Santa Cruz-based duo Poi Rogers joined Greg Schultz for a lively in-studio session to share music from their upcoming album and discuss their evolving musical journey. Formed during the pandemic as a side project from the Carolyn Sills Combo, Poi Rogers blends Hawaiian steel guitar, western swing, and vintage Americana into a fresh, nostalgic sound. They talked about their new 10-inch vinyl release, their Colorado tour dates with Southern Culture on the Skids, and the origins of their music and instruments, including a rare Martin guitar and their Santa Cruz repair shop, House of Twang. (Studio Session: 5/29/25)
Greg Schultz: This morning we have Poi Rogers all the way from Santa Cruz, California, to play some tunes, talk about their new record, their tour, and everything happening in their world.
So, why don’t you kick it off with a couple tunes?
Poi Rogers: Sure. Thanks for having us. Alright, here’s a song off our new record. We’d like to start things with a little thing called Don’t Steal My Covers.
(plays music)
Greg Schultz: Alright. There you go.
Poi Rogers: There we go.
Greg Schultz: Man, the new record—it’s coming out pretty soon, right?
Poi Rogers: Yeah, a week from Friday. A week from tomorrow, right? Yeah. And we have some advance copies with us on this run of shows we’re doing here in the greater Denver area. So, it’s pretty exciting to have some fresh vinyl. We’ve got a 10-inch vinyl and CD.
Greg Schultz: A 10-inch fresh vinyl right here. Look at that. Thank you so much. This is fantastic. Well, it’s great to have you guys back in here. It’s been a couple years since you played. You came rolling through town—I think it was July of 2023?
Poi Rogers: Yeah.
Greg Schultz: We had you in here, and you were just a couple years into your new venture, I guess you could say. So, talk a little bit about the evolution of Poi Rogers and how it sprung from your band, The Carolyn Sills Combo.
Poi Rogers: Sure. The Carolyn Sills Combo—we’ve been going strong for years and having a blast. When COVID hit, Gerard and I, being home together as a married couple, thought we’d try our luck on some new instruments and challenge ourselves. Gerard picked up the triple-neck Fender steel, and I picked up the upright bass after playing electric. We started playing old Hawaiian steel songs and some old cowboy tunes.
We were playing for our dog, and he was loving it. So, we decided to take it out and see if other people did too. One thing led to another—we ended up playing almost 250 shows since then: from wineries and breweries to house parties and theaters.
And it’s just been growing. We thought it was time to make a record, take it on the road, and see what everyone thought. We’re having a blast so far.
Greg Schultz: Yeah, it’s fantastic. I got a chance to listen to a few tunes off the CD—I got the CDs yesterday.
Poi Rogers: Oh good, awesome.
Greg Schultz: I listened to more than just the ones released on Spotify and all that. Really cool stuff there.
Real quick—I just want to give you guys a shout-out on The Carolyn Sills Combo. You won Best Western Swing Group 2024 in the Ameripolitan Awards. I know that’s a big deal in your music world, especially with Dale Watson behind it and all that. Congratulations.
Poi Rogers: Thank you! Yeah, we were really honored. Just to be nominated is a huge deal. All five of us—Jimmy, our drummer; Charlie Joe, our steel player; and Sunshine Jackson—all went down to Austin, Texas, and had a blast. It would’ve been enough just to be there.
And then we won—it was pretty amazing.
Greg Schultz: I watched the ceremony—the video was on Amazon or something. I watched it and was cheering for you guys, of course. Pretty incredible company to be among. And if you don’t know about the Ameripolitan Awards, go check it out on the website. It’ll tell you more than I can. But kudos to you!
Poi Rogers: Thank you.
Greg Schultz: Now it’s Poi Rogers—full steam ahead. You’ve got some Colorado shows. Why don’t you talk a little bit about what’s going on the next few days?
Poi Rogers: Yeah, we’re in the greater Denver area for three shows with Southern Culture on the Skids—one of our favorite bands. We’ve done a few shows with them over the last five or six years.
Tonight we’re up in Fort Collins at Washington’s. Tomorrow, we’re down in Colorado Springs at Lulu’s Downtown. And Saturday night is the big night—we’re playing Globe Hall in downtown Denver.
It’s going to be a really fun run of three shows, opening up as our little duo. Last night was the first night of our month-long tour—we played up in Laramie. We’ll slowly make our way back out west through Utah, Nevada, and hit a couple festivals in California. We’ll be home by the end of June.
Greg Schultz: Well, it was time for a road trip.
Poi Rogers: I think so. This is our favorite way to travel—get to meet people, play music, and see parts of towns you might not normally see if you weren’t a musician hanging out with other musicians.
Greg Schultz: Yeah, when you’re in an airplane, you don’t get to see anything.
Poi Rogers: Exactly.
Greg Schultz: That’s great. I’m a road trip type of guy too. Jordan and I were just talking about that. It’s fun to just get in the car—or the van—load up the equipment, and head out.
Poi Rogers: Have an excuse to drive. The drive out here was so beautiful.
Greg Schultz: Yeah. You came from a beautiful spot—my old stomping grounds. Pretty lucky. I love it dearly—still do. We’re excited to have you here. We’re excited to have you at Globe Hall. I’ll be there on Saturday night.
Poi Rogers: Awesome.
Greg Schultz: It’s a sold-out show.
Poi Rogers: So exciting! We credit that to our pals in Southern Culture, but we’re excited to play for a full audience. Oh yeah—get some fried chicken and a little banana pudding. I think they’ve got it on the menu that night, too.
Greg Schultz: That’s pretty cool. Alright—why don’t you give us another tune? We’ll come back and talk a little bit more about the record.
Poi Rogers: Sure. Let’s do Las Cruces.
Greg Schultz: Yeah, that sounds great.
