage of tickets to their performances in order to make money. “I feel good about coming back, and it just felt really good to play again.”

Brown has been performing with a powerhouse of musical talents, including blues/bluegrass fusion band The Peach Pickers and rock guitarist Matt Rogers. “You look out and you see everyone you know; it’s not just faceless crowds that you don’t care about,” Brown said. “It’s smiling faces that you see, and it’s your best friends and even your enemies in the crowd. We all get together for this short amount of time and lay our weapons down and unite and have a good time. I believe there is something inherently powerful in people gathering in unity.”

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