Former Owner Of Popular Hamden Music Venue Releasing New Album

HAMDEN, CT — The former founder and owner of The Space / Space Ballroom in Hamden is returning to the New Haven music scene with a new album and a release concert next month.

Stephen Peter Rodgers, who was also the frontman and co/songwriter for the 1990s-2000s indie rock band Mighty Purple, is releasing his new album “Speck On A Clover” on Unfinished Hearts Records.

The album release concert will take place on Friday, May 13 at The State House at 310 State Street in New Haven.

Rodgers, who operated The Space / Space Ballroom for 15 years, had to change his public name from Steve Rodgers to “Stephen Rodgers,” due mostly to a variety of internet search conflicts and confusion with another musician also named Steve Rodgers, according to a news release.

After nearly two decades of championing and promoting local, regional and national bands of all genres, Rodgers is now focused on his own music and art career.

“I unknowingly all but nearly lost my own creative spirit, in the venue business and process of giving others a platform in which to share their talent and music,” Rodgers said in the news release. “If I could, there would be very few things I would change about the story of The Space, it was an amazing experience until forces beyond my control began to undermine my vision and mission there.”

Space Ballroom still exists under different ownership and a different business model.

Rodgers, a lifelong songwriter, spent most of the pandemic hunkered down in his recording studio (Tiny Bunker Studio) writing songs, recording and restoring vintage keyboards and guitars. He challenged himself to write and record one song per week for a year.

Ultimately, he ended up with 40 songs.

Twelve of the songs will be included on the upcoming album “Speck On A Clover.” The album title is a reference to the 1954 Dr. Seuss book “Horton Hears a Who.”

Rodgers said the line in the children’s book, “A person is a person, no matter how small,” resonates with him and in some ways is parallel to his journey, spanning 15 years as an independent music venue entrepreneur transitioning into a full time songwriter and visual artist.

The album’s title track “Speck On A Clover” is a piano driven, electro indie rock song with impassioned lyrics hinting at the singer’s personal battles and triumphs.

“No clouds here anymore, so sing it out, like a bird on a wire, searching for a speck on a clover,” sings Rodgers.

The album is the first that Rodgers has produced for himself.

“Following one of the darkest and most disappointing seasons in my life, I needed to prove to myself that I could record on my own,” Rodgers said. “I have lived my life as somewhat of a luddite and finally decided to learn how to use modern recording technology. The whole experience has been freeing and has inspired me to create music in ways I never imagined.”

Songs, such as the first single from the album, “Real Life,” harken back to the sonic history of the early Mighty Purple catalogue. The band garnered critical acclaim and national success through 10 years of constant touring in support of the seven albums they released.

“Guitars with a shoe gaze flair, vintage Rhodes keyboards and spot on driving drums (played by David Keith) lay the bed for lyrics about our human condition & the longing for living in peace with ourselves and with each other,” according to the news release. “Other songs on the album such as ‘Wish I Didn’t Sway’ are self-reflective and lonely, still anchored to the indie-americana mooring from Stephen’s prior release. Dark southern gothic organ sounds form the underlayment for Rodgers’ husky voice as he sings ‘It’s not what we drink but it’s why we drink it, It’s the thoughts that we sow and the actions which reap it.’ There are two solo acoustic songs on the album, which stay true to Rodgers roots, The Song ‘What I Am,’ a fast-paced autobiographical anthem with unapologetic lyrics and an Irish twinge.”

The new album, musically, has all the “fixings to stand tall among the dense forest of modern indie music,” the news release states. “Each track is unique yet, each threads to the next, to make the album a cohesive unit. Something waits inside for listeners of all bents and backgrounds. There is no industry pigeon hole to dump the album into. The influences are broad and the message is deeper than the shallow wading pool which the modern music business has grown all too comfortable in.”

The album release at The State House will feature a cast of well-known Connecticut music scene musicians, including Seth Adam, David Keith, Ben Dean, Liz McNicholl (vocals) , Sean OR (Keyboards) and Jessy Griz (Vocals). Rodgers handpicked the opening acts for the night: Daphne Parker Powell (former Daphne Lee Martin) will be joined by MorganEve Swain (Brown Bird / The Devil Makes Three) as well as short sets by Sam Carlson (The Tines), Pony Bird, Dust Devil Heart, Moonrise Cartel & Sarah Dunn.

“Whether or not thousands of people hear this album and whether or not it becomes a ‘profitable product,’ I needed to get this music off my chest, if for nothing else than to heal from some past wounds and disappointments,” Rodgers said.

For more information about the album release, or to purchase tickets, visit here.

The first single, “Real Life,” to be released from the album can be seen below: