A decade after releasing his first single as a college student and going viral in the Keene State community, indie musician and KSC alum Roger Weeks is set to release his debut album, “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” on Friday, May 2.
The singer-songwriter described their musical style for this album as “cozy gay folk,” citing influences from artists like Noah Kahan, SYML, Novo Amor, Bon Iver, Kacey Musgraves, Hazlett and Taylor Swift, among others.
Weeks described the overall theme of the album as “overcoming the hard stuff,” giving insight into why he felt the album’s title was the right choice.
“It’s about acknowledging hardship but also approaching it with optimism and hope,” Weeks said. “‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ is a freeing statement. It allows you to take a risk and it allows you to jump.”
Weeks has been no stranger to taking risks throughout the long journey to the release of their debut album.
Growing up in the small town of Candia, N.H., Weeks said he first fell in love with music through classical piano lessons which led to being inspired to try songwriting by his favorite artists. Weeks said he quickly adapted to songwriting as a way to process everything that was going on in his life as a kid who was gay with divorced parents and whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
In their first year at KSC in 2012, Weeks said they started taking songwriting more seriously and reached out to a music producer from Nashville, who invited them to fly down to Nashville and work on making an EP.
“He barely charged me anything and we had some of the best session musicians play on it in Nashville and I released a single called ‘Sunburnt,’ and it went viral within Keene,” Weeks explained.
After releasing an EP, charting on the iTunes singer-songwriter charts, winning the Keene State talent show and gathering support from the local community, Weeks said he knew he wanted to pursue a career in music after graduation. Eight months after graduating from KSC with a degree in management, Weeks said he moved to Los Angeles to work on the business side of the music industry to support himself while he continued to develop his own music career.
“I just fell into the songwriting community here in LA and dove head first into that, and the rest was history,” Weeks said.
Weeks said the songwriting process throughout the creation of their first album has felt very different from when they were a college student writing songs in their dorm room.
“Being at Keene felt like being at summer camp for me. I was writing songs because I had time to do it and it was just natural and it was fun, and then you come to LA and you’re in an industry,” Weeks said. “Also, the rose-colored glasses are taken off because suddenly rent is due every month and you have to pay for your own health insurance and you have to feed yourself and you’re an adult.”
“All of a sudden, I was doing four to five sessions a week, so I was working 7 to 5 and then I was going into the studio at night and on the weekends and that was just so different,” Weeks added. “It becomes a craft and it becomes something you have to really work on, so that’s how it’s different. Now, I exercise the muscle so much that I can write a song at any moment and it just falls out.”
Despite the environment shift, Weeks said he has continued to carry his New England upbringing with him as a major part of his identity.
“We had a family lake house in our family for almost 100 years on Lake Winnipesaukee, and that’s where I would spend my summers with my grandparents and it was and still is my favorite place in the world and it inspires most of my visual and creative identity,” Weeks said. “If you walk into my house, it feels like you’re in a craftsman lake house. I found the most New Hampshire surroundings that I could possibly find in LA.”
Weeks frequently references New England in their lyrics and pays homage to the area in their music’s soundscape.
“To me, New Hampshire sounds like an acoustic guitar, it sounds like a campfire, and it sounds organic. That’s all in the identity of this music,” Weeks said. “To me, New York is like an EDM song but New Hampshire is like an acoustic guitar, so all of that inspires it all.”
Another important factor that is reflected in Weeks’ music is experiences within the LGBTQIA+ community, which Weeks said he hopes to provide representation for in any way he can, including building community and getting involved with organizations that support LGBTQIA+ artists.
“My friend is starting a nonprofit called the Trans Music Archive, which is all about creating an archive of music of trans musicians,” Weeks said. “Part of her nonprofit is to help produce vinyl for trans artists especially. We view vinyl as a political act in an era of censorship. That’s been really exciting, just talking to her and finding ways that I can get involved.”
“I’m still a baby artist, but it would be so cool if I find some success in this life that I can use to help lift up and encourage and nurture LGBTQIA+ artists,” Weeks continued. “That’s my dream.”
Even as an up-and-coming artist who is beginning to find success, Weeks said they look back on their time at KSC and feel like they have taken away not only the degree that has helped fund their life as an artist in LA but also a feeling of balance in their life.
“Keene did a really good job of being like, ‘We have to take our studies seriously but we also have to be taking care of ourselves as humans and we also need to be nurturing our friendships and our relationships.’ That’s something that I love about Keene, it was a full-body experience,” Weeks said. “I channel that a lot. Life is more than just work, and I really felt like Keene had a healthy culture with that.”
As exciting as this milestone is to be releasing his debut album, Weeks said he hoped this was just the beginning of what is to come.
“I’m just looking forward to living a life of releasing and I don’t want to ever stop. I feel grateful that I am in this position to do that,” Weeks said. “It just feels like the beginning.”
Justin Dearborn can be reached at
