written by: Ashley SzanterΒ Β Β photos and video by: Natalie Simpson
Americana duo carves out their own niche.
An English professor, a marketing director and a journalist walk into a coffee shop. No, this isnβt the setup for a clean Utah joke, but the prelude to my interview with The Proper Way, a music duo with Shane Osguthorpe and Scott Rogers of Ogden. βWe met by accident,β says Osguthorpe. βScott had the slot before me at a music festival in Ogden. The guy after me didnβt show up,β he says.
After motioning for Scott to join him on stage, Shane found their musical styles and repertoire of songs lined up in an unpredictable way. After their set, they were approached for an interview. βHe asked me how long weβd been playing together. I said, βOh, about 19, 20 minutes?β Turns out, both Osguthorpe and Rogers come from deeply musical backgrounds. Rogers, a Mississippi native, grew up in a family of musicians while Osguthorpe grew up playing the piano and guitar in Park City.
βWeβre both multi-instrumentalists, and weβll play two to three instruments each in a given song,β says Osguthorpe, though he offers the caveat, βweβve only got three hands between us, so thatβs as many as we can manage.β Rogers, who was born without his left hand, lets out a huge laugh while Osguthorpe riffs, βScott Rogers is single-handedly the best musician Iβve ever played with.β
Osguthorpe, the marketing director for Visit Ogden, believes Utah factors into their sound. βThereβs definitely Ogden in our sound,β he says. If you are wondering what, exactly, is an Ogden sound. Osguthorpe is unsure how to describe it, but he says, βthe musicians who hear it, hear it immediately. Itβs not a genre per se because Benjamin Jennings Jazz quartet has it, and Brett Turner has it. I would call it βgrit.ββ Rogers, an English professor at Weber State University by day, claims that Utah has several regional sounds. βWe definitely donβt have a Provo sound,β he says, but theyβre not trying to box themselves into one genre. βThe Lumineers donβt always sound like The Lumineers,β he says.
Either way, Osguthorpe and Rogers are making a name for themselves in the Utah music scene through live performances. Whether they are, as they describe, a βhuman jukeboxβ or perform their new, original material, The Proper Way will keep playing their distinct βpianjoβ (yes, thatβs a piano and banjo mashup) music until they figure out exactly where they fit. theproperwayband.com
Fun Fact:Β Between the two of them, Osguthorpe and Rogers can play the keyboard, piano, mandolin, guitar, fiddle, ukelele, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, banjo and bass.
Videos by: Natalie Simpson
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See more inside ourΒ 2017 November/December Issue.