Don Rosler

BIO

Up above are batches of songs I wrote — or more often, co-wrote — with a wide crew of musicians, songwriters, and composers. Some brought me aboard, others I happily roped in, including Grammy nominees (Linda Goldstein, Bobby McFerrin, Roger Treece, & Everett Bradley. The core stuff written with John Margolis, Jay “dogbrain” Ward, Peter Valentine, Jim Gately, Terry Radigan, Everett Bradley, Jon Spottiswoode, Gary Schreiner, and many more. 

Most of this work was collaborative — usually me stoking the lyrics and concepts, sometimes co-writing music or pitching in on production and arrangements. Now and then I wrote and produced the whole enchilada. Often it was all hands on deck across words and music — especially with John Margolis and Jay Ward.

A few were commissions. Some landed on albums, in films, on stage, in a doc, or on NPR. Some found homes. Others are still at the song pound, waiting for forever ears. A bunch I hatched from scratch — no one asked me to — and some of those even managed to fly.

Subject-wise? You know, the usual: faces on refrigerator doors, late-night loners calling sports radio, roofers breaking into song, boasters on rollercoasters, a ditty from the electric chair… or a fifty-piece choir suddenly channeling ancient Latin, Zulu, Arabic, and Gaelic.

I also stuck my neck out with a few love songs. Hell, I even co-wrote six Christmas tunes (and, to paraphrase Maxwell Smart, “…and loved every minute of it”).

Some of the core projects include Rosler’s Recording Booth, Bobby McFerrin: VOCAbuLarieS, and Christine’s Refrigerator with John Margolis — all different in scope, sound, and story. And I got to hunker down with dogbrain (aka Jay Ward) on and off for many years, and co-wrote some ditties as a bonejocky and also on his album Nest, and I worked lots with Peter Vanentine  ("To Whom It  May Concern", title track, RIFF album, “Under the Illusion”  on Som Livre, for starters).

Along the way came song songs co-written with Everett Bradley  for his Holidelic holiday albums,  a song for the stage fincluding Kenneth Branagh’s Public Enemy and Do What You Gotta Do),  commissions (via Linda Goldstein. & Roger Treece) for L.A. Master Chorale  and Chicago Children’s Choir ; and  moresoundtrack placements that include Som Livre / Global albums that sold a lot more than I expected. Oh — and one national long-running jingle co-written with Mr. Margolis, a song on NPR's “Kitchen Sisters”  release, and I bunch I can't remember (which is either a good or a bad thing). 

So it’s a mix of co-writes, real commissions, pretend commissions, and stray pups.
The larger batch lives up on SoundCloud. Many are also on Spotify — unless they weren’t meant to be — but since I’m not a performing artist, it’s trickier to show off as one there.
Others were one-offs, part of larger collaborations, or just songs that insisted on being written, for better or worse!