Roger Salloom “Don’t Let My Country Wash Away”

September 14, 2017 3 minutes read

“Don’t Let My Country Wash Away”

Roger Salloom was in the center of the 1960s San Francisco psychedelic scene, playing the Fillmore with Santana, Van Morrison, BB King and Procul Harum. In the 1970s he moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting, then disappeared for 20 years to raise a family as a single parent and draw a syndicated cartoon.

Imagine Jack Kerouac, John Belushi, Lord Buckley, Lenny Bruce, The Diggers, and throw in Leadbelly, Jimmy Reed, Lonnie Johnson, Geoff Muldaur, Dan Penn…all rolled into one person, and you have a glimpse of this poet, singer-songwriter. Salloom performed with The Band, Steve Forbert, Doc Watson, John Prine, to name a few.

A cross between blues, roots, Americana, country, and soul, Salloom always speaks from his heart. He has a self-deprecating, humorous, everyman quality, mixed with a powerful sensitivity and depth of character.

There is a story here. A story so intriguing that it enticed an award-winning filmmaker to make a film about the subject. So Glad I Made It, the Saga of Roger Salloom, America’s Best Unknown Songwriter, won 6 awards, was on the 2006 Grammy ballot, and received rave reviews across the U.S.

Roger Salloom “Don’t Let My Country Wash Away”

Official Music Video

Now Roger performs throughout New England and sometimes nationally. He doesn’t do many shows, so when you get the chance, you might not want to miss it. And like many of us in the twilight years, as Roger says in his song Here’s To The Life… “There’s nothing more precious than your own life.” So make every moment count, as Roger does.

Chris Sautter, winner at the New York International Independent Film Festival for best political documentary (The King of Steeltown), completed a film in 2006 about Roger titled, “So Glad I Made It, The Saga of Roger Salloom, America’s Best Unknown Songwriter.” The film has screened to rave reviews for NARAS in New York at the Tribeca Cinema, the Belcourt Cinema in Nashville, TN, & at various theaters including The Academy of Music, Northampton, MA, The Regent Theater, Arlington MA, The Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis IN, among others and has won the numerous awards and rave reviews.

“So Glad I Made It” was named “Best Documentary” at Spudfest Music & Film Festival in Teton Valley/Jackson Hole Wyoming . It also won the Providence Award at the prestigious Rhode Island International Film Festival and received Honorable Mention for Best Documentary at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival in Las Vegas. Grammy Magazine also chose the film as one of the top 12 in the last 10 years as noteworthy for the Academy members to view.