Tony isn't the smartest guy in the world, and when he came up with the idea for this website, he failed to realize that you can't add new roots to a dead tree. So until he comes up with a better idea (don't hold your breath) this is where you'll find everything NEW from Tony.

Including:

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9.10.11 SEE TONY PLAY THE SYCAMORE ALBUM LIVE at MARTYRS FRIDAY SEPT 30!

Seeing Tony play live these days is about as easy as finding discarded unders in his garbage, trust me I have looked every day for the past ten years. But on FRIDAY SEPT 30, 2011, he is playing the Sycamore album in its entirety at Martyrs in Chicago, and then, he says, a whole bunch of other Tony stuff. The show starts at 8:30 and according to Tony, you definitely don't want to be late. He's promising a bunch of cameo appearances, and special surprises, and knowing him LIKE I KNOW HIM, I'm sure it will be a night to remember!

Trust me, buy advance tickets.

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6.17.11 CALL THE PRESS AND SEND THEIR BEST: THE SYCAMORE VIDEO PROJECT

I am sitting here crying my eyes out after watching Tony's brand new music video for "Call the press and send their best." Somehow, he got 35 women (I don't even KNOW 35 women!) to participate, surprised them with their dads, then captured their emotional reactions on film. The music video shows their reactions:

the mini documentary shows what they were looking at.

Watch both! And then give a shout out to directors Michael Starcevich and Matthew Achterberg, executive producer Jon Singer, producer Nicole Taylor, and editor Alex Cheng at Concentrated in Chicago. Wow.

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4.15.11 THE SYCAMORE ALBUM

After years of labor, Tony has FINALLY finished his seminal solo project, the "Sycamore" album. One of his friends told me he called it adventure rock, and I would say it's huge and tiny at the same time, and if you understand what I'm talking about then let's go on a date or something. Or at least download the album on iTunes or tonyrogers.bandcamp.com. It's like the best thing he's ever done, I would almost say like a god adding a whole new awesome day to the weekend, but I won't say it because then people will start burning Tony's records like they did to John Lennon, and wait. Can you burn an MP3?

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10.30.09 "PLEEZER" AS WEEZER

If you've ever wished for a second that Tony could join in a secret side project with Rivers Cuomo, wish no more. Along with his pals Mitch Marlow (guitar), Tad Santos (bass) and Larry Beers (drums), Tony will be channeling Rivers and his band Weezer for a one-night-only performance at the Abbey Pub in Chicago, Friday, October 30, 2009. The night also includes bands impersonating the Sex Pistols, the Bangles, Squeeze, REM, and Elvis Costello/Nick Lowe. For tickets, go to www.abbeypub.com.

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10.6.09 MUSTACHE RIDE

If you're scratching your head at this one, well at least that's all you're scratching. In the fall of 2008, Tony participated in a charity event called MOVEMBER, an annual phenomenon during which men all over the world grow mustaches to benefit the search for a cure for prostate and testicular cancer. Notorious man-wrangler Debbie Mudd is credited with recruiting Tony into the project; for his part, he wrote and recorded an original song and video that just about captures the spirit of the thing... I sat in a capacity crowd at Chicago's Century Mall theaters to watch the world premiere of the video at the Midwest Independent Film Festival Ad Community Shorts night.

There were a lot of people who donated their considerable talents to the song... Chris Shepard at Chicago Recording Company, Doug McBride at Gravity Studios, musicians Steve Kouba, Mitch Marlowe, Tad Santos, Blake Cooper, and Marcin Fahmy.

The video was conceived and shot by Michael Starcevich, with endless help (and star performances) from Debbie Mudd, Claire Quin, Collette Delcase, Alex Montgomery, Jason Frankena, Kari Hailey, and a whole lot of strangers on the streets of Chicago. It was edited by the remarkable Jeff Landsman and Carrie Lewis at Foundation Post.

If you like the video even a little, please go and donate, even a little, at

movember.com

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2.15.09 SHOPPERA

If you're one of those people who believe John Lennon rolled over in his grave when "Revolution" was used in a Nike commercial, you may want to stop reading. Tony says he sold out years ago when he wrote a song for a Budweiser radio commercial, and he almost sounds like he's proud of it. This is a promotional film he created for a company called Arc Worldwide: specifically, a 5 1/2-minute animated rock opera on shopper marketing. Who would compose a 5 1/2-minute animated rock opera on shopper marketing? Tony would.

I think it's pretty cool, but if it makes you uncomfortable, there are plenty of others you can blame: Shoppera was illustrated by Natalia Kowalezco (who also did the illustrations for this website) and Joey Depakakibo; it was animated by Chris Neeley and his rich media team at Arc. The music was recorded by Chris Shepard at CRC in Chicago and produced by Jeremy Arth. It was performed by Tony (guitar, trumpet, and Arc guy vocal), Steve Kouba (piano), Mitch Marlow (guitar), Tad Santos (bass), Blake Cooper (drums), Marcin Fahmy (keys), Marisa Fiorito (shopper vocal), Patrick O'Connor (consumer vocal), Larry King (retailer vocal), Jeffrey Morrow (product vocal), and Rebecca Zimmerman (cello), with additional vocals by Karyn Costigan, Ava Fain, Anthony Foster, Lori Ann Montelbano, Nancy Slattery, Leonard Williams, Michael Starcevich, and Dan Thorne.

It was "executive produced" (does anybody know what that means?) by Bill Rosen, Barb Fabing & Marie Roche. I don't know who they are but they must be pretty influential to get Tony to do something so blatantly for the man.

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1.15.09 ALPHABITES

A is for AC/DC... W is for Weezer! Tony and his son Boone's original take on the alphabet will premiere in early 2009 on WTTW Kids, the local children's programming for Chicago's flagship PBS station. What kids will think of a cannibal pig eating a ham pizza is anybody's guess. But you can watch the video here.

You can visit the official WTTW Alphabites website here.