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The founding guitarist of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Heart. He talks about his just released album “Rog & The Tribe Live 1,” a music instruction series called “Beyond Guitar” that he’s coming out with, and a book that he and his brother are writing that will talk about Heart “from a perspective that nobody has heard” that “is going to be a really good, revealing book.” He also introduces a four-album package entitled “One Vision,” the first of which is called, “All Told.”

Notable Guest Quotes

“What I like to do in some situations is, if you’ve got the music first, then just really be quiet and let it do to you what that music should do to you and let it write the lyrics to the song.”

“In 1995 I came to a crossroads in my life where I realized that everything I was doing musically was either for money or some kind of self-oriented reason or purpose or motivation.  And I just thought, ‘Man, that’s not right.’”

“This isn’t about me.  This is about, what can I give to anybody else.  Music isn’t about self-serving.  If a person uses music for self-serving they’re probably gonna get hurt somehow.”

“I dedicated my life to serving humanity, rather than serving myself… Every song has been intended to uplift, inspire, enlighten, do anything positive I can for the listener.  Because we need help.  Humanity needs help.”

“Nobody knows who Roger Fisher is.  I’m such a well-kept secret in the music business.  I love it and I think it’s hilarious.  But it’s time to come out.”

“My advice, though, to musicians who are working on projects is that it’s history, you’re creating a little bit of history and you should do it right.  And if that means spending five more months working on your ability to sing well, then you do that.”

“It’s kind of a joy and kind of a sacrifice at the same time in today’s world where it’s so competitive that it’s almost no longer enough to merely be a musician.  It’s wise to be a social interactive person, a video editor, a cameraman – if you can wear several hats it can detract from your music, but it can add to your career.”

“For younger people, if you see that the trend of the future is video, which it is, then go there.  Learn those things.  Most people can’t just hire all the people.  These things cost money.  But you can do on a very small budget really great things.”

“Any young artist wishing to (put out recordings of cover songs), do your due diligence, hire a lawyer, get the licensing worked out correctly, and, expect greater success because you’ve got all your ducks in a row, done everything right, and there’s nothing to be afraid of if you do achieve success.”

“What an artist doesn’t want to do in the studio is spend too much time on a song or a part because the first three times you play something, you’ve got the spark of inspiration.  But after that it’s like the honeymoon is over and now you’re just playing it over and over and you’re not as juiced about it.”

“(The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) is purely an award situation.  It honors and celebrates rock & roll and the musicians involved.  But, to say that that is greater than the honor bestowed on a musician who actually performs to audiences, that would be wrong, I think.  I think there’s no greater honor than for a musician to engage with those people that cause that musician to be able to perform, which is, the audience.  So, that relationship right there, that’s the highest honor for me.”

“My advice is, what matters most right now to you in this world?  That’s what you need to make your music about.  It needs to be something that makes you cry.  It needs to be something that means the world to you.  Write about that.  And then when you perform that song, every time you perform it, remember where it came from.”

Songs on this episode

"The Bridge"
"Barracuda"