Bess Rogers is Assistant Professor of Commercial Songwriting at Middle Tennessee State University and an artist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. She graduated in 2005 from SUNY Purchase with a Master’s degree in Studio Composition, where she recorded her first album, Decisions Based on Information, produced by Dan Romer (HBO’s Station Eleven, Pixar’s Luca). From 2007-2013 she was a member of Ingrid Michaelson’s band as lead guitarist and back-up singer, playing on stages all over the world including Madison Square Gardens in NYC & Union Chapel in London, and on live television and radio including Late Night with Conan O’Brien & Good Morning America. She also featured as a guitarist and singer on her records, Be OK, Everybody, Lights Out, It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense, & Ingrid Michaelson’s Songs for the Season. In 2020 she co-produced, arranged and performed on 4 new songs for Ingrid’s Songs for the Season Deluxe Edition, including a duet with Zooey Deschanel (She & Him, New Girl).
As a solo artist, Bess has written, performed, and toured-in-support of her albums, Travel Back EP, Bess Rogers Presents Bess Rogers, Out of the Ocean, & Can’t Remember Where EP. Her songs have been featured on many tv shows including Pretty Little Liars & One Tree Hill, and in advertisements for brands like Cheerios, Motts, Hersheys, Google, Facebook, New Balance, Cadillac, and more. In 2013 she formed a female-fronted rock band called Secret Someones and was quickly signed to Interscope/Cherrytree Records (Sting, Robyn, Feist), where they released their self-titled album to critical acclaim. The band toured internationally, sharing the stage with Feist, Ingrid Michaelson, Mariana’s Trench, A Great Big World, and more. In 2018, Bess joined Broadway’s first all-female pit band for The Go-Go’s Broadway Musical, Head Over Heels, performing in NYC’s legendary Hudson Theater.
Bess now lives in Nashville with her family, enjoys teaching and guiding the next generation of songwriting artists, and is writing her next solo record.
