The American singer-songwriter, Maggie Rogers is a native of Easton, Md. The musician rose to fame at a young age after capturing the attention of singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams during a critique session at Pharrell’s Masterclass at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute. He became teary-eyed upon listening to her hit “Alaska,” which she produced in only 15 minutes. “Wow. I have zero, zero, zero notes for that. It’s singular…and that is such a special quality,” Pharrell remarked after hearing the song. That summer, the video of Pharrell’s critique went viral, and suddenly a 22-year-old farm girl from Maryland’s Eastern Shore catapulted into the spotlight.
Throughout her career, Rogers has spoken of her upbringing in Easton, sharing that she was unfamiliar with a lot of pop music icons and their music, including “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. However, this lack of exposure to pop music may have been a unique advantage for Rogers and her unique talent. It allowed her to “experience new sounds without bias and fold them into her creative process without aping them,” Vogue author Mark Guiducci writes.
Rogers first video, which was for her debut hit “Alaska” in October 2016, was filmed in Maryland on her parent’s land. You can watch it here.
Photo by Katia Temkin, courtesy Facebook
