Ryan’s Blog: The life of Stan Rogers
Stan Rogers is a well known artist across the Quad Counties, Nova Scotia, Canada and beyond.
The other day I was watching one of my favourite shows and it started talking about him (I’ll get back to that in a moment) and it really made me want to learn more about his life and music.
When I started learning about his life this week, I learned Stan didn’t even grow up in Nova Scotia.
He was raised in Binbrook, Ontario which is about 30 minutes from Hamilton and he spent most of his summers in the Maritimes.
Back in 2013, CBC’s The National put together a really nice video about his life because it was 30 years since Stan Rogers passed away.
Take a look:
Stan Rogers was well known for his song-writing ability.
Many of his popular songs came from his first album called Fogerty’s Cove.
Some of the songs on that record included Fogarty’s Cove, Forty-Five Years and Make and Break Harbour.
That record was released in 1977 and he continued to release albums until his death in 1983.
I mentioned earlier that one of my favourite TV shows got me interested in learning about the life of Stan Rogers.
That show is Mayday on Discovery.
If you never watched the show it’s about plane crashes and it shows the investigation into the cause of the crash.
Maybe it’s because I’m only 21 but I never knew that Stan Rogers died in an airplane after it made an emergency landing.
Stan was on his way back from a folk festival in Texas and Air Canada Flight 797 caught fire.
It started in the bathroom and smoke spread throughout the cabin but the pilots were able able to land safetly.
About 90 seconds after the plane opened it’s doors, the fire spread from the oxygen outside.
Here’s a clip from the episode of Mayday about the flight.
After his death Stan Rogers music never stopped.
You can hear him on the radio, you will hear his songs at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival (StanFest) in Canso, or you can get the record player out and listen to the voice of a legend that will never be forgotten.
I’m going to leave you with my favourite Stan Rogers song called Forty-Five Years.
Enjoy!
