Artist: Rose Gerber
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Latest Album: Untraveled Highway
Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?
I like to describe my music as rock meets country, though I have some ’90s alternative and pop influences in there. To mash all those up into one genre, I settle on calling it alt-country.
How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me?”
All the time. It’s almost impossible to exclusively divorce my own emotions and experience when creating a character. It’s very freeing, though, and I like to weave in and out of not just the character’s perspective, but the perspectives of other people I know, too, as well as mine.
What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?
I wrote a song called “Back of My Mind,” which is about my father who passed away when I was young. I cried my way through writing it and relived a lot of the grief I hadn’t felt in years.
What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?
I love Enya. I put it on when I am super stressed, need to fall asleep, or just want to feel some mystical vibes. Last time I visited Ireland, I fulfilled a dream and put it on full blast as I drove along the Irish west coast taking in the scenery.
Does pineapple really belong on pizza?
I fought it for so long and one day I was high and hungry enough to be talked into it. It was an instant love affair. I’ve since branched out into being open to other fruits on a pizza. Fig, pear… though I might draw the line at watermelon.
Photo Credit: Whitney Lyons Photography.
