Local, driven, ambitious. These few words don’t even begin to describe 22-year-old performer Brian Rogers, who is playing at noon today at Serna Plaza as one of UNIQUE Program’s noontime concerts. He last performed at Sacramento State with Justin Farren last year in the dining commons. He is a drummer, percussionist and a songwriting musician.

Born and raised in Sacramento, Brian Rogers has only been a solo artist for the past three years after leaving the band Bob’s Child. He has been successful so far in his solo career, and he credits his enthusiasm for music and performing to The Dave Matthews Band, specifically lead singer Dave Matthews and drummer Carter Beauford.

“It is completely different (being a solo artist). You have to get up there on stage and every moment counts,” Rogers said. “It is only you that works with the audience.”

Brian released his first solo CD, “Dreaming Seed” last August for online sales at www.cdbaby.com. He has also been featured on several of his friends albums, such as Bob’s Child and Justin Farren. He is featured on almost every track of Bob’s Child’s album, “Mgobo.” He is also featured on Farren’s album, “Sound Flight.”

Last summer, Rogers toured the Bay Area with the band Home at Last. The band played its music, but also accompanied Rogers by playing and performing music he had written.

In addition to playing in San Francisco and the Bay Area, he also played at many festivals in the Sacramento region. He prefers to perform most of his music in Sacramento. He hopes to gather a good fan base in the Sacramento community because this is his hometown.

“I would like people to come along for the ride. I want them to keep their eyes open,” Rogers said.

He finds playing his music and just having a good time while performing enjoyable. But like other musicians, he has met challenges within his musical career. These challenges are what help him grow and learn as an artist. Rogers said that the biggest thing he has learned so far in his career is the importance of consistency and drive. He has the drive, but the consistency of his targeted audience and the types of venues he should play have been the biggest challenges he has met. Rogers has also learned that in the business of music, one must keep going.

And he is going. Last Friday Rogers performed at the Blue Lamp with local band Isabella. His next show is on campus followed by a performance on Oct. 19 at the Distillery in Sacramento.

Rogers has heard his music compared to that of The Dave Matthew’s Band and Incubus. He would like to be able to describe his music as being similar to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

You can sample his music by either going to the concert today or by visiting his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/brianrogersmusic.

Angela Cavazos can be reached at [email protected]