If Jesse Roper could sing and play guitar for the rest of his life, he would.
The blues musician from Victoria will make his first Burnaby appearance during the Blues + Roots Festival at Deer Lake Park this weekend. Roper is one of 12 acts in the 2015 lineup.
The NOW caught up with the 33-year-old rocker to ask a few questions, including what locals can expect of his upcoming show and what it’s like to rub shoulders with A-listers.
When did you first pick up a guitar?
I think I was six. My dad was playing all the time. You know how little kids watch their peers and elders and just kind of decide they want to do what the older people are doing. That was me. We were in Kelowna at my aunt’s house, he sat me on his lap, put the guitar in my hand and held the chords while I strummed it, and that was it, I was hooked.
What were some of your musical influences growing up?
ACDC, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Ray Vaughan and everything else that’s good, but those guys definitely. And Metallica.
You had a fear of performing live well into your late 20s. How did you get over that?
I just was kind of tired of being all nervous about it. A friend of mine had a show and it was an open mike. I got to the open mike, played half decent and decided it wasn’t really that bad. I was watching other people and always admiring other people for getting up there and wishing I had the courage. I was like, well, I can, I just need to go do it and get over it. So I did. It was great, I felt like a million bucks. I feel like a million bucks pretty well every time I perform, and especially the ones where I’m really able to let it hang out and I’m not worried about what people are thinking and I just do my thing. It’s usually when I play my best.
As a blues and rock guitarist, what can concert-goers expect of your first Burnaby show?
I’m going to freak out up there and have a really good time. I’m going to try and put on a pretty diverse, dynamic, like no-hold-barred kind of show. We’ll see what happens (laughs), you never know. Just a good time and good vibes. I think the band’s getting to a point where we’ve played enough together now that we’ll be able to really crush a good blues set. For a long time, it was just me, solo, doing 95 per cent of the gigs myself. It’s new territory and it’s a really big festival that I’ve wanted to be in for a long time.
How important is it to you to connect with your fans?
That’s important. To be totally honest, there’s been shows where I haven’t gone out afterwards. I’m just like tired and I just don’t feel like it. I like to not take that attitude but for the most part, I like to smile, shake hands, high-five and do the autographs. It’s rewarding for one. People give you all kinds of love and wonderful compliments, so that’s nice. You want to give the fans of big piece of yourself so they feel connected.
You just finished playing Rock the Shores in Victoria, playing the same stage as The Black Keys and Jane’s Addiction. What was that like?
It was cool. I wasn’t really thinking too much about those guys because it gets very intimidating, you know. It’s neat to be on the same stage. They treat you like superstars back there. Everybody knows me there because I’ve lived in Victoria almost my whole life. They treat you like The Black Keys and it’s really nice and it’s exciting. It’s neat to see your name on the posters, but it’s more afterwards that you really think about who you played with.
Where do you see your music career going?
I’d like to see this thing go way farther than it is. I have no desire to live a normal life. I want to do this until I die. B.B. King, what did he die when he was 89? And he performed until 6 months before he died. That’s what I want, 100 per cent. I have no desire to retire. I just want to go and play and enjoy what I’m doing because I absolutely love it.