Poi Rogers: This is based on a true story from one of our travels through the Southwest. We got to play Las Cruces a few years ago for the first time and had a pretty epic night there. This song came out of it.
(plays music)
Greg Schultz: Oh, very nice. Beautiful.
Poi Rogers: True story.
Greg Schultz: We won’t ask what bar it was. Was it really Valentine’s Day?
Poi Rogers: It was a Tuesday. It was Valentine’s Day.
Greg Schultz: I’m not quizzing you—just trying to get some validity here.
Poi Rogers: It’s good! Keeps us honest.
Greg Schultz: When you say it’s a true story, it’s gotta be a true story—well, mostly. I get the “not remembering” part. Been there.
That was a nice change—a little different from what we heard before.
Poi Rogers: Yeah, that’s true. We kind of wanted to do a mix of cowboy, western swing, and Hawaiian steel guitar—just our love for that vintage ’30s and ’40s sound from both styles. Gerard does a great job with the instrumentation to fill out the record, and Carolyn does such a wonderful job with songwriting.
Greg Schultz: And both of you together—what can you say? Let’s talk about the acoustic guitar you’re playing, for the folks out there.
Poi Rogers: Sure. I know listeners can’t see it, but I’m playing a guitar made by Martin about ten years ago. It’s a dreadnought, but what makes it unique is the neck. It’s a copy of a Bigsby neck.
One of my all-time favorite guitar players, Merle Travis, came up with the idea of having all the tuners on one side of the headstock—like six in a line. This was in the late ’40s, and before that, acoustic guitars had three tuners on each side.
Merle asked Paul Bigsby to make a guitar for him. Leo Fender saw that design and ran with it. About a year later, the first Fender Telecaster came out.
I bought this guitar from my buddy Chris Scruggs, an amazing musician from Nashville and the grandson of Earl Scruggs. He gave me three Zoom lessons in 2020—just a crash course in getting started on the non-pedal steel guitar. His mentor was Kayton Roberts, who played in Hank Snow’s band for about 30 years.
Chris is incredibly talented and also has the rare gift of articulating how he approaches the instrument. A lot of great players can’t explain what they’re doing, but he was so fluent and helpful in getting me going with the steel. One day he had this guitar for sale, and it seemed like a good match—so here we are.
Greg Schultz: Connections are important in the music business.
Poi Rogers: That’s very true.
Greg Schultz: Chris is incredible. Whether it’s bass, steel, guitar—you’ve seen him with Marty Stuart and think, “Oh, he just plays bass,” but you should see what else he can do.
Poi Rogers: I asked if he ever plays steel with Marty Stuart, and he laughed. He said going from upright bass to steel is like trying to thread a needle with boxing gloves on.
Greg Schultz: I guess that would be tough. But I’m sure he could pull it off. He seems pretty humble.
Poi Rogers: Capable dude.
Greg Schultz: One other thing—I have to ask about your business, House of Twang.
Poi Rogers: Thanks!
Greg Schultz: I saw it early on when I was out in Santa Cruz a couple years ago. I know it’s grown. Tell folks a little bit about House of Twang and what you do there.
Poi Rogers: Sure. Carolyn and I moved to Santa Cruz 15 years ago when I was hired to build guitars at Santa Cruz Guitar Company. I was there for about eight years as a guitar maker. Carolyn was hired during my interview—she wound up being head of operations for 13 years.
We always dreamed of opening our own guitar shop. The original vision was a retail shop, but it’s evolved into a repair shop—House of Twang. We focus on setup work for fretted instruments—ukuleles, mandolins, acoustic and electric guitars, basses.
What I’ve learned is that no two people play the same. Everyone has a different style and pick attack, and that affects setup. We use a tool called the Plek Machine—a CNC machine built in Berlin—to diagnose and correct issues. It looks like the phone booth from Bill & Ted’s.
We load any fretted instrument in and scan it at an incredible level of detail—it can detect inconsistencies as small as a tenth of a thousandth of an inch. Then we level the frets and adjust the setup to match how each customer plays.
Greg Schultz: I saw that thing—it did look like a phone booth! My buddy was fascinated by it. He’s more of a factory nerd, engineering type. It’s beautiful. And business is good?
Poi Rogers: Yeah, business is great. Our dream was always to tour and make music, and when we’re home, to help musicians make their instruments play better. So far, so good.
Greg Schultz: In beautiful SoCal. All guitar, all the time. It’s a cool place—close to my heart.
Alright, we’re gonna let you take us out with one more song. One more time—tell us where you’re playing and where folks can find you.
Poi Rogers: Thanks! You can find us at www.poirogers.com. We’re on all social media. Our new record comes out next Friday, the 6th. We’re playing at Washington’s in Fort Collins tonight, tomorrow at Lulu’s Downtown in Colorado Springs, and Saturday at Globe Hall in Denver—all with Southern Culture on the Skids. If you’re looking for a fun party, come on out!
Greg Schultz: Then you’re heading back to Santa Cruz?
Poi Rogers: Yeah, we’ve got about a month on the road—heading back through Utah, Nevada, then a few festivals in California. Should be fun.
Greg Schultz: This is the time of year for it. We appreciate you stopping in—playing last night, tonight, tomorrow.
Poi Rogers: And Sunday!
Greg Schultz: That’s what you do. You’re playing—and we know you love it. We’re real happy you stopped by. Thanks again. Folks—get out and see Poi Rogers, buy their new record. You’ll have CDs, right?
Poi Rogers: We’ll have CDs, our 10-inch vinyl, and some new T-shirts with our awesome dog on them.
Greg Schultz: That’s fantastic. Beautiful story. Thanks for joining us. Have a great trip, and we’ll see you Saturday night. Take us out with a song.
(plays music)
