musical influences include her guitar teacher Dean Roscoe out of Upland, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, David Gilmore, Trey Anastasio, and the Allman Brothers. She began playing guitar at age 15. Her training was based in blues, R&B, classic rock, and jazz. Her favorite type of music to play is blues (Texas blues.) She enjoys listening to all kinds of music including funk, punk rock, blues, jam bands, reggae and ska.
When Rosie began playing guitar she was a very depressed kid, painfully shy, suicidal and picked on by her peers. Her grandpa lent her an old, beat up guitar, and she asked her parents for lessons. It helped her a lot to have the outlet of music and she says it saved her life. Today, she is still shy, but now she lets her guitar do the talking for her. People say what makes Rosie different is her passionate style of playing. It's evident when you see and hear Rosie play live that she pours her heart into her music.
The biggest influences in her life have been her dad and her guitar teacher. Her dad is her biggest supporter and someone she goes to when she's feeling unsure. He's always encouraging and reminds her that giving up is not an option in life and music. Her guitar teacher taught her how to play and gave her opportunities to play in blues jams with older musicians that she wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. He was a positive role model in her life at a time when she didn't feel very highly of herself and the guitar meant everything to her. They would spend hours at guitar stores learning about guitars, pedals, tone, and how to understand the nuances of each. He encouraged her to enter guitar contests and perform when she was shy and unlikely to enter herself. She won the Alta Loma Music Guitar Contest four years in a row from age 15 - 18. In spite of her burgeoning talent, she was taught to stay humble and to remember that there will always be someone better than her, so not to get too caught up in herself and always strive to improve.
Rosie has experienced many interesting and fun gigs in her career. The coolest thing she ever experienced was playing on morning news segments. Recently, her Van Halen Tribute Band (Femme Halen) had the opportunity to play for Fox News San Diego and CBS 8 San Diego to promote a breast cancer charity event at Pechanga Casino.
As a full time musician, Roseann splits her time between teaching and gigging. She teaches for Music & Arts in their Rancho Cucamonga and Corona stores. She also teaches from home. She has been teaching guitar and bass students for over 15 years. Her favorite thing about teaching is when the kids really want to learn how to play guitar and she sees them growing as musicians. She currently mentors a group of young female students ages 11-15. The group has formed a band (Black Rock Candy) and they play around southern California. Their next show will be at the Festival of Lights in Riverside on December 22, 2016.
She's played in many cover and original bands over the years, but her favorite band is one of her current projects..."The Cougrzz". She feels a camaraderie and sense of family with the ladies in her band that she's never felt before. The Cougrzz play over 150 shows a year in and around southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Working as much as she does can be draining, but the girls in the band always seem to have fun and that is important to her.
These days, Rosie is about as busy as a working musician can be. If she could start a new project it would be along the lines of an original project that's funk/reggae/rock/funk like Skeletones/Rage/Chili Peppers. When asked what else she would love to do in her career? "My dream is to play onstage with Carlos Santana."
Rosie's advice for young guitarists or musicians? "Learn every style you possibly can, because all that will do is help you." It's great to be self taught and I respect all musicians, but it's important to know the fretboard, and learn blues progressions in every key. I think a lot of problems with musicians, is not understanding their equipment. You need to understand your gear, how to use it; what's good, what's bad. There are many sources on the Internet; YouTube, sales staff at music stores, other musicians."
by: Chrissy Ras
Rosie's